Sneha Pullaikodi

Type of the article: Research Article

Abstract
Flash sale campaigns have become a dominant promotional strategy in e-commerce has significantly influenced consumer purchasing behavior and post-purchase outcomes. The present study investigates how flash sale content impacts consumers’ product return intention by analyzing the mediating role of impulse buying and data fatigue, and the moderating role of perceived irreplaceability. A quantitative research design was followed, with primary data collected from 400 online shoppers from Kerala, India, via a structured questionnaire during December 2025. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data and test the proposed relationships, while descriptive statistics, mediation analysis, and moderation analysis were also applied. The results show that flash-sale content does not directly affect product return intention. Flash sale content significantly influenced data fatigue (β = 0.776, p < 0.001) and impulse buying (β = 0.154, p = 0.032). Data fatigue significantly influenced product return intention (β = 0.228, p = 0.006), while impulse buying positively affected product return intention (β = 0.198, p =0.004). Data fatigue mediates the relationship between flash sale content and intention to return a product, whilst impulsive buying alone was not a significant mediator. Meanwhile, the serial mediation through data fatigue and impulsive buying has proved to be significant. In addition to that, perceived irreplaceability significantly moderates the correlation between flash sale content and intention to return the product and the relationship between impulsive buying and intention to return a product. This research is an extension to the field of consumer behavior, as it reveals the influence of cognitive and emotional processes on product return intentions during flash sales. The results also offer practical guidance for e-commerce sites in developing effective promotional campaigns that yield fewer impulse purchases, cognitive overload, and product returns.