BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) and Its Effect on Debt Perception & Saving Habits of Gen Z Students in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.64137/31080030/IJFEMS-V2I3P105Keywords:
Buy Now Pay Later, Gen Z Financial Behaviour, Debt Perception, Saving Habits, Fintech India, Consumer CreditAbstract
The rapid proliferation of Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services across India's digital financial landscape has fundamentally altered consumption patterns among younger demographics. This study investigates how BNPL adoption shapes debt perception and saving behaviour among Generation Z (Gen Z) students in India, a cohort whose financial attitudes are simultaneously malleable and consequential for national economic health. Employing a descriptive cross-sectional research design, primary data were collected from 86 fully complete responses filtered from 109 total submissions via a structured questionnaire administered through Google Forms. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests of independence and reliability analysis (Cronbach's alpha = 0.77) were conducted to identify trends from a total of 25 survey items, including demographic profiling data along with BNPL usage behaviour, debt consciousness, as well as saving discipline over the 25 questions surveyed. The key findings show that 79.1% of the respondents are aware of BNPL services; there is a significant association between their frequency use for BNPL and erratic savings habits(Hypothesis III) (χ² = 21.39, p=0.011); level concern with debt being an important predictor to debt perception as such information appear in correspondence results (Hypothesis II)(χ² =25-06,p<001). The average Likert score on impulsive buying tendency is 3.77/5, indicating a significant degree of susceptibility to unplanned purchases, with an ease drawn by BNPL. The study presents essential findings from a comparatively neglected but digitally ubiquitous consumer group, and guides policymakers as well as fintech creators towards actionable insights.
References
[1] J. Y. Campbell, H. E. Jackson, B. C. Madrian, and P. Tufano, "Consumer Financial Protection," Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 25, no. 1, pp. 91–114, Feb. 2011, doi: 10.1257/jep.25.1.91.
[2] Lusardi, A., Hasler and P. J. Yakoboski, "Building up financial literacy and financial resilience," Mind & Society, vol. 20, July 2020, doi: 10.1007/s11299-020-00246-0.
[3] J.-K. Hsieh, S. Kumar, Y.-C. Tang, and G.-Z. Huang, "Investigating the relationships between influencers and their followers: Moderator of human brand of influencer (HBI) phase," Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, vol. 58, p. 101252, Mar. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.elerap.2023.101252.
[4] P. K. Kannan and H. A. Li, "Digital marketing: a framework, review and research agenda," International Journal of Research in Marketing, vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 22–45, Mar. 2017, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2016.11.006.
[5] C.-V. Priporas, N. Stylos, and A. K. Fotiadis, "Generation Z Consumers' Expectations of Interactions in Smart Retailing: a Future Agenda," Computers in Human Behaviour, vol. 77, no. 1, pp. 374–381, Dec. 2017, doi: 10.1016/j.chb.2017.01.058.
[6] E. Djafarova and T. Bowes, " 'Instagram Made Me Buy it': Generation Z Impulse Purchases in Fashion Industry," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, vol. 59, no. 102345, Mar. 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102345.
[7] Lusardi and O. S. Mitchell, "The Economic Importance of Financial Literacy: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Economic Literature, vol. 52, no. 1, pp. 5–44, Mar. 2014, doi: 10.1257/jel.52.1.5.
[8] J. Gathergood, "Self-control, financial literacy and consumer over-indebtedness," Journal of Economic Psychology, vol. 33, no. 3, pp. 590–602, June 2012, doi: 10.1016/j.joep.2011.11.006.
[9] J.-K. Hsieh, S. Kumar, Y.-C. Tang, and G.-Z. Huang, "Investigating the relationships between influencers and their followers: Moderator of human brand of influencer (HBI) phase," Electronic Commerce Research and Applications, vol. 58, p. 101252, Mar. 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.elerap.2023.101252.
[10] V. Thakor, "Fintech and banking: What do we know?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, vol. 41, no. 100833, p. 100833, Aug. 2020, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfi.2019.100833.
[11] Lusardi, A., Hasler and P. J. Yakoboski, "Building up financial literacy and financial resilience," Mind & Society, vol. 20, July 2020, doi: 10.1007/s11299-020-00246-0.
[12] T. O'Donoghue and M. Rabin, "Doing It Now or Later," American Economic Review, vol. 89, no. 1, pp. 103–124, 1999, doi: 10.1257/aer.89.1.103.
[13] L. Klapper, A. Lusardi, and G. A. Panos, "Financial literacy and its consequences: Evidence from Russia during the financial crisis," Journal of Banking & Finance, vol. 37, no. 10, pp. 3904–3923, Oct. 2013, doi: 10.1016/j.jbankfin.2013.07.014.
[14] J. Hoppmann, G. Wu, and J. Johnson, "The impact of demand-pull and technology-push policies on firms' knowledge search," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, vol. 170, p. 120863, Sept. 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2021.120863.
[15] D. Soman, "Effects of Payment Mechanism on Spending Behaviour: The Role of Rehearsal and Immediacy of Payments," Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 460–474, Mar. 2001, doi: 10.1086/319621.
[16] J. B. Heaton, N. G. Polson, and J. H. Witte, "Deep Learning for finance: Deep Portfolios," Applied Stochastic Models in Business and Industry, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 3–12, Oct. 2016.
[17] J. Jurgovsky et al., "Sequence classification for credit-card fraud detection," Expert Systems with Applications, vol. 100, pp. 234–245, June 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.eswa.2018.01.037.
[18] F. Casino, T. K. Dasaklis, and C. Patsakis, "A Systematic Literature Review of blockchain-based applications: Current status, Classification and Open Issues," Telematics and Informatics, vol. 36, no. 36, pp. 55–81, Mar. 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.tele.2018.11.006.
[19] Z. Zakrzewski, "D-RoF and A-RoF Interfaces in an All-Optical Fronthaul of 5G Mobile Systems," Applied Sciences, vol. 10, no. 4, p. 1212, Feb. 2020, doi: 10.3390/app10041212.
[20] N. Kshetri, "Blockchain's roles in meeting key supply chain management objectives," International Journal of Information Management, vol. 39, no. 39, pp. 80–89, Apr. 2018, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2017.12.005.
[21] M. Bond, O. Zawacki-Richter, and M. Nichols, "Revisiting five decades of educational technology research: A content and authorship analysis of the British Journal of Educational Technology," British Journal of Educational Technology, vol. 50, no. 1, pp. 12–63, Dec. 2019, doi: 10.1111/bjet.12730.
[22] W. T. Yue and M. Cakanyildirim, "Intrusion Prevention in Information Systems: Reactive and Proactive Responses," Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 329–353, July 2007, doi: 10.2753/mis0742-1222240110.
[23] G. Friede, T. Busch, and A. Bassen, "ESG and Financial performance: Aggregated Evidence from More than 2000 Empirical Studies," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 210–233, Dec. 2015, doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/20430795.2015.1118917.
[24] W. A. Kahn, "Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work," Academy of Management Journal, vol. 33, no. 4, pp. 692–724, Dec. 1990, Accessed: July 24, 2026. [Online]. Available: https://www.jstor.org/stable/256287
[25] S. Basha et al., "The Impact of Virtual Influencers on Social Media: Driving Customer Engagement and Strengthening Brand Loyalty in the Indian Millennial Market," Dragoman Journal of Translation Studies, no. 20, 2025, doi: 10.63132/ati.2025.theimp.9370.
[26] R. E. Bond, "DEPOSIT COMPOSITION AND COMMERCIAL BANK EARNINGS," The Journal of Finance, vol. 26, no. 1, pp. 39–50, Mar. 1971, doi: 10.1111/j.1540-6261.1971.tb00587.x.
[27] Tursunbayeva, S. Di Lauro, and C. Pagliari, "People analytics—A Scoping Review of Conceptual Boundaries and Value Propositions," International Journal of Information Management, vol. 43, no. 1, pp. 224–247, Dec. 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2018.08.002.
[28] Demirguc-Kunt, L. Klapper, D. Singer, S. Ansar, and J. Hess, "The Global Findex Database 2017: Measuring Financial Inclusion and the Fintech Revolution," World Bank, Apr. 2018, doi: 10.1596/978-1-4648-1259-0.
[29] W. Doi et al., "Effect of Burdock Root and the Fermented Product on Alloxan-Induced Mouse Hyperglycemia," Journal of Food Research, vol. 4, no. 4, p. 10, Apr. 2015, doi: 10.5539/jfr.v4n4p10.
