The Role of Hedonistic Conformity, Social Pressure, and Loan Self-Control on PayLater Usage Behavior among University Students
Keywords:
Behavioral finance, Digital credit, Loan self-control, PayLater, Social influenceAbstract
The rapid growth of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services such as Shopee PayLater, GoPayLater, and OVO PayLater has transformed young consumers’ financial behavior in Indonesia. While these services increase access to financial products, they also pose a risk of impulsive credit use among university students. This study investigates the influence of hedonistic conformity and social pressure on PayLater usage behavior, introducing loan self-control a construct first conceptualized by (Elliyana, Widyastuti, et al., 2024) as a moderating variable that reflects individuals’ ability to regulate their borrowing behavior. Using a quantitative explanatory design, data were collected from 340 university students who are active PayLater users. Analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The findings reveal that both hedonistic conformity and social pressure have significant positive effects on PayLater usage behavior, while loan self-control has a significant negative effect. Moreover, loan self-control moderates the relationships between social and hedonistic influences and PayLater behavior, weakening the impact of social conformity on impulsive financial decisions. These results emphasize that financial behavior among young adults is not only shaped by financial knowledge but also by psychological self-regulation. The integration of loan self-control into the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) framework offers a novel behavioral lens for understanding digital credit consumption in emerging economies.
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