Sweet or sweat, which should come first: How consumption sequences of vices and virtues influence enjoyment

Abstract

This research examines the effect of the consumption sequence of vices and virtues on consumers’ enjoyment. Five studies show that consuming a virtue after a vice increases consumers’ enjoyment of the overall experience relative to consuming the same items in the opposite sequence. Moreover, this sequence effect disappears when people have no strong goals that the vice violates, when the vice is perceived as less vicious, when the vice and the virtue serve unrelated goals, and when the vice and the virtue are perceived as isolated. These findings provide important guidance on product bundling, service journey design, packaging and marketing communications for vice products and vice/virtue bundles.