Exploring buy-now-pay-later adoption among e-retail consumers: a user’s gratification perspective

Purpose This study investigates the relationship between credit limit misconception (CLM), impulsiveness and personal innovativeness on BNPL adoption intention. Additionally, it explores the effect of the attitude as a mediator and technological anxiety as a moderator. Design/methodology/approach The data were collected from 344 e-retail consumers who make digital payments while shopping online, and the conceptual framework and hypotheses were validated using PLS-SEM. Findings The study indicates that CLM, impulsiveness and personal innovativeness generate positive attitudes toward BNPL and lead to its adoption. Moreover, technological anxiety depicts a negative interaction effect between attitude and adoption intention. Originality/value This research expands literature in an understudied BNPL context by empirically examining the influence of personality traits like CLM, impulsiveness and personal innovativeness on BNPL adoption.