PayLater Convenience Meets Financial Stress
PayLater services allow consumers to obtain goods and services immediately while postponing payment. Their integration with e-commerce platforms, fast approval processes, and flexible repayment options have made BNPL increasingly popular, particularly among younger digital consumers.
But easy access to credit can also create financial and psychological pressures. Poor financial management may lead to higher consumption, debt accumulation, and declining financial well-being. For some consumers, financial anxiety may not encourage them to spend less. Instead, stress about money and uncertainty about the future can trigger emotional spending as a temporary coping mechanism.
The study distinguishes “doom spending” from ordinary impulse buying. Doom spending is specifically connected to emotional distress and uncertainty. Consumers may spend because shopping provides short-term comfort, even when the purchase is not financially necessary. PayLater can make this behavior easier because the financial cost of a purchase is postponed rather than immediately felt.
Study Examines 50 PayLater Users
Husnayetti, Hidayati, Astuti, and Junarti used a quantitative, cross-sectional survey to examine the relationship between financial anxiety, doom spending, financial well-being, and financial literacy.
The researchers collected responses through an online questionnaire from 50 active PayLater users in Indonesia. Participants had to be at least 17 years old, have used a PayLater service, and have completed PayLater transactions. The data were analyzed using a statistical modeling approach with SmartPLS 4 to examine direct relationships as well as whether doom spending and financial literacy changed those relationships.
Women accounted for 72 percent of respondents, while men represented 28 percent. More than half of the participants, 52 percent, were aged 18–29, while 46 percent were aged 30–45. Most respondents used PayLater relatively infrequently: 56 percent reported using it once a month, while 30 percent used it two or three times monthly.
Financial Anxiety Linked to Lower Financial Well-Being
The strongest findings concern the relationship between psychological pressure and financial well-being.
The study found that financial anxiety had a significant negative effect on financial well-being, with a coefficient of -0.392 and a p-value of 0.002. In practical terms, PayLater users who experienced greater financial anxiety tended to report lower levels of financial well-being.
At the same time, financial anxiety had a significant positive relationship with doom spending. The coefficient was 0.505, with a p-value below 0.001. This indicates that greater financial anxiety was associated with a stronger tendency to engage in emotionally driven spending.
The researchers from Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Ahmad Dahlan Jakarta also found an unexpected result: doom spending was positively associated with financial well-being in the sample. The coefficient was 0.317, with a p-value of 0.028.
This does not mean doom spending is financially healthy. The authors suggest that spending may produce temporary emotional relief or satisfaction, allowing users to perceive their financial situation more positively in the short term. The financial consequences of those purchases, however, may emerge later.
Financial Literacy Helps—but Cannot Eliminate Anxiety
Financial literacy emerged as an important positive factor. The study found that financial literacy had a significant positive effect on financial well-being, with a coefficient of 0.596 and a p-value below 0.001.
Users with stronger financial knowledge and skills may be better equipped to understand financial risks, manage debt, control spending, prepare budgets, and assess the consequences of using digital credit.
However, financial literacy did not significantly moderate the relationship between financial anxiety and financial well-being. The interaction effect had a coefficient of 0.116 and a p-value of 0.319. In other words, having financial knowledge did not automatically protect users from the negative effects of financial anxiety.
The study also found that doom spending did not significantly mediate the relationship between financial anxiety and financial well-being. The indirect effect had a coefficient of 0.160 and a p-value of 0.065.
Husnayetti and colleagues at Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Ahmad Dahlan Jakarta therefore argue that improving financial well-being requires more than financial education. Their findings point to the importance of addressing financial anxiety, strengthening self-control, managing financial stress, and encouraging responsible digital-credit behavior.
Implications for Fintech, Consumers, and Policymakers
The findings offer implications for PayLater providers, financial regulators, educators, and consumers. Financial literacy programs can help users understand interest, debt, repayment obligations, and financial risks, but education alone may not be enough when consumers make decisions under emotional pressure.
For fintech companies and policymakers, the results suggest that responsible digital-credit strategies should consider both financial knowledge and psychological factors. Tools that encourage users to evaluate their repayment capacity, control emotionally driven purchases, and recognize financial stress could complement conventional financial education.
The authors also acknowledge important limitations. The study involved only 50 respondents and used a cross-sectional design, meaning the data capture respondents' conditions at one point in time. The findings therefore should not be generalized to all Indonesian PayLater users. Future research could involve larger samples, follow users over longer periods, and examine factors such as financial self-control, financial resilience, and financial behavior.
Author Profiles
Husnayetti — Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Ahmad Dahlan Jakarta. The article identifies Husnayetti as the corresponding author. Her research in this article focuses on financial anxiety, doom spending, financial literacy, financial well-being, and digital credit behavior.
Lutfi Hidayati — Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Ahmad Dahlan Jakarta, with the article examining financial and behavioral factors associated with PayLater use.
Tri Budi Astuti — Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Ahmad Dahlan Jakarta, contributing to research on financial behavior and well-being in the digital-credit context.
Junarti — Institut Teknologi dan Bisnis Ahmad Dahlan Jakarta, contributing to the study of financial anxiety, doom spending, financial literacy, and financial well-being.
The journal article does not state the academic degrees of the four authors, so no degree has been added here to avoid introducing information unsupported by the source. The authors' names and university affiliation are explicitly listed in the publication.
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