How adolescent personality shapes impulsive buying: Unpacking a moderated mediation path

This research examined how the Big Five personality traits drive adolescents’ impulsive buying tendencies, incorporating social networking addiction as a mediator and negative emotions as a moderator. Using two-wave survey data from 153 respondents aged 13–25 years, we measured the Big Five personality traits, negative emotions, social networking addiction, and impulsive buying tendency. The empirical results showed that social networking addiction mediated the effect of the personality dimensions of conscientiousness, agreeableness, and neuroticism on respondents’ impulsive buying tendency; further, negative emotions moderated how these personality traits related to addictive social networking use. Our findings enrich research on adolescent consumer behavior by highlighting the role of personality in shaping impulsive consumption via digital overuse, and clarifying the conditions under which negative affect intensifies or weakens these links. These insights can inform strategies for guiding adolescents to use social media responsibly and make more rational purchase decisions.