The Effects of Time Delays on Consumers' Use of Different Criteria for Product Purchase Decisions

Recent research has suggested that time delays might result in consumers' reliance on different sets of criteria in making product purchase decisions. A critical criterion among these factors is consumers' product category knowledge. The present study suggests that category knowledge mediates temporally distanced purchase decisions. When product category knowledge is retrieved, it has no or marginal immediate influence on consumers' decisions. However, retrieved product category knowledge has a substantial influence on consumers' decisions if these are delayed, that is, when decisions are made only after some time had elapsed since the exposure to product information. The function of product category knowledge within the decision predictors is conceptualized and demonstrated empirically. Its significance in the marketing reality which involves numerous decisions that are obtained in delay, is discussed.