Hedonic Purchase Research Articles

ASSESSING AND COMPARING THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS AFFECTING OFFLINE IMPULSIVE CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR IN INDIA

Consumers tend to buy more than they planned when out for shopping. The factors leading to the customers to buy more than they planned to on the basis of impulse are several and discussed in this paper. Primary data has been collected by only questionnaires on which descriptive analysis, factor analysis and correlation tools have been used to analyse the impact of different factors on impulsive buying behavior. The findings imply that the factors- past purchase experience, attractive store design and location trigger most impulse buys among consumers. However, factors like a good aroma and hedonic and emotional motives play a less important role in making consumers buy impulsively. Also, the study found that the post purchase dissonance is higher in unemployed/retired, married females than the other respondents’ categories of the survey. Moreover the study found that the factors are mostly independent of each other and do not correlate with other factors, except a set of few including hedonic motives and past purchase experience.

Perceived social support reduces the pain of spending money

People experience pain when they spend money. Because previous studies have shown that perceived social support reduces physical pain, this research examined whether perceived social support reduces spending pain. Our studies showed that both real and recalled social support reduced spending pain (Studies 1–3) and that perceived social support reduced the perceived importance of money as a protection mechanism, which in turn reduced spending pain (Studies 1 and 3). Moreover, the pain-buffering effect of social support was stronger for hedonic purchases than for utilitarian purchases (Study 2). This research broadens our understanding of the factors that enhance consumer experiences and the relationships among love, security, and pain.

Measuring Self-Service Technology Latent Difficulties: Insurance Decisions on Utilitarian and Hedonic Influences

Abstract This study investigates the difficulties encountered by consumers in forming insurance decisions when using self-service technology (SST) channels, such as electronic insurance. Rasch measurement model is applied. This model employs the expectation disconfirmation theory to categorize and rank the order of importance of latent utilitarian and hedonic insurance purchase motives. Consumers find that electronic insurance has high risks and high premiums with respect to utilitarian motives but lacks information and performs unsatisfactorily in terms of hedonic motives. Nevertheless, electronic insurance is preferred for the convenience brought by SST channels, and because it provides greater discounts and offers product–channel matching through self-consultation in the absence of agents. Being middle-aged and having a high income are factors that significantly influence electronic insurance purchases.

Keeping consumers in the red: Hedonic debt prioritization within multiple debt accounts

In our paper we contribute to the burgeoning literature in the psychology of debt repayment. Across three experiments, we explore the effects of the type (hedonic or utilitarian) and the timing of debt on consumers' debt repayment when managing multiple debt accounts. While prior literature has demonstrated that debtors who own multiple credit cards behave irrationally by paying down smaller balances rather than balances with higher interest rates, we found that debts incurred for hedonic purchases and in the distant past (versus proximal past) amplify this effect. The anticipated impact of debt repayment on consumption enjoyment is found to mediate this effect.

Online privacy concerns and consumer reactions: insights for future strategies

Purpose– The present study aims to identify and study the online privacy concerns, its explanatory variables and their affect on reactions and online purchasing behavior of Indian consumers. Globalization means that companies are setting manufacturing units where their cost dynamics are most attractive and then servicing the customers in different markets. Therefore, today, most of the globalized firms are using technology to overcome physical barriers with the customer. The value chains are being reorganized to come up with innovative strategies for sales, delivery and service channels. These strategies use Internet as a competitive tool, thereby providing marketers with a completely new landscape to work with. This channel means that now even the tangibles (products) are being sold on the basis of intangibles (services). In this landscape, the success of an online business depends on its capability to think globally and act locally. Sensitivity displayed by a company to effects of cultural nuances on a consumer’s psychological constructs will determine the success of a company and its strategy. It is in this backdrop that the current study was undertaken.Design/methodology/approach– To establish a relationship of the consumer privacy concerns and consumers’ reactions and their online purchase behavior, data were collected on the basis of a self-administered structured questionnaire. Data were collected from 150 respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis in LISREL (8.70) was done to check the validity of the scale. Incremental fit indices and parsimonious fit indices were used to interpret whether the model fit the data. Further, data were analyzed using factor analysis, correlation and chi-square tests.Findings– The study found several significant correlations between consumer’s online privacy and their behavior. The study made attempt to study only linkages and not a causal relationship. This study found that there was a correlation between online privacy concerns and consumer behavior. Indian consumers opted to voice and complain about privacy concerns, and hence, companies need to invest in recovery strategies. Furthermore, Indian consumers exhibited more of a refrained behavior rather than hedonic purchase behavior. However, refrained behavior was a first step toward the latter. To promote refrained behavior, marketers need to work with a model which provides Indian consumers with an assurance of procedural fairness and fair information practices. These companies need to invest in software, rewards, detailed privacy notices and tangibles to motivate customers into transacting online. Armed with this information a marketer can also invest into the right kind of privacy and security tools.Research limitations/implications– Due to the limited sample size, the results of the study can be generalized to a limited extent.Practical implications– The results would help online marketers maneuver the target consumer’s behavior in the desired direction. The results would help companies design and invest in the right kind of privacy and security tools, for the target segments matching the sample.Originality/value– The manuscript is based on a unique data set collected for this study. The references have been cited as per American Psychological Association (APA) rules. The work is original.

Produção de brotos de soja utilizando a cultivar BRS 216: caracterização físico-química e teste de aceitabilidade

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar os parâmetros físico-químicos e os processos para a produção de brotos de soja a partir de sementes da cultivar BRS 216, bem como sua composição química e aceitabilidade. Foram avaliados o comprimento e o peso dos brotos viáveis, a composição centesimal e os teores de isoflavonas e de inibidor de tripsina. O desenho experimental foi ao acaso com três repetições e os tratamentos foram avaliados num esquema fatorial 3 × 3: três frequências de irrigação (a cada quatro, oito e 12 horas) e três períodos de crescimento (cinco, seis e sete dias). O teste de aceitabilidade dos brotos de soja foi realizado utilizando-se a escala hedônica estruturada de nove pontos, avaliando-se cor, aparência, odor, textura, sabor e avaliação global, além da intenção de compra. A frequência de irrigação com intervalos de quatro horas e o período de sete dias de crescimento foram ideais para produção dos brotos de soja, favorecendo maior produtividade, teores mais elevados de proteínas e menores teores de inibidor de tripsina. O índice de aceitabilidade dos brotos de soja foi superior a 70 em todas as características avaliadas, com exceção do odor.

Hedonic Experiences, Purchase and Revisit Intention, and In-Store Emotion and Sex Difference

Hedonic Experiences, Purchase and Revisit Intention, and In-Store Emotion and Sex Difference

Price-Framing Effects on the Purchase of Hedonic and Utilitarian Bundles

Marketers are increasingly offering bundles that combine cross-category, seemingly unrelated items. This article examines the conditions under which framing a discount as savings on certain items of cross-category bundles is more effective for increasing bundle purchase. Three experiments show that the purchase of a cross-category bundle is more likely when the discount is framed as savings on the relatively hedonic component rather than as savings on the utilitarian component or on the total bundle. The authors explain the findings based on the notion that a discount provides a justification that increases the likelihood of hedonic purchases but has little impact on utilitarian consumption. The article concludes with a discussion of managerial implications of the findings.

Exploring the impact of personality traits on online shopping behavior

With online shops (e-stores) popping up at a rapid rate in the 21st century, brick-and-mortar stores (physical stores) are no longer the only outlet that attracts consumer spending. Compared with their physical store cousins, e-stores offer more diverse product choices, individualized products and service information, shopping convenience, and privacy. The purpose of this article is mainly to investigate the impacts of personality traits of e-shoppers on their purchase behavior. A structural equation model is developed to test the causal effects between those constructs. The empirical results show that (1) hedonic purchase motivation is positively influenced by three of the big five traits: neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience; (2) when consumers have higher degrees of neuroticism, agreeableness, or openness to experience, they tend to be utility-motivated to shop online; (3) utilitarian purchase motivation is a key factor that invokes the search intention in consumers while hedonic motivation is not. The managerial implications for business managers, the limitations of this study, and further research ideas for future researchers are discussed indepth. Key words: Personality trait, hedonic motivation, utilitarian motivation, search intention.

Buying Fashion Impulsively: Environmental and Personal Influences

The purpose of this study was to develop an explanatory model of impulse buying that addressed antecedents of impulse buying. For this research, impulse buying was defined as an unplanned, hedonic purchase that follows a sudden urge. Impulse buying reflects a rapid decision in response to a stimulus reflecting little cognitive consideration and disregard for consequences. Donovan and Roissiter (1982) suggested that a pleasant store environment (S) causes shoppers’ positive emotional states (O) and this in turn, yields shoppers’ approach behaviors (R), that is, a desire to remain in a store and explore its offerings. Applying this idea to impulse buying suggests that there are environmental stimuli in a store that could impact shoppers’ impulse buying tendencies and that individual shopper characteristics could moderate the influence of these environmental influences. Therefore, environmental influences on impulse buying and personal characteristics of impulse buyers were examined in a modified stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework. Environmental stimuli (i.e., ambient factor, aesthetic factor, layout factor, excitement factor, promotion factor, sales associate factor) were predicted to influence shoppers’ mood and subsequently, contribute to impulse purchases. In addition, specific shoppers’ characteristics (i.e., lack of control, extroversion, innovativeness, hedonic consumption tendency, impulse buying tendency) were predicted to moderate the relationship between environmental stimuli and shopper’s impulse purchases. Data was collected from a convenience sample of 299 undergraduates at two Midwestern universities in the United States. Participants were asked to complete the questionnaire immediately after they had gone shopping for apparel, shoes, or accessories. Participants answered questions on their purchase, perceptions of the store environment, mood, and personal characteristics. Most of the participants were females (93.3%), aged between 18 and 23 (92.6%). They were never married (95.8%) and Euro American (83.5%). Participants’ impulse buying reflected pure impulse buying (28.3%), suggestion impulse buying (20.3%), reminder impulse buying (34.1%), and non-impulse buying (17.4%). Approximately 40 percent of the participants classified their purchase as either very impulsive or impulsive. The prices of the items that participants purchased ranged from $1 to $319 (m=$ 45). Participants purchased an item of apparel (65%), shoes (21%) or accessories (14%). Hypothesis 1 predicted that specific store environmental stimuli are associated with the perceived impulsiveness of a purchase. Only the relationship between store layout and impulsiveness of purchase was significant (t=3.30, p<.01) with a path coefficient of .20. Hypothesis 2 posited that shopper’s mood will be attributed to specific store environmental stimuli. The ambience, excitement, and sales associate variables had significant relationships with participants’ mood. The path coefficient was .27 (t=4.77, p<.01) for the relationship between store ambience and mood, .29 (t=4.83, p<.01) for the relationship between store excitement and mood, and .18 (t=3.11, p<.01) for the relationship between sales associate and mood. Hypothesis 3 proposed that the perceived impulsiveness of a purchase is associated with shopper’s mood. There was a significant relationship (t=4.01, p<.01, path coefficient of .24). The more positive the reported mood of participants, the more they perceived their purchases as impulsive. Hypothesis 4 predicted that specific participant’ characteristics (i.e., lack of control, extroversion, innovativeness, hedonic consumption tendency, and impulse buying tendency) would moderate relationships between store environmental cues and the perceived impulsiveness of their purchases. A specific characteristic of participants, lack of control moderated the relationship between store layout and the perceived impulsiveness of their purchases. Our findings supported the proposed research framework, the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model; positive emotional responses (O) resulted in approach behaviors (R), an impulse purchase. As reflected in the model, specific store environmental stimuli (S) such as ambiance, excitement, and sales associates were a significant positive influence on shoppers’ mood during shopping. The findings supported the existence of a direct relationship between a store environmental stimulus (S), store layout and a consumer approach behavior (R), impulse buying. Store aesthetics and promotion were not associated with either participant’s mood or impulse buying. A personal characteristic, lack of control moderated the relationship between store layout and impulse buying. Clearly our findings point to the importance of store layout when shopping for fashion related items. In addition, providing entertainment that enhances the hedonic and the experiential value of the store experience can influence young adult consumers. Since consumers’ mood at the point-of-purchase may be influenced by interactions with sales associates, sales associate training to enhance the consumer experience should not be neglected.

Replacement purchase decisions: on the effects of trade‐ins, hedonic versus utilitarian usage goal, and tightwadism

Abstract The paper examines the effects of usage goal (i.e., hedonic versus utilitarian usage), whether the consumer is offered a discount or the ability to trade‐in the old product, and tightwadism on the likelihood of replacing a still‐functioning product. Supporting previous research, the results revealed that the likelihood of replacing a still‐functioning product is higher when a trade‐in is offered. As expected, however, this main effect was moderated by whether the good was purchased for utilitarian rather than hedonic purposes. If the purchase was for hedonic purchases, the likelihood of purchase was significantly lower when the promotion was a sale rather than a trade‐in. However, the promotion type did not influence the purchase if it was for utilitarian purposes. Additionally, when the usage goal was for hedonic purposes, the likelihood of replacement was significantly lower for those high in tightwadism. In contrast, tightwadism did not influence the likelihood of replacement when the usage was for utilitarian purposes. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.