Digital Temptations: A Systematic Review of Impulsive Buying Behaviour in the Era of E-Commerce and Instant Payments
Downloads
The rapid shift toward digital commerce and frictionless payment technologies has fundamentally redefined consumer behaviour, collapsing the temporal and cognitive distance between desire and purchase. This systematic review synthesises empirical findings from 72 peer-reviewed studies published between 2010 and 2025, exploring how digital payment mechanisms, user interface design, and emotional triggers mediate impulsive buying in online contexts. Using the PRISMA framework, evidence from databases including Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect was qualitatively analysed across four themes: (1) the pain of paying and transaction friction, (2) emotional triggers and interface cues, (3) instant payments and cognitive load, and (4) post-purchase regret and mindfulness gaps. The review reveals that invisible or delayed payments attenuate the psychological discomfort of spending, fostering compulsive tendencies. Emotional and design-based stimuli amplify this vulnerability by targeting cognitive shortcuts and affective biases. The study highlights the growing ethical responsibility of fintech designers and marketers to introduce reflective “ethical frictions” that restore user agency. Future research should adopt cross-cultural and longitudinal methodologies to examine how artificial intelligence, gamification, and digital nudges influence the evolving landscape of digital impulsivity.
Chan, R. Y., et al. (2017). Emotional cues and online impulsive buying: The mediating role of affective states. Journal of Retailing, 93(3), 345–357.
Dholakia, U. (2020). The psychology of digital spending. Journal of Consumer Research, 47(6), 1021–1034.
Islam, N., et al. (2021). Cashless economy and spending awareness. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 164, 120–135.
Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Olsen, R., et al. (2021). Digital payment interfaces and regret sensitivity. Journal of Financial Psychology, 12(4), 301–319.
Prelec, D., & Loewenstein, G. (1998). The red and the black: Mental accounting of savings and debt. Marketing Science, 17(1), 4–28.
Sheth, J. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on consumer behaviour: Will the old habits return? Journal of Business Research, 117, 280–283.
Soman, D. (2003). The pain of paying and consumer behaviour. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 16(1), 15–23.
Thomas, S., et al. (2020). Instant payments and cognitive impulsivity. International Journal of Behavioral Finance, 14(2), 89–104.
Verplanken, B., et al. (2018). Mindfulness and consumer impulsivity. Personality and Individual Differences, 120, 101–108.
Roberts, J., & Pirog, S. (2019). Compulsive buying in digital contexts. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 53(2), 508–530.
Li, Y., & Chen, H. (2023). AI-driven personalization and consumer impulsivity. Journal of Digital Consumer Research, 15(2), 55–69.
Nguyen, T., et al. (2024). Ethical fintech design: Balancing convenience and control. Journal of Business Ethics, 189(3), 611–627.
