Beyond the purchase: Examining how flash sale content shapes product return intentions through data fatigue and impulse buying
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Received June 8, 2026;Accepted August 25, 2026;Published September 21, 2026
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Author(s)Sneha PullaikodiLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-4949-8880
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Niyaz PanakajeLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4568-1658
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Niha SheikhLink to ORCID Index: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-4620-6990
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DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/im.22(3).2026.22
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Article InfoVolume 22 2026, Issue #3, pp. 354–371
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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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.
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JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)M31, D91, L81
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References55
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Tables7
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Figures2
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- Figure 1. Research conceptual framework
- Figure 2. Structural model of mediation effects
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- Table 1. Sample profile
- Table 2. Mean, SD, loading of measurement model, reliability and validity results
- Table 3. Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio
- Table 4. Direct effect
- Table 5. Mediating effect
- Table 6. Moderating effect of perceived irreplaceability in the interconnectedness between flash sale content and purchase return intention
- Table 7. Moderating effect of perceived irreplaceability in the interconnectedness between impulse buying and purchase return intention
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Conceptualization
Sneha Pullaikodi, Niyaz Panakaje, Niha Sheikh
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Data curation
Sneha Pullaikodi, Niyaz Panakaje, Niha Sheikh
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Investigation
Sneha Pullaikodi, Niyaz Panakaje, Niha Sheikh
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Writing – original draft
Sneha Pullaikodi, Niyaz Panakaje, Niha Sheikh
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Writing – review & editing
Sneha Pullaikodi, Niha Sheikh
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Formal Analysis
Niyaz Panakaje
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Funding acquisition
Niyaz Panakaje
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Methodology
Niyaz Panakaje, Niha Sheikh
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Software
Niyaz Panakaje
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Validation
Niyaz Panakaje, Niha Sheikh
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Conceptualization
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Online impulse buying on TikTok platform: Evidence from Indonesia
Nur Rizqi Febriandika
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Alfinna Putri Utami
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Afifah Nur Millatina
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/im.19(3).2023.17
Innovative Marketing Volume 19, 2023 Issue #3 pp. 197-210 Views: 7688 Downloads: 1548 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯTikTok Shop boosts TikTok’s huge potential as an e-commerce platform that encourages sellers and buyers to increase the number of transactions. The emergence of this feature encourages the online impulse buying phenomenon on the TikTok platform. This study aims to examine the factors that influence online impulse buying on TikTok in Indonesia through the constructs of brand review, sales promotion, customer satisfaction, religiosity, and brand expectation. This quantitative research uses a questionnaire that is distributed randomly online and collected from 312 respondents in Indonesia. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), data analysis was conducted and hypotheses were examined. The results show that customer satisfaction (β: 0.501) and brand review (β: 0.358) play an important role in increasing brand expectation. At the same time, sales promotion (ρ-value > 0.05) has no impact on brand expectation. This study highlights that religiosity (β: –0.239) and brand expectation (β: –0.510) can reduce online impulse buying behavior. Brand expectation (β: –0.510) is the most dominant variable in reducing online impulse buying behavior on TikTok.
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Flash sale and online impulse buying: Mediation effect of emotions
Martaleni Martaleni
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Ferdian Hendrasto
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Noor Hidayat
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Amin Alfandy Dzikri
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Ni Nyoman Kerti Yasa
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/im.18(2).2022.05
Innovative Marketing Volume 18, 2022 Issue #2 pp. 49-59 Views: 7292 Downloads: 3009 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯFlash sale (FS) is a marketing strategy that is widely used and developed in sales through e-commerce. The implementation of the FS strategy is to provide discounts or special propositions on products offered within a certain time limit. Time restrictions aim to encourage consumers’ emotions to make impulse buying (IB). This study examines the effect of consumer emotions as a mediating variable on IB among Shoppee consumers in Indonesia caused by FS activities that are not carried out on certain important days. The required data were collected through the distribution of online questionnaires to respondents who, in the last three months, had made transactions through Shoppee e-commerce platform. A total of 150 questionnaires are analyzed using PLS-SEM. The results of the analysis show that the flash sale strategy carried out by the Shoppee e-commerce platform in Indonesia has a direct effect on increasing consumer emotions. This means that the higher the intensity of the FS promotion, the stronger the influence on consumer emotions. Emotions increase IB. FS has no significant effect on increasing IB. Subsequent findings show that FS indirectly has a positive and significant effect on IB through emotions. In other words, this study proves that the emotions are a mediating variable in online IB. This study is helpful for companies in developing appropriate strategies for their promotions in utilizing consumers’ impulse buying behavior by using strategies that trigger consumers’ emotions.
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Determinants affecting online shopping consumers’ satisfaction and repurchase intention: Evidence from Vietnam
Innovative Marketing Volume 19, 2023 Issue #1 pp. 126-139 Views: 5602 Downloads: 2089 TO CITE АНОТАЦІЯE-commerce has altered how people purchase because of the growth of the internet. Nowadays, customers prefer shopping online rather than visiting physical stores. The goal of this study is to research the factors influencing online consumers’ satisfaction and repurchase intention in Vietnam. This study uses two underlying theories: technology acceptance model and expectation-confirmation model. After carefully discussing background theories and reviewing the marketing literature, the paper suggests a research model relevant to Vietnam’s circumstances. In addition, 312 online shoppers in Vietnam were surveyed using a Google Form and a non-probability approach. According to the findings, determinant factors (perceived ease to use, perceived usefulness, website design quality, and price perception) positively correlate to online shoppers’ satisfaction and repurchase intention. The results also disclosed that perceived usefulness was the factor that had the most influential impact on online shoppers’ satisfaction and repurchase intention. Finally, the study provided recommendations for managers, limitations, and suggestions for further research.
Acknowledgment
The author acknowledges Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City that supported this study.

