Shopping Enjoyment Mediates Marketing Stimuli and Impulsive Buying among University Students on TikTok Shop

Abstract

This study aims to determine the influence of live streaming, flash sale, and free shipping on impulsive buying and shopping enjoyment among university students using TikTok Shop. It also conducted to examine the role of shopping enjoyment as a mediating variable linking the influence of these three marketing stimuli to impulsive buying. This study employs a quantitative method. The research population focused on university students who use TikTok Shop, with a total sample of 310 respondents selected through non-probability sampling via a purposive sampling method with online questionnaires for data collection. Data analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) assisted by SmartPLS 4 software. The results indicate that all hypotheses are accepted, as all structural pathways between variables show a T-statistic > 1.96 and p-value < 0.05. Live streaming, flash sale, and free shipping stimuli are proven to have positive and significant influences on both shopping enjoyment and impulsive buying, with shopping enjoyment successfully acting as a mediating variable. The coefficient of determination (R^2) values demonstrate that the research model explains 52.2% of variance in shopping enjoyment and 61.2% in impulsive buying. These findings emphasize the importance of creating an enjoyable shopping experience to encourage university students to engage in impulsive buying on social commerce platforms like TikTok Shop.