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1 – 10 of over 5000Jungsil Choi and Hyun Young Park
This study aims to investigate the moderating role of hedonic and utilitarian purchase motives for the presentation order effect. Although past research finds that presenting item…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the moderating role of hedonic and utilitarian purchase motives for the presentation order effect. Although past research finds that presenting item first and price later (e.g. 70 items for $29) increases consumers’ purchase intention more than presenting the information in the opposite order (e.g. $29 for 70 items), the effect was mostly examined in a hedonic consumption context. This study examines whether the effect is applicable for hedonic purchases but is less applicable for utilitarian purchases, and why.
Design/methodology/approach
Seven experiments tested the moderating effect of purchase motives for the presentation order effect. Two serial mediation analyses were conducted to examine the underlying mechanism.
Findings
The “item-price” (vs “price-item”) order increases hedonic purchases, but not utilitarian purchases. Because consumers feel guilty about hedonic purchases, they engage in motivated information processing to perceive greater value from their hedonic purchase when item (benefit) information is presented first and price (cost) information is presented later. Perceiving greater value reduces guilt, which consequently increases hedonic purchases. In contrast, the order effect is not observed for utilitarian purchases that do not elicit guilt. When a price discount is offered, the order effect is reversed because actual savings justify hedonic purchases better than perceived savings resulting from motivated information processing.
Practical implications
When promoting hedonic products, marketers are recommended to present item information before price information, unless a price discount is offered, in which case the price should be presented first.
Originality/value
This research introduces a novel moderator for the presentation order effect and a novel underlying mechanism, driven by the motivation to alleviate guilt associated with hedonic purchases.
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Marie-Cecile Cervellon and Lindsey I. Carey
This paper aims to investigate the influence of consumer reviews on the evaluation, post-experience, of products with a combination of sustainable, hedonic and utilitarian…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the influence of consumer reviews on the evaluation, post-experience, of products with a combination of sustainable, hedonic and utilitarian properties.
Design/methodology/approach
In the first instance, consumer reviews for organic and non-organic cosmetics posted on the French Web site beauté-test.com were analyzed. Second, a full-factorial two product types (organic and non-organic) × three reviews (positive, negative and no reviews) experiment was conducted. Sixty French women tested a beauty product and evaluated it on hedonic and utilitarian (ambiguous and non-ambiguous) properties. In a second experiment, 132 English-speaking students evaluated an herbal tea at home, along a full-factorial two product types (fair-trade and non-fair-trade) × three product properties (hedonic, utilitarian ambiguous and utilitarian non-ambiguous) × two reviews (negative review and no review) between-subject design.
Findings
First, consumers are significantly less influenced by reviews for hedonic products compared to utilitarian products. In particular, they rely on reviews when evaluating utilitarian ambiguous properties (e.g. anti-aging properties) which they find difficult to judge on their own. Second, consumers are more resistant to the persuasive effect of reviews when the product focus is on sustainable (organic or fair-trade) credentials, in particular when judging ambiguous properties.
Originality/value
This paper explores a topic neglected in the literature so far: the moderating role of product properties and sustainability, in particular, on consumers’ responses to persuasion and consumer reviews in the context of this paper. Its originality lies in the demonstration that consumers learn through product testing for hedonic and utilitarian unambiguous product properties and through consumer reviews for utilitarian ambiguous product properties. Additionally, it highlights the resistance of sustainable products (organic and fair-trade in this research) to negative product reviews.
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Wei Xu and XiaoTong Jin
We examine how social exclusion and temporal distance (i.e. being socially excluded in the present or the anticipation of exclusion in the future) shape whether people choose…
Abstract
Purpose
We examine how social exclusion and temporal distance (i.e. being socially excluded in the present or the anticipation of exclusion in the future) shape whether people choose hedonic or utilitarian products.
Design/methodology/approach
We conduct four experiments to test the hypotheses. Study 1a and study 1b provide the initial evidence that consumers strategically engage in differentiation in response to social exclusion in the present and in the future. Study 2 and study 3 replicate the basic interaction effect of social exclusion and temporal distance on product choices and test the underlying mechanism.
Findings
We find that temporal distance affects consumer product choices through people’s coping strategies. When consumers are socially excluded, they are more likely to have a problem-solving tendency and more likely to choose utilitarian products. In contrast, when consumers imagine being socially excluded in the future, they are more likely to have to use emotions to solve problems and choose hedonic products.
Originality/value
Our study contributes to the literature in several ways. First, it deepens our understanding of the psychological drivers of social exclusion in consumer research. Second, it offers insights into understanding prior findings that document both problem-solving and emotion-regulating behavior in response to social exclusion. Third, by showing that social exclusion and temporal distance can influence the type of products selected, our findings contribute to a new stream of work that examines the impact of people’s fundamental desire for control on consumer behavior.
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Valentin Gattol, Maria Sääksjärvi, Tripat Gill and Jan Schoormans
Previous research in the context of feature fit has examined the effects of congruence (i.e. more specifically, the extent to which a new feature and the product are similar in…
Abstract
Purpose
Previous research in the context of feature fit has examined the effects of congruence (i.e. more specifically, the extent to which a new feature and the product are similar in the hedonic-utilitarian benefits they provide to consumers). The purpose of this paper is to examine a second dimension of feature fit: complementarity (i.e. the extent to which a new feature is related and contributing to the main functionality of the product).
Design/methodology/approach
The role of feature fit is examined in two experimental studies (n=593) in the context of feature additions, and also for feature deletions.
Findings
The results showed that complementarity adds value to a product as an additional dimension of feature fit beyond congruence, complementarity matters more for a hedonic than for a utilitarian product, and complementarity can compensate for lack of congruence.
Originality/value
For a product developer, adding new features to a product offers an array of choices in terms of what feature(s) to include. Although having a large pool of potential features to choose from is attractive it can also prove problematic, as products may become overly complex and features do not fit well together. The results demonstrate the importance of both congruence and complementarity as predictors of feature fit when features are added to or deleted from products.
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Muhammad Zakky Azhari and Adi Zakaria Afiff
This paper aims to examine two important factors in developing convergence products: the congruence of basic product and the addition in terms of utilitarian or hedonic…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine two important factors in developing convergence products: the congruence of basic product and the addition in terms of utilitarian or hedonic consumption goals, and the overall coherence of consumption goals. In recent years, the proliferation of convergence products, i.e. any product that combines two or more basic product functionalities in consumer electronics, is increasingly prevalent. For manufacturers, the lingering question in developing convergence products is what kind of basic product functionalities can be combined and can elicit favorable response from consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental design, with basic product functionality’s consumption goals (utilitarian, hedonic) as the between-subject factor, and the additional product functionality’s consumption goals (utilitarian, hedonic) and the coherence of consumption goals (coherent addition, incoherent addition) as the two within-subject factors.
Findings
It confirms and validates prior work on goal congruence effects. More importantly, this study finds that overall consumption goal coherence elicits higher value addition irrespective of goal congruence or incongruence on utilitarian or hedonic consumption goals.
Research limitations/implications
In some literatures, the combination of two or more product functionalities from different product categories is considered as product bundling. While product bundling concept can be used in many different product categories, convergence product concept is utilized more specifically in consumer electronics.
Practical implications
As convergence era offers wide opportunities for manufacturers to develop new convergence products, this study provides guidance as to what kind of new functionalities need to be added.
Originality/value
Not only does the present research investigates the likely success of convergence products involving the congruence of basic product and the addition, but also in more comprehensive way by looking at the overall coherence of consumption goals.
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Yimin Zhu and Peipei Lin
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the product type (hedonic product and utilitarian product) and reward type (hedonic gift and utilitarian gift) influence customer…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how the product type (hedonic product and utilitarian product) and reward type (hedonic gift and utilitarian gift) influence customer referral likelihood in referral reward program.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors test the effect of the product type and reward type on referral likelihood through two studies. Study 1 produces a 2 (product type: hedonic product and utilitarian product) × 2 (reward type: hedonic gift and utilitarian gift) factorial design to test H1, H2 and H3, that is, the effect of the product type and reward type on referral likelihood and their interaction effect. On the basis of study 1, study 2 will select different subjects, different products and different incentive allocation schemes to test H1, H2 and H3 again.
Findings
The results are as follow: first, the product type has significant influences on referral likelihood. Compared with a utilitarian product, customers are more likely to make referrals when consuming a hedonic product. Second, the product type and reward type have significant interactions to referral likelihood. When rewarded a hedonic gift, customers who consumed the hedonic product have great willing to make referrals; however, when rewarded the utilitarian gift, customer who consumed the utilitarian product have great willing to make referrals.
Originality/value
The authors’ findings contribute to the literature of consumers’ recommendation in the following aspects. First, from the perspective of enterprises which launch referral reward program, the present research demonstrates the product type (hedonic product and utilitarian product) and reward type (hedonic gift and utilitarian gift) influence customer referral likelihood. Previous studies discuss attributes of product that influence consumers’ referral likelihood, such as product sensitivity (Kornish and Li, 2010), product involvement (Zhu et al., 2011), brand strength (Ryu and Feick, 2007) and price (Xiao et al., 2011). However, few studies focus on the hedonic and utilitarian attributes of products and explore their impact on the willingness to recommend. This paper makes a useful supplement to the research gap. Most previous studies simply divide the type of reward into tangible and intangible (Shi and Wojnicki, 2007), cash and coupon (Wang, 2010) or cash and gift (Huang et al., 2013). This paper enriches the research on reward types and refines the types of gifts in a referral reward program. The present research divides the type of reward into hedonic gifts and utilitarian gifts, and applies benefit congruency frameworks (Chandon et al., 2000), attitude theory (Eagly and Chaiken, 1993) and over-justification effect (Deci and Ryan, 1985).
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Saman Khajehzadeh, Harmen Oppewal and Dewi Tojib
This paper aims to investigate the redemption of promotional offers in a mobile service context. It specifically studies how mobile coupon redemption depends on the type of product…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the redemption of promotional offers in a mobile service context. It specifically studies how mobile coupon redemption depends on the type of product offered, the convenience of accessing a retailer and the consumer’s shopping motivation. Retailers increasingly use mobile coupon services as a complementary channel to send promotional offers to consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
Two studies examine how the three factors interact in determining coupon redemption. Both involve a scenario-based experiment. Participants are over 750 members of an online panel in the USA.
Findings
The results show that when the retailer offers a hedonic product, consumers’ shopping motivation matters more, whereas when the retailer offers a utilitarian product, consumers’ location dominates their redemption intentions.
Research limitations/implications
One limitation of this research is the use of hypothetical scenarios. Although this limitation was addressed by conducting a quasi-experiment, future research could be carried out using a field experiment.
Practical implications
Results suggest that in a mobile channel, personalization of promotions is more important for utilitarian shoppers than for hedonic shoppers.
Originality/value
Drawing on the theories of regulatory focus and preference for the status quo, this paper posits that mobile coupon redemption is determined by whether the offer requires consumers to divert from their focal shopping motivation (i.e. their status quo). The authors explain this difference by showing the mediating role of regulatory fit.
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Khan Md. Raziuddin Taufique, Md. Mahiuddin Sabbir, Sarah Quinton and Syed Saad Andaleeb
Acknowledging previous scholarly focus on functional attributes in understanding technology acceptance behaviour, the current study aims to offer a novel perspective by…
Abstract
Purpose
Acknowledging previous scholarly focus on functional attributes in understanding technology acceptance behaviour, the current study aims to offer a novel perspective by integrating eight different dimensions of utilitarian and hedonic attributes to examine their influence in delivering a holistic web-based retail shopping experience.
Design/methodology/approach
The research model was tested and validated through data collected from 370 online shoppers across both hedonic and utilitarian product ranges. Hypotheses were tested using covariance-based structural equation modelling with multi-group analysis to examine the moderation effect.
Findings
The findings strongly support the model confirming eight new utilitarian and hedonic dimensions that influence web-based retail shopping behaviour. The findings also confirm that hedonic attributes remain important even for utilitarian product purchasing.
Practical implications
The key managerial implication is the demonstrated need to balance utilitarian and hedonic attributes in web-based retail platforms, where previously, there has been an overemphasis on functional features. Web-based retailers should consider the optimal blend of utilitarian (e.g. information quality) and hedonic (e.g. aesthetic) attributes in the design of a retail shopping site, irrespective of the product category.
Originality/value
This study integrates multiple dimensions of utilitarian and hedonic attributes into a single model and highlights the interplay of these attributes, thus extending the technology acceptance model. This paper also advances scholarship through its identification of attribute impact across different product categories.
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Jia Li, David C. Yen, Pengzhu Zhang and Xuan Liu
Online shopping has recently been evolving more toward the subject area of collaborative online shopping (COS), and customer satisfaction is one of the key determinants for the…
Abstract
Purpose
Online shopping has recently been evolving more toward the subject area of collaborative online shopping (COS), and customer satisfaction is one of the key determinants for the success of COS. In this study, we investigate the effect of product type and gender and their interaction with customer satisfaction through user involvement in a collaborative online shopping context.
Design/methodology/approach
We developed a lab experiment with a mixed two-by-two factorial design to test the proposed research model. We chose gender (male versus female) as the between-subjects factor and product type (utilitarian product versus hedonic product) as the within-subjects factor.
Findings
The obtained results indicate that collaborative shopping may require group members to be more involved for a hedonic product than a utilitarian product. When collaboratively shopping for utilitarian products, male groups tend to show a higher level of involvement than female groups. In contrast, female groups show a higher level of involvement than male groups when collaboratively shopping for hedonic products. Furthermore, our results indicate that greater involvement in COS may lead to higher satisfaction.
Social implications
Websites that sell hedonic products should first adopt the design elements that support COS. Meanwhile, online sellers should be aware that the gender gap still exists as online shopping evolves toward social online shopping. In addition, COS websites should provide more design elements (e.g. co-browsing, avatar embodiment, video chat and voting tools) to stimulate user involvement.
Originality/value
In this paper, we employ the theory of consumption values, which decomposes COS value into the utilitarian and hedonic dimensions, as a theoretical foundation to investigate the effect of product type and gender together as well as their interactions in the COS context. The obtained findings may provide various insights and empirical evidence to improve the understanding of how to target male and female customers across different product types in the COS context.
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Ilgım Dara Benoit and Elizabeth G. Miller
This paper aims to identify two boundary conditions (consumption motive and claim set-size) affecting the effectiveness of an advertisement’s creativity.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to identify two boundary conditions (consumption motive and claim set-size) affecting the effectiveness of an advertisement’s creativity.
Design/methodology/approach
Across two experiments, the authors find support for hypotheses using both hedonic vs utilitarian products (Study 1) and hedonic vs utilitarian decision goals within the same product category (Study 2).
Findings
Creativity is more effective for an advertisement when the consumption motive is utilitarian (vs hedonic). Further, using a larger claim set-size within an advertisement increases (decreases) the effectiveness of advertisement creativity for those with hedonic (utilitarian) consumption motives.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to the creativity literature by showing when creativity matters depending on the consumption motive and claim set-size. In addition, this research expands the utilitarian vs hedonic consumption literature by highlighting another way in which these two motives differ. Finally, this study expands the claim set-size literature by demonstrating that the effects of claim set-size depend on both consumption motive and features of the ad (i.e. its level of creativity).
Practical implications
These findings help marketers manage their advertising budget more effectively and efficiently knowing when advertisement creativity matters and thus when to invest in creativity.
Originality/value
The present research is the first to explicitly study boundary conditions for when ad creativity matters and shows that creativity matters more (i.e. enhances persuasiveness of the ad and attitudes toward the ad) when the consumption motive is utilitarian, especially when ads have small claim set-size. Additionally, creativity matters for hedonic consumption contexts if the advertisement has a large claim size.
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