Present Bias and BNPL Convenience on Financial Stress: Financial Literacy’s Moderating Role in Generation Z

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-709-5_118How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Present Bias; Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL); Financial Literacy; Financial Stress; Prospect Theory

Abstract

This study investigates how present bias and perceived convenience of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services contribute to financial stress among Generation Z consumers and explores the moderating role of financial literacy. Grounded in Prospect Theory and the Financial Capability framework, a quantitative explanatory design was applied using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) on 155 valid survey responses from Indonesian Gen Z BNPL users. Results reveal that both present bias (β = 0.36, p < 0.001) and perceived convenience of BNPL (β = 0.29, p < 0.001) have significant positive effects on financial stress, confirming that cognitive distortions and seamless credit access heighten debt-related anxiety. Importantly, financial literacy exerts a negative moderating effect on these relationships (β = –0.21 and β = –0.17, p < 0.001), indicating its protective capacity to mitigate risk-taking impulses and to strengthen intertemporal decision-making. The model explains 58% of the variance in financial stress (R² = 0.58) and demonstrates strong predictive relevance (Q² = 0.41). The findings extend Prospect Theory to digital credit behaviour and reconceptualise financial literacy as a contextual moderator, offering theoretical insights and practical recommendations for financial education and responsible BNPL product design. These results underscore the need for targeted financial literacy initiatives and enhanced disclosure policies to safeguard the financial well-being of digitally native consumers in emerging markets.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Mah’vilanda Mah’vilanda
AU  - Madris Madris
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/06/20
TI  - Present Bias and BNPL Convenience on Financial Stress: Financial Literacy’s Moderating Role in Generation Z
BT  - Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Accounting, Management, and Economics (10th ICAME 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 1681
EP  - 1698
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-709-5_118
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-709-5_118
ID  - Mah’vilanda2026
ER  -