제품유형과 조절초점이 다양성 묶음상품과 동일제품 묶음상품 선호에 미치는 영향

Abstract

This research examines the influence of consumer regulatory focus on preference for product bundles. Product bundling is a type of consumer promotion in which multiple products are combined as a single comprehensive package, commonly accompanying with price discounts. This research focuses on the non-variety bundle that includes multiple units of the same item and the variety bundle that is composed of different products that vary in terms of ingredients, taste, or flavor, and examines the influence of consumer regulatory focus on preference for non-variety and variety bundles. It is hypothesized that between the two types of bundles, variety (vs. non-variety) bundle is preferred for consumers with higher promotion (vs. prevention) focus. This prediction is based on the theory of regulatory focus that people with promotion-focus tend to seek diversification, whereas people with prevention-focus tend to prefer safety in their purchase. The results of two empirical studies show that regulatory focus has a significant influence on preference for product bundles. Study 1 tested the influence of consumers’ chronic regulatory focus on choice between variety bundle and non-variety bundle options. The results showed that the regulatory focus of the participants was significantly related to the choice of variety (vs. non-variety) bundle. Consumers with higher promotion (vs. prevention) focused were more likely to select the variety (vs. non-variety) bundle. Study 2 re-examined the influence of regulatory focus on preference for bundle by examining its influence on the attitude toward the variety and non-variety bundle products. The results of Study 2 showed that the attitude toward the variety bundle was positively related to the participants’ chronic promotion-focus, whereas the attitude toward the non-variety bundle was positively related to the participants’ chronic prevention-focus. Consequently, the results of two empirical studies present strong evidence that evaluation of the variety bundle is positively related to consumers’ promotion focus, whereas evaluation of the non-variety bundle was positively related to prevention focus. The result was significant in bundle choice (Study 1) and attitude toward bundles (Study 2). The paper also present theoretical contributions, managerial implications, limitations, and directions for future research. This research contribute to the related research domains by presenting that consumer regulatory focus is one of consumer characteristics has a strong influence on preference for bundle types. This research also contribute to the sales promotion research by testing the factors that influence consumer preference for variety and non-variety bundles. In addition, this research presents important practical implications. For instance, this research highlights the importance of identifying the right target consumers when promoting bundled products. A firm should target its marketing effort toward the consumers with promotion focus when promoting variety bundle and toward the consumers with prevention focus when promoting non-variety bundles. This paper also presents directions for future research.