Digital Payment and Impulsive Spending Behavior: A Phenomenological Study

Abstract

The proliferation of digital payment systems, including electronic wallets (e-wallets) and the Quick Response Code Indonesian Standard (QRIS), has fundamentally altered the transactional landscape in Indonesia. While these technologies offer unprecedented convenience, emerging evidence suggests that the abstraction of physical currency may attenuate the psychological barriers that traditionally regulate discretionary spending. This phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of active digital payment users in Indonesia to understand how frictionless transaction modalities influence impulsive spending behavior. Through in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 purposively selected participants, this study employed a thematic analysis approach informed by phenomenological principles. Four superordinate themes emerged: (1) frictionless payment, characterizing the seamless, low-effort transactional experience; (2) spending convenience, reflecting the ubiquity and temporal accessibility of digital payment infrastructure; (3) impulsive purchasing, capturing the propensity toward unplanned, stimulus-driven acquisition; and (4) reduced spending awareness, describing the diminished salience of monetary outflow in the absence of tangible currency. These findings corroborate Soman’s (2001) theoretical framework regarding the role of rehearsal and payment immediacy in moderating spending behavior. The abstraction inherent in e-wallet and QRIS transactions reduces the "pain of paying" (Prelec & Loewenstein, 1998), thereby increasing vulnerability to impulsive consumption. This study contributes to the qualitative consumer behavior literature by providing an emic, experiential account of digital payment adoption in an emerging market context and offers practical implications for financial literacy interventions and regulatory policy.