The Day of the Week Effect in Consumer Behavior: Analyzing Utilitarian and Hedonistic Consumer Modes

Abstract

Marketing research has long acknowledged that consumers act differently around traditional holidays and family occasions. Further, the seasonal nature of consumption is well documented. Retailing and other fields of research have acknowledged that the day of the week impacts the behaviors of individuals. The finance literature, for example, has long noted the presence of a day of the week effect within the investment sector. Using daily U.S. website activity by 10 million internet users per day over a two year period, this study finds evidence of a day of the week effect in consumer behavior over 16 of 18 industries studied using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression. Ten of the industries were found to be weekend dominant. Six industries experienced weekday spikes in activity. Using qualitative analysis methods, a model of utilitarian and hedonistic consumer behavior, based on the day of the week effect, is presented.