From Use to Habit: Rethinking Consumer Spending Behavior in Malaysia's Digital Payment Ecosystem
Abstract
The rise of digital payment systems has significantly reshaped financial transactions across Southeast Asia, with Malaysia emerging as a key player in this transformation. This study examines how specific features of digital payment platforms—such as convenience, perceived security, and rewards programs-alongside demographic factors, influence consumer spending behavior. Guided by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the research focuses not just on adoption but on post-adoption behaviors among Malaysian users. A structured survey of 500 active digital payment users was conducted, and the data were analyzed using regression and ANOVA techniques. Interestingly, the results challenge common assumptions in both academia and industry. Although participants expressed generally positive views about the convenience and security of digital payments, none of these factors-including rewards or demographics, were found to predict their spending behavior significantly. These findings suggest that once consumers become accustomed to digital payments, their usage patterns may be shaped more by habit, emotional response, or lifestyle fit than by the platform features themselves. This insight opens up new conversations around how digital finance should be designed, marketed, and studied going forward. The study concludes by calling for more nuanced, behaviorally grounded models and practical strategies that go beyond technical efficiency.
Downloads
References
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179–211. https://doi.org/10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
Baker, T. (2020). The psychological consequences of digital transactions: A systematic review. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 30(2), 165–182. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.1148
Balakrishnan, V., & Eesan, M. L. (2024). Enablers and disablers for contactless payment acceptance among Malaysian adults. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11, 534. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-024-03057-7
Bank Negara Malaysia. (2022). Financial Stability Review - First Half 2022. https://www.bnm.gov.my
Cheong, Y., Lee, H., & Poon, J. (2020). The impact of e-wallet services on consumer purchase behavior. Asian Journal of Business Research, 10(3), 45–59. https://doi.org/10.14707/ajbr.200086
Csiszárik-Kocsir, Á. (2021). Customer preferences in bank selection before and after the pandemic in the light of financial culture and awareness. Acta Polytechnica Hungarica, 18(11), 151–169.
Davis, F. D. (1989). Perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, and user acceptance of information technology. MIS Quarterly, 13(3), 319–340. https://doi.org/10.2307/249008
Jiang, L., Rashid, A., & Ng, C. (2021). Reward mechanisms in fintech: A consumer behavior perspective. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 59, 102396. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2020.102396
Lee, Y. Y., Gan, C. L., & Liew, T. W. (2022). Do e-wallets trigger impulse purchases? An analysis of Malaysian Gen Y and Gen Z consumers. Journal of Marketing Analytics, 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41270-022-00164-9
Leong, L. Y., Hew, T. S., & Wong, L. W. (2021). Understanding consumer adoption of e-wallets in Malaysia. Industrial Management & Data Systems, 121(9), 1934–1957. https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-12-2020-0701
Pereira, R., Tavarez, J., & Gouveia, C. (2020). Trust and the use of digital payments during COVID-19. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 161, 120297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120297
Sia, B. K., & Kwek, C. L. (2020). Security, trust, and digital payment adoption in Malaysia. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 38(7), 1569–1585. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJBM-05-2019-0179
Wang, M., Zhang, T., Liu, Y., & Li, X. (2022). Pleasure of paying when using mobile payment: Evidence from EEG and behavioral data. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 100406. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.100406
Yang, S. (2021). Mobile payment usage behavior in Southeast Asia. Information Systems Frontiers, 23, 1437–1451. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10796-020-10010-3
Copyright (c) 2025 Masri Abdul Lasi, Huam Hon Tat, Amer Hamzah Jantan
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Author (s) should affirm that the material has not been published previously. It has not been submitted and it is not under consideration by any other journal. At the same time author (s) need to execute a publication permission agreement to assume the responsibility of the submitted content and any omissions and errors therein. After submission of revised paper in the light of suggestions of the reviewers, the editorial team edits and formats manuscripts to bring uniformity and standardization in published material.
This work will be licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) and under condition of the license, users are free to read, copy, remix, transform, redistribute, download, print, search or link to the full texts of articles and even build upon their work as long as they credit the author for the original work. Moreover, as per journal policy author (s) hold and retain copyrights without any restrictions.
