Broke but Buying: When Psychological Arousal Overrides Financial Capacity in Live Streaming Commerce
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29407/040wsv90Keywords:
Live streaming commerce, online impulsive buying, S-O-R framework, financial capacity, competitive arousalAbstract
Drawing upon the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework and Competitive Arousal Model, this study elucidates the psychological mechanism of online impulsive buying in live streaming commerce. Data from 235 young Indonesian consumers were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results confirm that scarcity cues—specifically Quantity and Time Pressure—significantly heighten psychological Arousal, which serves as a critical mediator driving impulsive behavior. Crucially, the analysis reveals that Financial Capacity does not moderate this relationship, challenging traditional economic assumptions. This suggests that high arousal creates a state of "psychological myopia" where emotional urgency overrides actual financial constraints, rendering consumers equally susceptible to impulsive purchases regardless of their income levels. These findings offer novel theoretical insights into the dominance of emotion over rationality in the digital "shoppertainment" era.
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