The effect of payment delay on consumer purchase intention

While previous studies have focused on the form of payment methods as a criterion, this study proposes payment delay as a new criterion and examines the relationship between consumers' need for closure (NFC) and temporal construal in payment situations. Three empirical studies were conducted with participants who had experience with plastic card payments to ensure they understood the concept of payment delay. Participants with a low NFC tended to construe payment situations more abstractly, leading to increased purchase intentions for hedonic products when payment was delayed and for utilitarian products when it was not. In contrast, participants with a high NFC exhibited higher purchase intentions for hedonic products when payment was delayed but no significant difference for utilitarian products based on payment delay. The findings provide implications for strategies to mitigate excessive hedonic consumption through credit card payments and address reluctance toward credit card use stemming from consumers' aversion to debt or uncertainty.