When Intertemporal Rewards Are Hedonic,Larger Units of Wait Time Boost Patience

In intertemporal choices between smaller‐sooner (SS) and larger‐later (LL) rewards, five studies reveal that patience for the LL option is influenced by an interactive effect of the measurement units used to express wait time (large vs. small) and the type of the reward (hedonic vs. utilitarian). Specifically, larger time units boost patience, but more so when rewards are hedonic rather than utilitarian. In line with the numerosity heuristic, the effect of time units on patience is mediated by larger time units shrinking wait time perception. This effect arises because hedonic (vs. utilitarian) rewards promote a reliance on heuristics rather than systematic calculations. Therefore, a more calculative mindset diminishes the effect of units even for hedonic rewards and eliminates the hedonic‐utilitarian asymmetry. These results contribute to research on numerosity, intertemporal choice, and hedonic‐utilitarian differences, and offer a simple tool for practitioners to influence patience.     

Gift Cards and Mental Accounting: Green‐lighting Hedonic Spending

In three studies, we examine the mental accounting rules that govern how gift cards are used. We predicted that their identity as gift cards would shift consumption from utilitarian to hedonic goods even in contexts where both types of goods are available and the consumer's needs are unchanged. In Study 1a, participants were asked to imagine that they had both a gift card and a specified amount of cash and needed to purchase both a hedonic item and a utilitarian item. When asked which currency they would use to buy which item, respondents were significantly more likely to say they would use the gift card to buy the hedonic item. Study 1b replicated this result and found that it was tied to participants' beliefs how different types of money should be used. In Study 2, we found that participants who were required to spend a certain amount of their compensation in a laboratory store spent more on hedonic goods if their payment was in the form of a gift card. In Study 3, we analyzed transactions at a campus bookstore and found that shoppers tended to spend disproportionately on hedonic goods when using their gift cards than when making credit card purchases. Taken together, these studies indicate that people tend to assign the monetary value of a gift card to a hedonic mental account and spend it accordingly. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Selection of Freebies and the Preference for Freebie Promotions—A Perspective on Item Characteristics

Research on consumer decision making has mainly focused on individual products; however, many products are purchased with other items as part of a promotional package. This paper explores how the characteristics (hedonic versus utilitarian) of the items in freebie promotional packages (e.g., buy one item and get a different item for free) influence consumers' preference for the promotional package. Additionally, the authors examine how the characteristics of the focal item influence consumers' choice of either a hedonic or a utilitarian freebie item. Five experiments, rooted in the concepts of consumer avoidance of overloading negative emotions and motivation to seek hedonic pleasure, show that a package with one utilitarian and one hedonic item generates higher purchase intentions and willingness to pay than a package with either two hedonic or two utilitarian items. Furthermore, consumers who purchase a hedonic (utilitarian) focal item are more likely to choose a utilitarian (hedonic) freebie. These effects exist not only in hypothetical scenarios but also in an incentive‐compatible design. Moreover, the impact of the focal item characteristics on consumer choice of freebie is moderated by acquisition format and time separation. The authors also explore the internal mechanism influencing consumers' freebie choices. The findings have significant implications for both theory and practice. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regulatory focus and preference reversal between hedonic and utilitarian consumption

This article explores the impact of consumers' regulatory goals on their relative focus on hedonic (versus utilitarian) benefits of products. Drawing from extant literature, we argue that promotion‐focused consumers will exhibit more favorable attitude towards a product when its hedonic benefits are highlighted in comparison to its utilitarian benefits. Prevention‐focused consumers on the other hand will exhibit more favorable attitude towards a product when its utilitarian benefits are highlighted in comparison to its hedonic benefits. We further argue that this effect is moderated by contextual factors, such as evaluation mode. In addition, we argue that the posited difference only holds when the hedonic and utilitarian products are evaluated individually. When the two products are evaluated jointly, both promotion and prevention‐focused individuals will exhibit more favorable attitude towards the hedonic product. Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses and findings supported our predictions. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Do stories (always) make food products taste better? The boundary effects of matching package type and product dimension

This research examines when the narrative transportation induced by storytelling influences taste. In a field experiment conducted in two wine stores, we first demonstrate that storytelling enhances actual taste through narrative transportation, but only when the package type matches the product. In the next experiment, we determine that product dimension (hedonic vs. utilitarian) is another boundary condition. We specifically show that the effect of storytelling through narrative transportation on expected taste is positively stronger for utilitarian products than hedonic products. This article contributes to the research on storytelling, narrative transportation, and sensory marketing by showing that storytelling indirectly enhances taste for products with matching packages and utilitarian products. This article also offers important implications for marketers and retailers who aim to enhance the perceived taste of their products.     

心理账户的认知标签与情绪标签对消费决策行为的影响

Mental accounting is the set of cognitive operations used by individuals and households to organize, evaluate, and keep track of financial activities. Mental accounting proposes that people utilize a set of cognitive labels to evaluate their financial activities, each of which is associated with different preferences to consume (Levav & McGraw, 2009; Kahneman & Tversky 1984; Thaler 1985, 1990). Mental accounting researchers have shown that windfall gains are spent more readily and frivolously than ordinary income. Consumers prefer to spend their windfall gains on hedonic consumptions but spend their ordinary incomes on utilitarian consumptions. Levav and McGraw (2009) suggested that emotional accounting, including people’s feelings about money, also influences consumer choices. When people have negative feelings toward windfall, they opt to make utilitarian expenditures. However, the process of how cognitive (windfall or ordinary income) and affective (positive or negative emotion) tags interact in consumer behavior was not explored. This study proposes that both cognitive tag and affective tags in mental accounting affect consumer decision making. The objective of this study is to explore the interactive effect of cognitive and affective tags in mental accounting on consumer decision through four studies. In studies 1a and 1b, the effect of cognitive and affective tags in mental accounting on consumer decision making behavior was measured. Study 1a showed that the positive tag of windfall income is preferred for hedonic consumption, whereas the negative tag of windfall income is preferred for utilitarian consumption. Both positive and negative tags of ordinary income are preferred for utilitarian consumption. Study1b utilized a field study to examine actual consumption behavior. The results showed that when people received 15 Yuan RMB as ordinary income, they prefer to spend it on utilitarian consumption regardless of the positive or negative emotion they feel. However, they receive 15 Yuan RMB as windfall income, they prefer to use it for hedonic consumption in the positive emotion and for utilitarian consumption in the negative emotion. Studies 2a and 2b attempted to explore the reason of negative emotion can make windfall income turn from hedonic to utilitarian consumption. Study2a found that when people expect to feel guilty about spending windfall income on hedonic consumption, they would avoid hedonic consumption. Study2b found that when people felt guilty about windfall income, they tend to avoid hedonic consumption. Compared with the low guilt level group, the high guilt level group prefers to use windfall income for utilitarian consumption. These results suggest that cognitive and affective tags influence consumer behavior. The influence of cognitive tag on consumer decision presents the “cognition match effect”, whereas the influence of affective tag on consumer decision presents the “affect match effect”. Both tags also have an interaction effect on consumer decision. Guilt may be a mechanism that results in the negative tag of windfall being preferred for utilitarian consumption.     

亲社会支出对主观幸福感的影响及其作用机制

亲社会支出是指把钱以送礼或慈善捐款的形式花在别人身上, 而不是自己身上。它不仅可以给接受者带来好处, 还可以对给予者的幸福产生积极影响。亲社会支出对幸福感的影响主要体现在亲社会对象及影响效果两个方面, 其边界条件包括了外部与内部因素。通过自我决定理论、社会规范理论、进化理论及社会交换理论, 可以进一步解释亲社会支出影响主观幸福感的内在机制。未来研究需要检验亲社会支出与幸福感之间的边界条件、探究亲社会支出的长期积极效应及提高亲社会支出研究的生态效度。     

The impact of locus of control and priming on the endowment effect

This paper demonstrates the effects of different priming conditions on the endowment effect with respect to seller and buyer roles for individuals with different loci of control. Individuals with an external locus of control process information less rationally, and they are more susceptible to external influences. In addition, the literature reports that when individuals are making a purchasing decision, they tend to perceive the value of the product as being higher because of its utility aspect because decision makers search for reasons and arguments to justify their choices (Shafir 1993; Tversky & Griffin, 1991). Therefore, this study investigates the effects of different priming conditions (utilitarian priming vs. hedonic priming) on the endowment effect according to each type of locus of control (internal vs. external). The results showed that the endowment effect was larger when externals were exposed to utilitarian priming as opposed to hedonic priming. Finally, the implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The impact of different product formats on inaction inertia

ABSTRACT

The inaction inertia effect describes situations in which a person rejects an opportunity after having forgone a relatively superior opportunity. This study explores whether product format (hedonic vs. utilitarian) affects the inaction inertia effect. The authors build on previous findings that show comparisons of utilitarian benefits are easier than hedonic benefits, and hedonic consumption (vs. utilitarian consumption) usually generates greater pleasure. The authors propose that people show higher inaction inertia after they have missed a superior utilitarian consumption opportunity than after they have missed a superior hedonic consumption opportunity. This prediction was tested and supported in three different experiments. Moreover, the authors found that differences in comparability between products, rather than the hedonic pleasure, explain differences in inaction inertia effects. These findings contribute to the inaction inertia literature and marketing practice.     

Buying Life Experiences for the “Right” Reasons: A Validation of the Motivations for Experiential Buying Scale

Although numerous studies have demonstrated the hedonic benefits of spending money on life experiences instead of material possessions, there has been no attempt to determine how different motivations for experiential consumption relate to psychological need satisfaction and well-being. Across five studies (N = 931), guided by self-determination theory, we developed a reliable and valid measure of motivation for experiential consumption—the Motivation for Experiential Buying Scale—to test these relations. Those who spend money on life experience for autonomous reasons (e.g., “because they are an integral part of my life”) report more autonomy, competence, relatedness, flourishing, and vitality; however, those who spend money on life experiences for controlled (e.g., “for the recognition I’ll get from others”) or amotivated reasons (e.g., “I don’t really know”) reported less autonomy, competence, and relatedness. These results demonstrated that the benefits of experiential consumption depend on why one buys life experiences.     

产品类型对购物冲量效应的调节作用分析

基于享乐品-实用品有关研究及购物冲量效应, 考察产品类型对购物冲量效应的调节作用及其内在机制。实验一通过现场研究验证购买实用品提高后续购买概率, 购买享乐品降低其概率; 实验二为实验室实验, 再次验证该调节作用, 并验证内在原因：购买享乐品更可能激发内疚感、花钱的痛苦甚至负面自我形象和高层次目标, 导致理由性思维占主导, 前次购买引发的应用思维定式受到削弱。相比于实用品, 购买享乐品引发购物冲量效应的可能性更低。     

Does variety seeking vary between hedonic and utilitarian products? The role of attribute type

The purpose of this paper is to consider attributes that stimulate variety seeking in hedonic and utilitarian product categories and examine the interaction of product category and attribute type on variety‐seeking behaviour. The results of 3 studies indicate that in hedonic product categories, consumers seek more variety in sensory attributes, whereas in utilitarian product categories, they seek more variety in functional attributes. This interaction effect is explained by the fact that the satiation rates of sensory and functional attributes depend on the nature of the product category. In product categories, which are not clearly hedonic or utilitarian, this interaction effect is not evident. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.     

License to sin: Self‐licensing as a mechanism underlying hedonic consumption

Hedonic overconsumption is often considered to be caused by impulsive factors. The current paper investigates whether self‐licensing, relying on reasons to justify subsequent gratification, can also be included as a significant contributor to hedonic consumption. Two studies were conducted to investigate whether self‐licensing can account for an increase in hedonic consumption while ruling out impulsive factors such as resource depletion, negative affect, and visceral state as alternative explanations. A pilot study indicated that perceiving oneself as having invested greater effort and thus having a self‐licensing cue did not lead to a decline in self‐control capacity compared with not having a self‐licensing cue. The main study employed the same procedure and established that having a licensing cue did lead to increased snack intake while controlling for impulsive factors. Together, these studies support the notion that self‐licensing is a separate mechanism leading to hedonic gratification independent of impulsive factors. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

“电子钱包”让人花钱更多？——手机支付的心理账户效应

为探究手机支付使用者消费增加的现象及其心理账户效应,使用计算机程序对114名被试进行了三项模拟购物实验。实验发现：（1）手机支付组被试的商品消费次数和金额都显著高于现金支付组被试,且这种差异体现在功能型商品的消费上。（2）手机支付时被试不会倾向于对大金额的消费进行控制,对大钱和小钱的花费不存在显著差异。（3）手机支付时收到红包的被试消费次数和金额显著高于账户常规收入的被试,且更多用于享乐型消费。总的来看,手机支付减弱了对大额金钱和意外收入的消费控制,非现金支付让消费者花钱更多。     

To whom and when to give: Effects of intimacy and obligation on expressive motives,gift choice,and information search in gift giving

When consumers purchase gifts for others, their behaviors are different from those when they buy something for themselves. The present study aims to understand the entire gift purchase process including perception of the recipient and occasion, formation of motives, gift type choices, and information search. For this purpose, an expressive motive (motive to express the relationship or givers' self through a gift) was introduced and hypotheses were developed on how perceived intimacy and obligation influence expressive motives and how these motives affect consumers' choice of gift types (hedonic vs. utilitarian) and information search modes (online vs. offline). A memory‐based survey involving a student sample (n = 355) was conducted, and three major findings were revealed. First, more intimacy and less obligation increased expressive motives. Second, expressive motives influenced the giver's choice of a gift type. More specifically, givers with high expressive motives tended to choose a gift with a high level of hedonic quality and a low level of utilitarian quality. Finally, gift types that givers intended to purchase influenced information search. Givers searched for information online more when they purchased gifts with high utilitarian quality whereas they searched for offline information more when they purchased gifts with high hedonic quality. Results have practical implications for manufacturers and retailers whose businesses involve gifts.     

Goal–Attribute Compatibility in Consumer Choice

This research advances the notion that product evaluations are a function of the compatibility of consumers’ goals with the attributes describing choice alternatives. Building on the concept of self‐regulation, it is argued that attribute evaluations are moderated by individuals’ goal orientation and, specifically, that attributes compatible with individuals’ regulatory orientation tend to be overweighted in choice. This proposition is tested by examining the impact of goal orientation on consumer preferences in 3 different contexts: (a) hedonic versus utilitarian attributes, (b) performance versus reliability attributes, and (c) attractive versus unattractive (good vs. bad) attributes. The data show that prevention‐focused individuals are more likely to overweight (in relative terms) utilitarian, reliability‐related, and unattractive attributes than promotion‐focused consumers, who are more likely to place relatively more weight on hedonic, performance‐related, and attractive attributes. Considered together, these findings support the proposition that attributes compatible with individuals’ goal orientation tend to be overweighted in choice.     

外观新颖性对消费者购买意愿的影响：自我建构与产品类型的调节效应

外观创新在市场竞争中的地位越来越突出,然而因此而导致的成败案例都很普遍。如何进行外观创新更受消费者欢迎,其内在机制是什么,我们却知之甚少。基于独特性需求理论、风险感知理论及自我建构理论,本文探讨了自我建构与外观新颖性对消费者购买意愿的交互作用、影响机制以及边界条件。通过3个实验,发现对于独立型自我建构的消费者而言,高外观新颖性能引发独特性需求从而提高购买意愿,而对于相依型自我建构而言,低外观新颖性则通过降低社会风险感知从而提高购买意愿;同时,本文也确定了产品类型对该机制的调节作用,具体来讲,对于实用品,所有消费者都对低外观新颖性产品具有更强的购买意愿,而对于享乐品,所有消费者都对高外观新颖性产品具有更强的购买意愿。     

Business or pleasure? Utilitarian versus hedonic considerations in emotion regulation

It is widely accepted that emotions have utilitarian as well as hedonic consequences. Nevertheless, it is typically assumed that individuals regulate emotions to obtain hedonic, rather than utilitarian, benefits. In this study, the authors tested whether individuals represent the utility of pleasant and unpleasant emotions and whether they would be motivated to experience unpleasant emotions if they believed they could be useful. First, findings revealed that participants explicitly viewed approach emotions (e.g., excitement) as useful for obtaining rewards, but viewed avoidance emotions (e.g., worry) as useful for avoiding threats. Second, this pattern was replicated in implicit representations of emotional utility, which were dissociated from explicit ones. Third, implicit, but not explicit, representations of emotional utility predicted motives for emotion regulation. When anticipating a threatening task, participants who viewed emotions such as worry and fear as useful for avoiding threats preferred to engage in activities that were likely to increase worry and fear (vs. excitement) before the task. These findings demonstrate that utilitarian considerations play an important, if underappreciated, role in emotion regulation.     

Error Patterns in the Prediction of Fertility Behavior1

Two separate three-wave, 2-year, longitudinal studies investigated error patterns in two decision models' predictions of couples' birth-planning decisions. One study tested the subjective expected utility model with a sample of married couples from the state of Washington and the other study tested the Fishbein model using a sample of married women from Illinois. Consistent with the proposal that predictions of deviation from the status quo result in a higher proportion of prediction errors than predictions of nondeviation from the status quo, both studies demonstrated that when couples were predicted to decide not to become pregnant, predictive accuracy was very high, but when couples were predicted to decide to become pregnant, predictive accuracy was significantly lower. Two hypothesized explanations for the biased error pattern were considered and received some support. The first, resembling the concept of inertia, is that a stronger motivational force is required to compel a person to elect a change from the status quo than is required to maintain the status quo. The second focuses on changes in decisions as a function of time and events. The heuristic value of directly examining prediction errors, in contrast to the more prevalent practice of reporting only one summary index of goodness of fit, was discussed.     

Conflict detection during moral decision-making: evidence for deontic reasoners’ utilitarian sensitivity

Moral dilemmas often force us to decide between deontological (harming others is wrong) and utilitarian (harming others can be acceptable depending on the consequences) considerations. Cognitive scientists have shown that utilitarian responders typically engage demanding deliberate thinking to override a conflicting intuitive deontological response. A key question is whether deontic responders also take utilitarian considerations into account and detect that there are conflicting responses at play. The present study addressed this issue by contrasting people's processing of moral dilemmas in which utilitarian and deontological considerations cued conflicting or non-conflicting decisions. Results showed that deontic responders were slower and less confident about their decision when solving the conflict (vs. no-conflict) dilemmas. This suggests that they are considering both deontic and utilitarian aspects of their decision and indicates that a deontic decision is more informed and less oblivious than it might appear.