Buy Now and Pay Later in Emerging Markets: Exploring Why Customers Adopt the Service (International Review of Management and Marketing)

Summary

• Electronic payments in Saudi Arabia accounted for 85% of total retail payments in 2025, compared with 79% in 2024.p.1
• The total number of electronic transactions in Saudi Arabia reached 14.6 billion in 2025.p.1
• E-commerce sales conducted using debit cards reached SAR 197.42 billion in 2024.p.1
• Following data screening, the empirical study retained 218 valid responses for statistical analysis.p.4
• Clothing, shoes, and related items constituted the largest product category purchased via BNPL, representing 39.09% of responses.p.5
• Male respondents accounted for 76.61% of the survey sample, while female respondents represented 23.39%.p.5
• The dominant age bracket among survey respondents was 22 to 25 years old, comprising 35.32% of the sample.p.5

Key insights

1. Trust has a direct positive and statistically significant impact on consumer intention to adopt BNPL services.p.6
2. Electronic word of mouth (eWOM) positively and significantly influences BNPL adoption intention.p.6
3. A favorable attitude toward cash on delivery (COD) negatively affects consumer intention to adopt BNPL services.p.6
4. Consumer trust exerts a positive and statistically significant effect on attitude toward COD.p.6
5. The relationship between trust and eWOM was positive but not statistically significant in the structural model.p.6
6. eWOM does not mediate the relationship between consumer trust and BNPL adoption intention.p.8