Moderated Mediation Model of Online Video Advertisements on Impulsive Buying Tendency: Evidence from University Students in Sri Lanka

Young consumers are currently making more impulsive decisions due to growing exposure to TikTok in an online setting. Despite TikTok's importance as a marketing tool, there is still a dearth of study on the impact of TikTok ads on the impulsive purchasing habits of various client segments. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the factors influencing young consumers' propensity for impulsive purchases through the mediation effect of attitudes, with a specific focus on various gender groups. Through a comprehensive survey conducted among 200 undergraduates at the University of Ruhuna, data were collected based on a convenience sampling technique. Additionally, Smart PLS 4 software was used to evaluate the gathered data. The results showed that opinions regarding online video commercials are positively impacted by the Informativeness, Personalization, and Credibility of these adverts. Additionally, the mediating effect was demonstrated to show that young customers create their attitudes through Credibility, Personalization, and Informativeness, which in turn influences their impulsive purchasing decisions. Furthermore, the impact of attitudes on impulse buying behavior was shown to be considerably altered by Gender as a moderating variable, indicating that there are clear distinctions between male and female behavior in this regard. In order to stimulate impulsive purchases, the study offers marketers and brand managers useful guidance on how to improve consumers' perceptions through the Informativeness, Entertainment, Personalization, and Credibility of the video advertisement.