Celebrity worship and impulsive buying: The moderating role of emotional intelligence among indonesian early adult K-Pop fans

Insi Karimiyah, Endah Kurniawati Purwaningtyas, Ali Ridho

Abstract


Impulsive buying has become increasingly prevalent among K-Pop fans, yet the psychological mechanisms underlying this behavior remain insufficiently understood. In particular, limited research has examined the moderating role of emotional intelligence in the relationship between celebrity worship and impulsive buying among early adults. This study investigated whether emotional intelligence moderates the association between celebrity worship and impulsive buying among 268 Indonesian K-Pop fans aged 20–30 years. Data were analyzed using multiple regression and Moderated Regression Analysis (MRA). The overall model was statistically significant and explained 22% of the variance in impulsive buying (R² = .220, p < .001). Celebrity worship and emotional intelligence were both significant predictors of impulsive buying (p < .001). Furthermore, the interaction between celebrity worship and emotional intelligence was significant (B = 0.039, p < .001), indicating a moderating effect. Specifically, higher levels of emotional intelligence weakened the relationship between celebrity worship and impulsive buying, suggesting that emotional intelligence functions as a psychological resource that enhances self-regulation in consumer decision-making. These findings contribute to the literature on fandom behavior and consumer psychology by demonstrating that emotional intelligence can shape the behavioral consequences of celebrity attachment. The results also offer practical implications for counselors, educators, and marketers seeking to promote healthier consumption patterns among fan communities.

KEY WORDS:
impulse buying; celebrity worship; emotional intelligence; k-pop fans

Copyright ©2026. The Authors. Published by Journal of Indonesian Psychological Science (JIPS). This is an open access article under the CC BY NO SA. Link: Creative Commons — Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Full Text:

PDF

References


Abubakari, A., Boateng, R., & Mutabangun, A.K. (2023). Mobile payment systems and impulsive buying: A conceptual paper. In Exploring the Dark Side of FinTech and Implications of Monetary Policy . https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-6381-9.ch007

Ananda, HN, Arpandy, GA, & Ariani, L. (2024). The influence of celebrity worship on impulsive buying behavior in fans buying Jaemin NCT dream merchandise. Journal of Psychology , 1 (4), 17. https://doi.org/10.47134/pjp.v1i4.2832

Andika, D., & Mawardah, M. (2022). The relationship between emotional intelligence and consumer behavior in young non-commissioned officers of the South Sumatra Regional Police's Samapta Directorate. Bulletin of Counseling and Psychotherapy , 4 (3). https://doi.org/10.51214/bocp.v4i3.426

Antonopoulou, H. (2024). The value of emotional intelligence: Self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, and empathy as key components. Technium Education and Humanities , 8 , 78–92. https://doi.org/10.47577/teh.v8i.9719

Apriani, F., & Listiyandini, RA (2019). Emotional intelligence as a predictor of psychological resilience in adolescents in orphanages. Persona: Indonesian Journal of Psychology , 8 (2). https://doi.org/10.30996/persona.v8i2.2248

Armstrong, M. (2008). Armstrong's handbook of reward management practice: improving performance through rewards. In Human Resource Management International Digest (Vol. 16, Issue 5). https://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2008.04416eae.001

Ayomi, G. (2021). Understanding non-probability sampling in sampling techniques . Data Analysis and Quality Engineering Laboratory (SRK), Department of Industrial Engineering, Brawijaya University.

Brooks, S. (nd). FANAtics: Systematic literature review of factors associated with celebrity worship, and suggested directions for future research. Current Psychology , 40 , 864–886. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-018-9978-4

Carr, A. (2013). Positive psychology: The science of happiness and human strength. In Positive Psychology: The Science of Happiness and Human Strengths (Vol. 4, Issue 1). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203156629

D. Azul, R., Q. Cadano, K.D., M. Guiao, R.J., Maranga, N., H. Salonga, C., & N. Usita, M. (2023). The impulse buying behavior and financial well-being profile of young professionals in the Philippines. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications , 13 (3). https://doi.org/10.29322/ijsrp.13.03.2023.p13537

Fauziah, SN, Prayitno, PH, Wahyono, H., & Inayati, R. (2023). The effect of financial literacy and self-control on consumptive behavior with paylater as a mediating variable. Journal of Management and Entrepreneurship , 11 (1). https://doi.org/10.26905/jmdk.v11i1.10209

Fenton-O'Creevy, M., Dibb, S., & Furnham, A. (2018). Antecedents and consequences of chronic impulsive buying: Can impulsive buying be understood as dysfunctional self-regulation? Psychology and Marketing , 35 (3). https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21078

Firdaus, D., & Yusuf, U. (2018). The relationship between self esteem and impulsive buying. Psychology Proceedings , 4 (1).

Goleman, D. (1999). Emotional Intelligence . https://lib.ui.ac.id

Gusliani, S., Widhyastuti, C., & Junjunan, IM (2023). The effect of celebrity worship on impulsive buying among adolescent k-pop fans in Bandung city. in search , 21 (2). https://doi.org/10.37278/insearch.v21i2.560

Hanan, MS (2021). Parasocial interactions between idols and their fans (A Fan Study of K-Pop Boy Group Seventeen). frontiers in neuroscience , 1–19.

Kafadar, H., & Yilmaz, S. (2022). Impulsive buying tendency: The role of cognitive factors, personality traits and affect. Yaşam Becerileri Psycholoji Dergisi , 6 (12). https://doi.org/10.31461/ybpd.1170318

Kidwell, B., Hardesty, D. M., & Childers, T. L. (2008). Consumer emotional intelligence: conceptualization, measurement, and the prediction of consumer decision making. Journal of Consumer Research , 35 (1), 154–166. https://doi.org/10.1086/524417

Kusumawardani, V., & Agustina. (2023). Celebrity worship behavior and psychological well-being among teenage NCT fans during the Pandemic. Journal of Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts, https://doi.org/10.24912/jmishumsen.v6i3.19442.2022

Lekavičienė, R., Antinienė, D., Nikou, S., Rūtelionė, A., Šeinauskienė, B., & Vaičiukynaitė, E. (2022). Reducing consumer materialism and compulsive buying through emotional intelligence training among Lithuanian students. Frontiers in Psychology , 13 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.932395

Makki, S. (2019). Earning Hundreds of millions from fellow K-Pop fans . CNN Indonesia. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/hiburan/20190202120344-227-365928/meraup-ratusan-juta-dari-sesama-penggemar-k-pop

Maltby, J., Giles, D. C., Barber, L., & McCutcheon, L. E. (2005). Intense-personal celebrity worship and body image: Evidence of a link among female adolescents. British Journal of Health Psychology , 10 (1). https://doi.org/10.1348/135910704X15257

Nabila, WJ, Nurbaiti, N., & Harahap, MI (2022). Student consumer behavior in purchasing sharia fashion products: A case study of female students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, UINSU. El-Mujtama: Journal of Community Service , 3 (1). https://doi.org/10.47467/elmujtama.v3i1.2265

Nafisah, A., & Cahyanti, IY (2021). A description of the emotional intelligence of adolescents raised by single fathers. Psychology and Mental Health Research Bulletin (BRPKM) , 1 (1). https://doi.org/10.20473/brpkm.v1i1.26946

Reyes, MES, Santiago, AGF, Domingo, AJA, Lichingyao, EN, Onglengco, MNM, & McCutcheon, L. (2016). Fandom: Exploring the relationship between mental health and celebrity worship among Filipinos. North American Journal of Psychology , 18 , 307.

Sagita, A., & Kadewandana, D. (2017). Parasocial relationships on social media: A study of Army fandom on Twitter. CoverAge , 8 (1), 45–58.

Sansone, R. A., Sellbom, M., Chang, J., & Jewell, B. (2012). Mental health care utilization and compulsive buying. In International Journal of Social Psychiatry (Vol. 58, Issue 6). https://doi.org/10.1177/0020764011420500

Sarwar, M.A., Nasir, J., Sarwar, B., Hussain, M., & Abbas, A. (2023). An investigation of precursors of online impulse buying and its effects on purchase regret: the role of consumer innovation. International Journal of Innovation Science . https://doi.org/10.1108/IJIS-12-2022-0244

Sinaga, YE, & Marpaung, N. (2023). The effect of visual merchandising and price discounts on impulse buying. Transeconomika: Accounting, Business And Finance , 3 (1). https://doi.org/10.55047/transekonomika.v3i1.338

Stever, G.S. (2011). Celebrity worship: Critiquing a construct. Journal of Applied Social Psychology , 41 , 1356–1370. https://doi.org/10.1111/J.1559-1816.2011.00765.X

Sulianti, A., Lubis, FS, Az-Zahra, F., & Hambali, A. (2018). Can emotional intelligence restrain excess celebrity worship in bio-psychological perspective? IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering , 434 (1). https://doi.org/10.1088/1757-899X/434/1/012137

Tomar, R. S., Tomar, D., & Tomar, V. S. (2023). Impulsive buying among youth: a dominating component of compulsive buying behavior. Indian Journal of Marketing , 53 (10). https://doi.org/10.17010/ijom/2023/v53/i10/171988

Vihari, N.S., Sinha, N.K., Tyagi, A., & Mittal, S. (2022). Effect of mindfulness on online impulse buying: Moderated mediation model of problematic internet use and emotional intelligence. Frontiers in Psychology, 13 . https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1012331

Warmath, D., Chen, P.J., Grable, J., & Kwak, E.J. (2021). Soft landings: Extending the cushion hypothesis to financial well-being in collectivistic cultures. Journal of Consumer Affairs , 55 (4), 1563–1590. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12408

Zahara, S. (2023). Indonesians go crazy about online shopping, the end of the year is the peak! CNBC Indonesia. https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20231127112340-8-492275/warga-ri-gila-belanja-online-akhir-tahun-jadi-puncaknya

Zhou, X. (2023). A study of the phenomenon of celebrity idols among adolescent students in Chinese popular culture. Communications in Humanities Research , 4 (1). https://doi.org/10.54254/2753-7064/4/20220846




Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Indexing By:

  

 

Journal of Indonesian Psychological Science (JIPS) by https://ejournal.uin-malang.ac.id/index.php/jips/index is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

View MyStat