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Figure 2. Research model
Source: Author
2.2. Hypothesis development
Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) is a payment method that enables users to obtain a
product right away and settle the cost through equal, short-term installments without
incurring interest or fees as long as payments are made on schedule (Ashby et al., 2025).
Within this research, BNPL usage refers to the application of this payment method in
online shopping contexts. Empirical research shows that BNPL is positively associated
with purchasing behavior, increasing purchase intention (Ashby et al., 2025), order size
(Kumar et al., 2024), and impulsive buying tendency (Fook & McNeill, 2020; Devano et al.,
2024).
H1: The use of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services has a positive impact on
consumers' online shopping behavioral intentions.
Beyond purchase intention, BNPL influences consumers’ mental accounting
processes. Pain of paying is a concept developed by Zellermayer (1996) based on Mental
accounting theory, which refers to the psychological discomfort individuals experience as
a result of cognitive accounting processes during payment. This concept has been widely
applied in academic research, especially in studies on consumer behavior (Prelec &
Loewenstein, 1998; Soman, 2001; Yahfi et al., 2025), risk-taking behavior (Chun &
Johnson, 2021), and personal finance (Zhu, 2025). Consumers tend to prioritize
immediate consumption benefits over deferred pain of paying (Prelec & Loewenstein,
1998) and to allocate income into mental budgets over specific periods. Mental
accounting has been shown to act as a mediator in the relationship between BNPL and
purchase intention (Jose et al., 2025), though report no significant mediating effect in
Ahmad’s study (2025). In BNPL programs, delayed payments or the allocation of costs to
future periods, together with the reduced tangibility of expenses (Thaler, 1999), weaken
the psychological link between current consumption and financial cost, thereby lowering
the perceived sense of loss at the point of purchase.
H2: The use of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services has a positive impact on
consumers' mental accounting.
H3: Mental accounting has a negative impact on consumers' pain of paying.

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