The price of belonging: impulse buying in live shopping among low-income youth

Purpose Live shopping, defined as real-time product promotion and purchasing through interactive livestreams on social media platforms (e.g. Facebook Live, Instagram Live and TikTok Live), is increasingly shaping digital consumption. While prior research has examined its role in stimulating impulse buying among mainstream consumers, little is known about how these emotionally charged environments affect economically vulnerable young people. This study aims to explore the psychosocial mechanisms underlying impulsive consumption in live shopping contexts among low-income youth. Design/methodology/approach Adopting an exploratory, inductive and phenomenological design, the study draws on 30 in-depth interviews with beneficiaries of Portugal’s National Minimum Income Support programme. Interviews focused on lived experiences of live shopping, emotional states, social comparison and self-regulation. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis to identify recurring psychosocial processes shaping impulsive purchasing. Findings The findings reveal that live shopping operates as an emotional-financial behavioural loop in which boredom, stress and social comparison interact with platform affordances (e.g. countdown timers, real-time interaction and staged scarcity) to undermine self-regulation. Livestreams were predominantly hosted by Portuguese-based influencers promoting both national and international brands. Impulsive purchases generated short-term gratification followed by regret and financial strain. Importantly, participants also developed self-devised coping strategies (including deliberate pauses, emotional awareness practices, shared decision-making and personal ethical consumption rules) that mitigated impulsivity without external enforcement. Research limitations/implications This study is based on a qualitative, phenomenological design with a purposive sample of low-income youth, which limits statistical generalisability. However, its strength lies in analytical depth. Future research could test the proposed emotional-financial cycle across different socioeconomic groups, platforms and cultural contexts, and examine how payment modalities or platform governance structures further shape impulsive consumption dynamics. Practical implications The findings highlight the need for more responsible live shopping practices when targeting economically vulnerable consumers. Platforms and influencers should consider limiting high-pressure cues (e.g. countdown timers, exaggerated scarcity) and increasing transparency about persuasive techniques. The study also points to the value of low-cost, consumer-centred interventions (such as pre-purchase pauses, emotional awareness cues and shared decision-making) that can strengthen self-regulation without restricting access to digital commerce. Social implications This study reframes impulsive buying in live shopping as a socially situated response to economic vulnerability rather than individual irresponsibility. By showing how emotionally persuasive digital environments disproportionately affect low-income youth, it calls for greater societal awareness of digital consumption inequalities. The findings highlight the importance of consumer protection, ethical influencer practices and emotional and financial literacy initiatives that recognise vulnerability without stigma. More broadly, the study contributes to debates on social inclusion, dignity and well-being in digitally mediated marketplaces, with implications for reducing harm and promoting more equitable forms of participation in online consumption. Originality/value This study advances the concept of situated compensatory impulsivity, reframing impulsive buying as a context-dependent response to emotional deprivation and symbolic exclusion. By documenting consumer-generated resistance strategies, it challenges portrayals of economically vulnerable consumers as passive victims of digital persuasion and offers actionable insights for responsible digital commerce, consumer protection and education aligned with Sustainable Development Goal 12.