The Mediating Role of Emotional Arousal in the Impact of Social Media Advertisements on Impulsive Buying and Post-Purchase Regret

Purpose – The aim of the research is to examine the impact of social media advertisements on impulsive buying and subsequent regret in terms of the mediating role of emotional arousal. The novelty of the research is to examine the impact of social media advertisements on impulsive buying and the resulting regret through emotional arousal. Design/methodology/approach – The research was conducted according to the relationship-seeking and causal comparison model in quantitative research approaches. The survey technique was used to collect the data, and the questionnaire form was applied to the participants online. The data were collected by the convenience sampling method. The sample size of the study consisted of 250 participants. Statistical package programs were used to analyze the data. Results – As a result of the data analysis, it was determined that social media advertisements have a positive impact on impulsive buying, and impulsive buying has a significant impact on post-purchase regret. Again, impulsive buying has a positive impact on outcome regret and a negative impact on process regret. Social media advertisements have a positive impact on emotional arousal and emotional arousal has a positive impact on impulsive buying. Moreover, it is concluded that emotional arousal plays a mediating role in the relationship between social media advertisements and impulsive buying. Discussion – The findings are similar to the results of previous studies in the literature. However, in this research, emotional arousal was found to play a mediating role in the effect of social media advertisements on impulsive buying and subsequent regret. It is recommended that similar studies should be conducted comparatively across provinces, products, and social media platforms in the future.