Prevention-focused Consumers Research Articles

The Impact of Seller Trust in a C2C Platform on Golf Club Purchase Intention and the Interaction Effect of Regulatory Focus.

(1) Background: This study aimed to investigate the influence of seller trust on the purchase intention of consumers of used golf clubs in the context of increasing C2C transactions and further explore the interaction effect of regulatory focus. (2) Methods: Data were collected from 200 participants who had experience purchasing golf clubs through the Carrot Market platform, employing a 2 × 2 experimental design. An independent samples t-test was utilized to examine the effect of seller trust on purchase intention, followed by a two-way analysis of variance to assess the interaction effect of regulatory focus. (3) Results: The results revealed a significant difference in purchase intention based on seller trust, with higher purchase intentions observed when seller trust was high compared to when it was low. Additionally, the interaction effect of regulatory focus was found to be significant in the impact of seller trust on golf club purchase intention. Specifically, when seller trust was high, no significant differences were observed among control focus groups. However, when seller trust was low, promotion-focused consumers exhibited higher purchase intentions than prevention-focused consumers. (4) Conclusions: These findings underscore the importance of seller trust in the context of an expanding market for online second-hand trading platforms.

Determining Consumer Perceptions of Sales Promotion Tools by Latent Class Analysis

It is argued that promotion-focused consumers are inclined to products with emphasis on hedonic benefit, while prevention-focused consumers are oriented towards products with emphasis on utilitarian benefit. According to the Regulatory Focus Theory, some people need to approach situations with positive consequences, while others prefer to avoid situations with negative consequences. Sales promotion tools provide a number of hedonic and utilitarian benefits in addition to monetary savings through some motivations according to the promotion and prevention focus of individuals. The aim of this study is to tendencies of individuals to the products they buy with sales promotion tools were tried to be determined by the latent class analysis. The data required for the analysis were obtained by face-to-face survey method with 1006 consumers who voluntarily participated in the research with convenience sampling. According to the results of the analysis, it has been understood that there are 3 classes sensitive to price discount sales promotion tools in cleaning products, while there are 4 classes that are sensitive to buy-one-get-one-free sales promotion tools. It has been understood that there are 3 classes sensitive to price discount sales promotion tools in cosmetic products, while there are 3 classes sensitive to buy-one-get-one-free sales promotion tools.

Who is more likely to initiate referrals? Effect of consumer's regulatory focus on referral intention

Under the context of the online referral reward program (ORRP), this research explores the effect of consumers’ regulatory focus (promotion-focused vs. prevention-focused) on their referral intention and explores its mechanism and boundary condition. The results of four experiments show that compared to prevention-focused consumers, promotion-focused consumers have higher self-efficacy to complete the referral task; and thus, have higher referral intention. This effect will be attenuated when the social distance between inviters and invitees is small. The findings contribute to the research on ORRP and regulatory focus and provide guidance for firms to optimize ORRPs.

Is beauty always good? Effects of visual presentation of Influencer’s aesthetic labor on brand purchase intention

Aesthetic labor plays a crucial role in social media influencer marketing. Based on the theories of aesthetic labor and social media influencers, this study aims to identify the psychological mechanism and boundary conditions of the effects of visual presentation of influencers’ aesthetic labor on consumers’ brand purchase intention. The results of five studies indicate that the visual presentation of influencers’ aesthetic labor and consumers’ regulatory focus have an interactive effect on brand purchase intention. Specifically, promotion-focused consumers (vs. prevention-focused consumers) are more willing to purchase brands endorsed by influencers with a high-level (vs. low-level) visual presentation of aesthetic labor through para-social relationships. Furthermore, the homophily between influencers and consumers moderates this interaction effect. These findings have significant managerial implications for influencers and other retailing marketers to leverage aesthetic labor to win consumers’ purchase intention towards related brands.

Role of Self-Regulatory in Luxury Brands’ Social Media Advertising

Luxury brands are increasingly using social media messages as their ads to consumers. This paper investigates the impact of regulatory focus on brand attitudes after research participants viewed a luxury brand’s message on social media. The research question is whether promotion-focused consumers and prevention-focused consumers have different responses to messages that emphasize either innovation or tradition. Based on an online experiment, this research findings show that the framing of the message interacts with regulatory focus. An ad that emphasizes innovation yields more favorable brand attitudes than an ad that emphasizes tradition among promotion-focused consumers. However, this does not happen among prevention-focused consumers. This research provides theoretical implications and practical suggestions for industry practitioners.

Inducing consumers’ self-disclosure through the fit between Chatbot’s interaction styles and regulatory focus

With rising concerns among consumers over the sharing of personal information in the digital era, it is increasingly difficult to collect abundant and timely consumer data for modern online marketing practices. This paper suggests that well-designed AI agents (e.g. chatbots) can play a vital role in online marketing strategy by enhancing consumers’ willingness to self-disclosure personal information. More specifically, based on the stereotype content model (SCM) and regulatory focus theory, we examined how the interaction effect between the chatbot interaction style and individual regulatory focus influences consumers’ willingness to self-disclosure. The results from four studies (N = 1075) indicate that chatbots with warm interaction styles lead to a stronger willingness to self-disclosure for promotion-focused consumers than those who are prevention-focused, while chatbots with a competent interaction style lead to a stronger willingness to self-disclosure for prevention-focused consumers than those who are promotion-focused. Further, consumers’ trust in chatbots acts as a psychological mechanism in the disclosure induction process. This paper contributes to AI agent-related research by providing insights into how to enhance the positive effect of consumer-chatbot interaction and by offering suggestions for future research.

Ai robo-advisor anthropomorphism: The impact of anthropomorphic appeals and regulatory focus on investment behaviors

Building on anthropomorphism and regulatory focus theories, this research examines the effect of humanizing artificial intelligence (AI)-powered robo-advisors on investment behaviors. Across three experimental studies, the authors find that when financial service marketers design robo-advisors to resemble humans rather than machines, prevention-focused consumers are motivated to invest more money. However, this effect disappears among promotion-focused consumers. Perceived certainty of investment advice is shown to mediate the interactive effect of robo-advisor anthropomorphism and regulatory focus. Theoretical insights and practical implications for using robo-advisors in financial service marketing strategies are discussed.

Effects of message framing and consumers' regulatory focus on perceived credibility of electronic word-of-mouth and purchase intention

We adopted a two-way analysis of variance to evaluate the effect of positive and negative message framing and consumers' regulatory focus (promotion- and prevention-focused) on the perceived credibility of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) and purchase intention. Participants were 344 adults in Taiwan aged between 20 and 60 years. Results show that (a) prevention-focused (vs. promotion-focused) consumers perceived eWOM had greater credibility when they were presented with a negatively framed message, (b) negative (vs. positive) message framing increased the perceived credibility of eWOM for prevention-focused consumers, (c) promotion-focused (vs. preventionfocused) consumers had a stronger purchase intention when presented with a positively framed message, and (d) both prevention- and promotion-focused consumers had stronger purchase intention when exposed to a positively (vs. negatively) framed message. Our findings may provide a reference for companies to establish a set of eWOM marketing strategies.

Consumers' Responses to Smart Home Services: The Role of Self-Regulation Systems

In the new era of IoT, a deeper and richer understanding of consumer characteristics is required to accelerate the acceptance and popularization of different types of smart home services (e.g., hedonic or utilitarian smart home services). In the current research, self-regulation systems are considered one of the consumer characteristics. Therefore, this research examines the role of consumers’ regulatory focus (promotion focus vs. prevention focus) in their responses to smart home services, particularly when they are not familiar with the services. Specifically, this research examines whether consumers’ attitudes toward utilitarian/hedonic smart home services differ according to their regulatory focus, particularly when they are not familiar with the services. The results indicate that consumers who are not familiar with smart home services have more favorable attitudes toward hedonic smart home services when they are promotion-focused (vs. prevention-focused). In contrast, there is no significant difference in their attitudes toward utilitarian smart home services between promotion- and prevention-focused consumers. Our findings imply that regulatory focus may be an effective marketing and segmentation tool in promoting new smart home services and facilitating low-familiarity consumers’ receptiveness to the services.

Effect of Regulatory Focus on Food Variety-Seeking Behavior of Chinese Tourists

While limited attention has been paid to personality traits that influence tourists’ variety-seeking behavior with respect to food, evidence shows that Chinese people choose less variety than their counterparts in Western countries. We propose that regulatory focus influences consumers’ food variety-seeking behavior. Building on the theoretical alignment between regulatory focus, food neophobia, and food variety-seeking tendency, this research examines the effect of regulatory focus on Chinese consumers’ food variety-seeking behavior through three studies. Study 1 indicates that prevention-focused consumers have lower food variety-seeking intention than promotion-focused consumers. Study 2 shows that the former have higher food neophobia, leading to lower intention to seek food variety. Food neophobia plays the mediating role. Study 3 examines the moderating role of psychological safety, which can decrease food neophobia’s negative influence on seeking food variety. The results and implications of our findings are presented in the discussion section.

Effects of negative social information on the willingness to support charities: the moderating role of regulatory focus

Donation campaigns that have an unsuccessful start often trigger negative social information in the social and mass media (e.g., “few others have donated so far”). Little research exists to shed light on the effects of such information in the context of donations. Across three studies involving different causes and different channels of communication, we find harmful effects of negative social information on the willingness to donate among prevention-focused consumers but tendencies of positive effects for consumers with a promotion focus. We identify response efficacy as a mediator of the harmful effect for prevention-focused consumers. This finding suggests that social proof theory is not sufficient to explain the harmful effect of negative social information. Alternative mediators are tested and rejected. The findings imply that an effective strategy to avoid harmful effects of negative social information is to trigger a promotion focus in target group members and communicate facts about charity effectiveness.

Effect of Quality Uncertainty, Regulatory Focus, and Promotional Strategies on Perceived Savings for Sustainable Marketing

Quality uncertainty is one of the major challenges for new products entering a market. Companies launching new products may consider price-related promotions to stimulate consumer purchases. Prior studies have investigated the impacts of quality uncertainty and price-related promotions on consumer behavior. However, studies that consider quality uncertainty and price-related promotions on consumers’ perceived savings based on regulatory focus are rare. Therefore, this study aims at investigating the impacts of price-related promotions (price discount and value-added promotion), quality uncertainty (high vs. low), and regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) on perceived savings. Survey studies were conducted, and results were analyzed. The results indicate that when quality uncertainty level is high, perceived savings for price discount and value-added promotions are higher for promotion-focused consumers compared with prevention-focused consumers. By contrast, when quality uncertainty level is low, perceived savings for price discount and value-added promotions are higher for prevention-focused consumers compared with promotion-focused consumers. The results of this study are expected to assist companies in introducing new products to develop sustainable price-related promotions.

Endorsement Effectiveness of Celebrities versus Social Media Influencers in the Materialistic Cultural Environment of India

In this article, we explore the relative endorsement effectiveness of mainstream celebrities versus social media influencers in the materialistic cultural environment of India. Based on three studies across two product categories, our findings suggest that mainstream celebrities were more effective endorsers than social media influencers in both a celebrity-product congruent and incongruent condition. Endorsement effectiveness was explained by the strength of the parasocial relationship that Indian consumers developed with celebrities and social media influencers. In a materialistic country like India, as celebrities possess more wealth, power, and status, consumers formed a stronger parasocial relationship with them than social media influencers. Regulatory focus moderated this relationship such that, for promotion-focused consumers, no difference existed in the strength of the parasocial relationship between consumers and celebrities versus social media influencers. However, for prevention-focused consumers, the strength of the parasocial relationship increased for mainstream celebrities and decreased for social media influencers.

Analogical reasoning and regulatory focus: using the creative process to enhance consumer-brand outcomes within a co-creation context

PurposeNew product development (NPD) is increasingly being delegated to consumers, yet little research has investigated consumer-centric factors that may influence this delegation. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to uniquely combine regulatory focus and analogical reasoning to investigate new product ideation and downstream consumer-brand responses.Design/methodology/approachA series of experiments were undertaken.FindingsStudy 1 revealed that promotion-focused consumers (as opposed to prevention-focused consumers) have significantly greater purchase intentions if given an analogical reasoning task before engaging in new product ideation due to their cognitive flexibility. Study 2 tested the effects of near vs far analogies and found that promotion-focused consumers use analogical thinking to a greater extent and have significantly higher purchase intentions if primed with far analogies because regulatory fit is enhanced. However, analogical thinking and purchase intentions significantly drop if primed with near analogies. In contrast, prevention-focused consumers use analogical thinking to a greater extent and have significantly higher purchase intentions if shown near analogies, compared to far analogies, because of improved regulatory fit. Both studies confirm a serial mediation chain involving task engagement, self-brand connection, and brand sincerity.Research limitations/implicationsThis research extends current understanding regarding the role of creative tasks within consumer NPD. It also uniquely links regulatory focus and consumer task engagement in NPD to increase favorable brand responses.Practical implicationsFindings offer managerial insights that can positively increase consumer-brand outcomes during NPD.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to demonstrate the importance of analogical thinking and consumer-centric factors (i.e., regulatory focus) during the NPD process. This avenue of research is important, as most studies have neglected ways in which to increase consumer NPD task engagement, leaving resources unutilized.

Regulatory focus and consumption of counterfeit luxury goods: Roles of functional theories of attitudes and perceived similarity

Four studies show that promotion (vs. prevention) focus leads to greater counterfeit consumption, and that social functions of attitudes and perceived similarity form a chain mediation underlying these effects. Study 1 links chronic regulatory focus to counterfeit consumption behavior in both China and South Korea. Study 2 replicates Study 1′s findings using primed regulatory focus and a behavioral measure of counterfeit preference. Study 3 tests the effect of regulatory focus on counterfeit consumption in a different context and demonstrates the mediating roles of social functions of attitudes and perceived similarity. Study 4 examines the boundary condition of social functions of attitudes: When social-adjustive function is made salient (compared to a control condition), prevention-focused consumers’ counterfeit consumption is elevated, whereas promotion-focused consumers’ counterfeit consumption is unaffected. However, when value-expressive function is made salient (compared to a control condition), promotion-focused consumers’ counterfeit consumption is reduced, whereas prevention-focused consumers’ counterfeit consumption is unaffected.

Regulatory focus and decision rules: Are prevention-focused consumers regret minimizers?

The Random Regret Minimization (RRM) discrete choice model, which assumes the emotional rationality of a decision maker, is introduced into consumer decision making. The potential consumer-specific drivers of the decision rules between utility maximization and regret minimization are scrutinized to better understand consumer decision-making processes. Drawing on Regulatory Focus Theory (RFT), we predict that chronically prevention-focused consumers are more likely to be regret minimizers, as they are more inclined to minimize negative outcomes, and that chronically promotion-focused consumers are more likely to be utility maximizers, as they are more inclined to maximize their opportunities and outcomes. Employing a finite mixture modeling approach, we find empirical support for the hypotheses. We also find a significant portion of regret-minimizing consumers showing different preferences for product design. The empirical findings highlight the importance of incorporating consumer segments with different decision rules as different marketing strategies may be required for product design and positioning.

Determinants of Young Consumers’ Attitude toward Mobile Advertising: The Role of Regulatory Focus

With the growing power of mobile advertising, marketers have actively incorporated mobile advertising into the marketing mix. Drawing on the regulatory focus theory, this study examines whether and how young consumers with varying regulatory focus perceive the value of mobile advertising differently and also looks at how this perceived advertising value, in turn, influences the effectiveness of mobile advertising. Toward that end, a survey with 295 college students was conducted. The results show that informativeness and irritation have a greater impact on prevention-focused consumers than on promotion-focused consumers. By contrast, entertainment and social norms have more of an effect on promotion-focused consumers than on prevention-focused consumers. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are also discussed.

The Effects of Valence and Regulatory Focus on the Consumer Responses to Online Product Review

This study explores how consumer regulatory focus interacts with the valence of review to influence their responses to online product reviews. The findings showed a significant two-way interaction effect between regulatory focus and review valence. When the review was negative, prevention-focused consumers perceived the review as more useful than did promotion-focused consumers. In contrast, when the review was mixed, promotion-focused consumers perceived the review as more useful than did prevention-focused consumers. Unexpectedly, when the review was positive, there was no difference between prevention- and promotion-focused consumers in perceived usefulness. Implications for researchers are discussed.

Redemption time for coupons with limited duration: role of regulatory focus and product type

ABSTRACTFirms spend a lot on coupon promotions and are concerned with their profitability. The characteristics of coupons are associated with success of coupon promotions. This research explores how consumer’s regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) and product type (material vs. experience) affect when consumers prefer to redeem coupons (coupon redemption time). Results from two studies show that people’s prevention goal strength is negatively related to redemption time consumers prefer. Besides, a fit between people’s regulatory focus and product type leads to earlier redemption than unfit condition. Specifically, experiential purchases are compatible with promotion-focused consumers and material purchases are compatible with prevention-focused consumers. We discuss the findings in the contexts of coupon research and theory on regulatory focus, and further posit managerial implications for the design of coupon promotions or other marketing activities with limited duration.

Selling Painful Yet Pleasurable Service Offerings

People consume service experiences that combine pleasure and pain (e.g., roller-coaster rides and massage therapy)—but the question of how to market such experiences is not well understood. To address this gap, the present research investigates consumer response to such service offerings as a function of (i) hedonic framing that emphasizes pain versus pleasure, (ii) promotion versus prevention concerns either chronically or situationally salient to consumers, and (iii) the presence versus absence of a service guarantee. Consumers with a prevention (vs. promotion) focus react more favorably to hedonic framing that emphasizes pleasure, whereas consumers with a promotion (vs. prevention) focus react more positively to hedonic framing that emphasizes pain due to differences in processing discomfort. In addition, a service guarantee is shown to bolster the reactions of prevention-focused consumers but undermine the reactions of promotion-focused consumers to a pain-framed (but not pleasure-framed) service offering. Together, these findings provide guidelines to service providers regarding how to fine-tune marketing strategies when promoting painful yet pleasurable experiences. For example, advertising should align hedonic framing with the consumer’s situationally salient regulatory concerns.