Taken for Granted: The Impact of Buy Now, Pay Later on Consumers' Online Purchase Intention

Sammanfattning

Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is a rapidly growing payment method that allows consumers to make purchases and postpone payment, generally interest-free. While adoption accelerates, research on its behavioral effects remains limited. This paper aims to contribute to this body of literature by investigating whether the mere presence of BNPL influences young consumers' purchase intention in an e-commerce setting. Drawing on behavioral economic theories, a 2x2 between-subjects online experiment was conducted with Swedish consumers aged 18-35 (N = 506). The experiment manipulated payment method (with vs. without BNPL) and purchase type (material vs. experiential), while measuring Purchase Intention and mediating effects of Perceived Financial Constraint (PFC) and Pain of Paying (PoP). The main analysis revealed no significant direct or indirect effect of the mere presence of BNPL on purchase intention. However, the results indicated that a large part of respondents who were not exposed to BNPL nonetheless believed it was available. This suggests that the effects are context dependent, and in the Swedish context of this study BNPL appears to be perceived as a normalized and expected payment method. The findings contribute to the growing body of research on BNPL, and nuance existing findings by providing a contextual lens. For practitioners this study offers strategic insights on how the payment method could be managed.