TY - JOUR
T1 - The freedom of constraint
T2 - How perceptions of time limitations alleviate guilt from two-phase indulgent consumption
AU - Matherly, Ted
AU - Ghosh, Anastasiya Pocheptsova
AU - Joshi, Yogesh V.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 the Association for Consumer Research. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/4/1
Y1 - 2019/4/1
N2 - When purchasing indulgent products, the character is tics of the purchase, such as price discounts and redemption windows (the amount of time available to consume the product), can affect the likelihood of purchase. We show how these characteristics jointly influence consumers’ likelihood of purchasing indulgent products and identify the consumer lay theories that drive this effect. Although price discounts can alleviate the anticipated guilt associated with indulgent consumption, we propose that consumers believe the guilt-reducing effects of discounts fade over time. In four experiments, we show that, based on this belief, consumers strategically protect their enjoyment of indulgent products by choosing shorter time periods to consume discounted indulgent purchases, and by preferring discounted indulgent products offered with shorter (vs. longer) redemption windows. We find convergent evidence in sales data from a large discount offers website, observing higher purchase rates for discounted products with shorter redemption windows compared with those for longer ones.
AB - When purchasing indulgent products, the character is tics of the purchase, such as price discounts and redemption windows (the amount of time available to consume the product), can affect the likelihood of purchase. We show how these characteristics jointly influence consumers’ likelihood of purchasing indulgent products and identify the consumer lay theories that drive this effect. Although price discounts can alleviate the anticipated guilt associated with indulgent consumption, we propose that consumers believe the guilt-reducing effects of discounts fade over time. In four experiments, we show that, based on this belief, consumers strategically protect their enjoyment of indulgent products by choosing shorter time periods to consume discounted indulgent purchases, and by preferring discounted indulgent products offered with shorter (vs. longer) redemption windows. We find convergent evidence in sales data from a large discount offers website, observing higher purchase rates for discounted products with shorter redemption windows compared with those for longer ones.
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U2 - 10.1086/701822
DO - 10.1086/701822
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85082738101
VL - 4
SP - 147
EP - 159
JO - Journal of the Association for Consumer Research
JF - Journal of the Association for Consumer Research
SN - 2378-1815
IS - 2
ER -