Impulse Buying Kpopers: The Role of Endorser Credibility and Self-Regulation
Authors: Lesmana Evelyne Debora , Kurniawan Jimmy Ellya 
Published: October 2024

The increasing prevalence of the Korean entertainment industry penetrating Indonesia has led to the emergence of a larger number of K-pop fans, or K-popers. K-popers exhibit fan characteristics that tend to be obsessive and impulsive towards their idols, resulting in frequent impulsive purchases related to their idols. Consequently, many companies strive to capture the attention of K-popers by employing Korean celebrities to advertise their products. Such behavior can have negative impacts both psychologically and financially, but impulsive buying can be mitigated by enhancing self-regulation within individuals. From the above exposition, this study aims to investigate the influence of celebrity endorser credibility on impulsive buying behavior among K-popers and how regulation can affect this relationship as a moderating variable. The study utilizes a quantitative method with 111 Indonesian K-popers aged 15-25 years who have made purchases related to Korean celebrities. The scales employed in this research include celebrity endorser credibility by Ohanian (1990), the Impulsive Buying Tendency Scale by Verplanken & Herabadi (2001), and the Short Self-Regulation Questionnaire (SSRQ) by Neal & Carey (2005). The research findings indicate that celebrity endorser credibility only exerts a small influence of 4.1% on impulsive buying behavior among K-popers (p < 0.05). However, self-regulation fails to moderate the relationship between celebrity endorser credibility and impulsive buying behavior among K-popers (p > 0.05).Semakin maraknya industri hiburan korea yang mausk ke Indonesia berpengaruh pada timbulnya semakin banyak penggemar kpop atau kpopers. Kpopers memiliki sifat penggemar yang cenderung obsesif dan impulsif terhadap idolanya sehingga membuat kpopers sering melakukan pembelian impulsif terhadap hal-hal yang berkaitan dengan idola mereka. Karena itu, banyak perusahaan berusaha untuk menarik perhatian kpopers dengan menggunakan selebriti korea untuk mengiklankan produk mereka. Perilaku dapat membwa dampak negative baik secara psikologis dan finansial, namun impulsive buying dapat dikurangi dengan meningkatkan regulasi diri dalam diri individu. Dari pemaparan diatas, penelitian ini ingin melihat pengaruh celebrity endorser credibility terhadap impulsive buying behavior pada kpopers dan bagaimana regulasi dapat mempengaruhi hubungan tersebut sebagai variable moderator. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kuantitatif dengan 111 partisipan kpopers Indonesia berusia 15-25 tahun dan pernah melakukan pembelian produk yang berhubungan dengan selebriti korea. Skala yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah celebrity endorser credibility dari Ohanian (1990), Impulsive buying tendency scale dari Verplanken & Herabadi (2001) dan short self-regulation questionnaire (SSRQ) dari Neal & Carey (2005). Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa celebrity endorser credibility hanya memberikan pengaruh kecil sebanyak 4,1% terhadap impulsive buying behavior pada kpopers (p < 0,05). Namun, regulasi diri tidak dapat memoderasi hubungan antara celebrity endorser credibility dan impulsive buying behavior pada kpopers (p > 0.05).