The effect of winning-losing perception on consumers’ variety-seeking behavior

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the effect of winning-losing perception, including the winning or losing result and the closeness of this result, on consumers’ subsequent variety-seeking behavior.Design/methodology/approachFour experimental designs, one with a modified version of the Tetris game, were used to show how and when winning or losing perceptions will influence individuals’ variety-seeking behavior.FindingsConsumers who have failed in a competition or not achieved a goal tend to seek less variety in their later consumption than do consumers who have succeeded because losing feedback weakens consumers’ perception of their control of personal mastery. This effect only exists when the closeness of winning or losing is narrow (e.g. the success is just missed) and diminishes when the result is clear and obvious.Research limitations/implicationsThe current study has systematically explored the interaction between winning-losing outcomes and the closeness of these outcomes.Practical implicationsThis study offers marketing managers practical guidance on how to use competition results to conduct marketing activities, such as transmitting advertisements for classic flavors to those who have lost in a video game or properly increasing the proportion of new flavors or products in stores or vending machines near sports venues.Originality/valueThis research adds to the literature on competition, which has largely overlooked the possible moderating role of the closeness of the competition result and its influence on individuals’ follow-up irrelevant behaviors and it also adds to the work on variety-seeking behavior, which has not explored the impact of winning-losing perception.