Wish list thinking: The quasi‐endowment effect's impact on online wish lists outcomes

Abstract

AbstractMarketing practitioners encourage retailers to incorporate online wish lists into their websites, based on the presumption of increasing future purchases. However, recent papers find that purchasing wish list products is far from guaranteed. We propose that this outcome occurs because online wish lists provide a unique liminal space between ownership and non‐ownership that enables consumers to interact with products without the need to actually purchase them. Across two studies, we find that wish lists engender psychological ownership, enabling the quasi‐endowment effect and increasing the likelihood of purchase and decreasing the likelihood of removal from the wish list. However, this relationship moderated two factors. The first is social context of whether the wish list is private or publicly viewable, which can link the products to the consumer's identity. Second is the duration an item has been on the wish list, enabling a “cooling off” period and an opportunity for vicarious consumption through continued interaction. Collectively, our findings indicate that retailers need to more strategically manage their use of online wish lists in order to maximize their potential for increased sales.