Online flash shopping has continued to gained popularity since its emergence. From the perspective of informational cascade, our study explores the psychological processes of consumer purchase decision-making in online flash sales. We investigate how external environment influences user purchase intention, as well as the psychological variables and cognitive aspects involved. Our analysis demonstrates that consumers’ propensity to imitate others and their positive perceptions of value markedly enhance their purchase intention, and that preorder size and consistency of product reviews significantly strengthen the psychology of imitation. Moreover, consumers’ regulatory focus moderates the effects of imitation, weakening self-information, and perceived value on purchase intention. Introducing the informational cascade perspective into online flash sales research, our study provides new insights into how information elements and perceived value influence consumers' impulse purchase intention. Using these insights, e-commerce retailers can develop strategies that foster a sense of urgency and excitement among consumers in online flash shopping. By ensuring consistency in customer reviews, and tactically highlighting essential product details such as pre-sale quantities, retailers can enhanced the perceived value of their products. Furthermore, meticulous management of sale duration, product assortment, and information visibility can strengthen purchase intention during flash sales. Our study enriches the understanding of consumer decision-making under the influences of herding and informational cascades.

网上闪购自出现以来持续受到欢迎。我们的研究从信息级联的角度探讨了在线闪购中消费者购买决策的心理过程。我们研究外部环境如何影响用户购买意愿，以及所涉及的心理变量和认知方面。我们的分析表明，消费者模仿他人的倾向及其对价值的积极认知显着增强了他们的购买意愿，而预购数量和产品评论的一致性显着强化了模仿心理。此外，消费者的监管重点调节了模仿、削弱自我信息和感知价值对购买意愿的影响。我们的研究将信息级联视角引入在线闪购研究中，为信息元素和感知价值如何​​影响消费者的冲动购买意图提供了新的见解。利用这些见解，电子商务零售商可以制定策略，在网上闪购中培养消费者的紧迫感和兴奋感。通过确保客户评论的一致性，并有策略地强调重要的产品细节（例如预售数量），零售商可以提高其产品的感知价值。此外，对销售时长、产品种类和信息可视性的精细管理可以增强闪购期间的购买意愿。我们的研究丰富了对羊群效应和信息级联影响下的消费者决策的理解。