Buy now, worry later: pay-later advertising, consumer desire, and the linguistic normalization of debt in Indonesia

Suaidi

doi:10.67490/ijle.v1i3.1022

Authors

Suaidi Universitas Islam Negeri Madura Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.67490/ijle.v1i3.1022

Keywords:

consumer desire, debt normalization, digital lending, Indonesia, pay-later advertising

Abstract

Background: Pay-later advertising in Indonesia has become a prominent site where digital retail, consumer credit, and platform persuasion converge, yet its linguistic role in making debt appear ordinary remains insufficiently examined. Objective: This study examines how Indonesian pay-later advertising frames deferred payment as desire, convenience, access, and financially acceptable consumption. Method: This study applies corpus-assisted critical discourse analysis to 18 primary public advertising and product texts, supported by secondary and regulatory contextual materials, using lexical framing, pragmatic-semiotic analysis, and risk-visibility audit. Results: Promotional discourse is dominated by savings-oriented and immediacy-oriented frames that foreground “0%,” flexibility, and present access while reducing the salience of repayment obligation. Debt is further softened through burden-reduction wording, platform legitimacy, and aspirational displacement that make borrowing appear compatible with smart, modern, and routine consumption. Risk-related information is unevenly visible, with cost and tenor more prominent than penalty, default, and explicit debt naming. Implication: These findings show that BNPL advertising should be evaluated not only as marketing, but also as financial discourse that shapes consumer understandings of obligation. Novelty: This study offers a discourse-based model for explaining how pay-later promotion normalizes debt through the interaction of desire, temporality, and selective risk visibility.

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