SEE, SWIPE, AND SPEND: THE DYNAMICS OF UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IMPULSIVE BUYING IN DIGITAL ERA: Impulse Buying, FOMO, Social Media Influencers, Peer Influence, Self-Control, E-commerce.

Aninda Apriliana (Universitas Muria Kudus)
Dewi Sri Lestari (Universitas Muria Kudus)
Aqillah Jihan Naflah (Universitas Muria Kudus)
Atina R Risqiyana (Universitas Muria Kudus)
Alvina Damayanti (Universitas Muria Kudus)
Maulana Fajar Hanafi (Universitas Muria Kudus)

MEJ
Vol. 1 No. 2 (2026): September

ABSTRACT (ENGLISH ABSTRACT) Impulsive buying, in particular, has been impacted by the growth of e-commerce in Indonesia, primarily through sites like Shopee and TikTok Shop. The impact of peer influence, self-control, social media influencers, and FOMO (fear of missing out) on impulsive buying behavior is examined in this study. One hundred thirty-one students in Central Java provided primary data for a quantitative study using the Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (SEM-PLS) approach. Most respondents were female (66%), and 85% were first-semester students. A questionnaire with a Likert scale ranging from 1 to 5 was used to gather data, and SMART PLS 3 was used for analysis. The research model explained 43.8% of the variation in impulsive buying (Adjusted R2 = 0.438). The goodness-of-fit test confirmed the model's validity (Q2 = 0.210). These results support the idea that while self-control is a moderating component, external influences (such as peer pressure, FOMO, and SMI) act as catalysts for impulsive buying. Implications imply that digital literacy education and self-control training are required to reduce the financial hazards connected with impulsive buying, especially among the younger generation.