The time code of online consumption: Exploring the impact of work hours on online consumption in the retail industry

The growth of e-commerce has led to a rise in online consumption, while the online environment usually muddles consumers' sense of time, which easily brings about rising on time during consumption. Building on the Beckerian model of consumption, we find that increasing work hours may constrain employees' online consumption. Using 15,529 employee samples from China Family Panel Studies (CFPS), this paper examines the effect of work hours on consumers' online consumption in the retail industry. The IV-Heckman method and the stimulus-organism-response (S–O-R) framework have been applied. Empirical findings show that increasing work hours significantly reduces employees' online consumption. This study reveals the causal effect of work hours on online consumption both theoretically and empirically.