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The COVID-19 pandemic affected a variety of consumer needs, preferences, and behaviors but with considerable heterogeneity. This article develops a conceptual framework that focuses on (1) how consumers responded to the pandemic, (2) drivers of heterogeneity, and (3) effects that may persist in a post-pandemic world. Grounded in meaning-making theory, the framework derives four categories of consumer meaning making in light of COVID-19. Then, the framework draws on life course research to theorize that the pandemic driven by the perceived severity of its impact on certain consumer segments can elicit turning point and cohort effects (e.g., decreased control and increased risk perceived by consumers). In parallel, the framework predicts that certain other consumers will rebound and return to normality relatively quickly. Our process model offers meaningful implications for future consumer and marketing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interactions between consumers and humanoid service robots (HSRs; i.e., robots with a human-like morphology such as a face, arms, and legs) will soon be part of routine marketplace experiences. It is unclear, however, whether these humanoid robots (compared with human employees) will trigger positive or negative consequences for consumers and companies. Seven experimental studies reveal that consumers display compensatory responses when they interact with an HSR rather than a human employee (e.g., they favor purchasing status goods, seek social affiliation, and order and eat more food). The authors investigate the underlying process driving these effects, and they find that HSRs elicit greater consumer discomfort (i.e., eeriness and a threat to human identity), which in turn results in the enhancement of compensatory consumption. Moreover, this research identifies boundary conditions of the effects such that the compensatory responses that HSRs elicit are (1) mitigated when consumer-perceived social belongingness is high, (2) attenuated when food is perceived as more healthful, and (3) buffered when the robot is machinized (rather than anthropomorphized). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Manufacturers and online retailers are readily availing themselves of new technologies to present their merchandise using a variety of formats, including static (still image) and dynamic (video) portrayal. Building on vividness theory, the authors propose and demonstrate that presenting products and services using a dynamic visual format enhances consumer preference for hedonic options and willingness to pay for those options. The dynamic presentation format increases involvement with the product/service experience in a manner presumably similar to that of the actual product experience. The result is an increased preference for and valuation of hedonic options. This holds true for experiential and search products in single and joint evaluations and carries over to subsequent choices. Across all studies, the results demonstrate that a dynamic (relative to static) presentation format enhances choice of the hedonically superior (vs. utilitarian-superior) option by more than 79%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research examines how the implicit egotism resulting from consumers’ positive self-associations affects their evaluations of product prices. The effects can occur when the product’s price and the consumer share either name-letters (name-letter/price effect) or birthday-numbers (birthday-number/price effect).Through a series of studies, the authors demonstrate that the positive affect linked to name-letters and birthday-numbers transfers directly to consumers’ price predilections and ultimately affects their purchase intentions. More specifically, consumers like prices (e.g., “fifty-five dollars”) that contain digits beginning with the same first letter (e.g., “F”) as their own name (e.g., “Fred,” “Mr. Frank”) more than prices that do not. Similarly, prices that contain cents digits (e.g., $49.15) that correspond to a consumer’s date of birth (e.g., April 15) also enhance pricing liking and purchase intentions. Across groups of consumers, the authors’ findings demonstrate that implicit egotism effects can result in greater purchase intentions for a higher-priced product compared with a lower-priced product. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How exactly does the display location of a sale price relative to the original price affect consumers' evaluations? Across multiple studies, including field studies with actual choices and studies with nonstudent samples, this article shows that consumer evaluations are a function of the display location of the sale price, but such evaluations are moderated by discount depth. First, presenting the smaller number to the right (vs. left) makes it easier to initiate the subtraction task, a phenomenon the authors refer to as the "subtraction principle." Second, given that evaluating sale prices inherently involves a subtraction task, locating sale prices to the right (vs. left) of the original price facilitates calculation of discount depth, increasing evaluations for moderate discounts but not for low discounts. These effects are potentially reversed in cases of both very low discounts and exaggerated discounts. The findings in this article offer novel and nonintuitive insights into how sale price display locations and discount depth interact to influence numerical cognitions, processing of sale prices, and subsequent evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research demonstrates that the effect of product information on the evaluation of an experiential product depends on the order with which such information is presented. In a series of experiments, we find that when information is presented before consuming an experiential product, the information results in an assimilation effect such that consumers evaluate the same experience more positively when the product information is favorable compared to when it is unfavorable. More interestingly, we demonstrate that when such information is presented after consuming an experiential product, it results in a contrast effect such that consumers evaluate the same experience more negatively when the product information is favorable compared to when it is unfavorable. These findings have important implications for marketers in a host of experiential categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of five experiments reveal that when sampling a series of experiential products (e.g., beverages, music), consumers prefer the product sampled second in a series of two desirable products but relatively prefer the product sampled first in a series of two undesirable products. The underlying process for both outcomes is a recency effect, such that there is better recall for the most recently sampled experiential product. The recency effect observed for experiential products reverses to a primacy effect when sampling nonexperiential products (e.g., scissors). The authors also demonstrate that the placement of an undesirable experiential product in conjunction with two desirable experiential products can exaggerate preference for the later-sampled desirable product (when the undesirable product is sampled first) or result in preference for the earlier-sampled desirable product (when the undesirable product is sampled between the two desirable products). However, the preference for the earlier-sampled desirable product holds only if there is no time delay between the sampling of the products or between the sampling and the choice evaluations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on past research, this article illustrates when a price-quality relationship holds in the presence of multiple extrinsic cues. When intrinsic information is scarce, the relationship is more pronounced when a positive price cue is paired with a positive second cue (e.g., strong warranty, positive country of origin, or strong brand). When the two cues are inconsistent, consumers find the negative cue more salient and overweight it in their evaluations. This interaction is moderated by the presence of abundant levels of intrinsic attribute information. Our predictions are replicated across five studies, and the underlying process is supported. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies have consistently found that most consumers undertake relatively little prepurchase search for durable goods and do even less price-comparison shopping despite the reported importance of price to consumers' purchase decisions. This article proposes and tests two possible explanations for why consumers' willingness to engage in price search does not increase concomitantly with the price variation of durable goods. The first potential explanation, that consumers simply underestimate the market price variation, was not supported. The second possible explanation, which builds upon Weber's law of psychophysics and Thaler's transaction utility theory, was supported. The data indicate that the psychological utility that a consumer derives from saving a fixed amount of money is inversely related to the price of the item. In this case, even if consumers believe that the price variation of more expensive items tends to be greater, their motivation to spend time in price-comparison shopping for these items may not increase as much as expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors report a study of the effects of price, brand, and store information on buyers' perceptions of product quality and value, as well as their willingness to buy. Hypotheses are derived from conceptual model positing the effects of extrinsic cues (price, brand name, and store name) on buyers' perceptions and purchase intentions. Moreover the design of the experiment allows additional analyses on the relative differential effects of price, brand name, and store name on the three dependent variables. Results indicate that price had a positive effect on perceived quality, but a negative effect on perceived value and willingness to buy. Favorable brand and store information positively influenced perceptions of quality and value, and subjects' willingness to buy. The major findings are discussed and directions for future research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The value that consumers place on time spent in price-comparison shopping is central to the economics of information theory and models of consumers' search behavior. Yet few empirical studies have examined consumers' subjective value of time. Building on Gary Becker's work, this article presents two tests of a model of the subjective value of time. In an effort to explain consumers' subjective value of time while they are price-comparison shopping, the model introduces perceived enjoyment of shopping as a new explanatory variable. The findings reveal that respondents Incorporate both wage rates and perceived enjoyment of price-comparison shopping into their subjective value of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors expand and integrate prior price-perceived value models within the context of price comparison advertising. More specifically, the conceptual model explicates the effects of advertised selling and reference prices on buyers' internal reference prices, perceptions of quality, acquisition value, transaction value, and purchase and search intentions. Two experimental studies test the conceptual model. The results across these two studies, both individually and combined, support the hypothesis that buyers' internal reference prices are influenced by both advertised selling and reference prices as well as the buyers' perception of the product's quality. The authors also find that the effect of advertised selling price on buyers' acquisition value was mediated by their perceptions of transaction value. In addition, the effects of perceived transaction value on buyers' behavioral intentions were mediated by their acquisition value perceptions. The authors suggest directions for further research and implications for managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A growing reliance on customer reviews prompts firms to develop strategies to encourage customers to post online reviews of their products. However, little research investigates the behavioral consequences of writing a review. The act of sharing personal opinions through reviews is a rewarding experience and makes customers feel socially connected. With an application of reverse alliesthesia theory, the current study predicts that such rewarding experiences drive online reviewers to seek other rewards, such as impulsive buying. Three lab-based and two field studies demonstrate such an emotional review-reward effect: sharing emotional information in the public realm of customer reviews, rather than forming similar opinions privately, drives participants to make more impulsive buying decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conventional wisdom and prior research on processing fluency suggest that consumers prefer fluent information, such that it has positive effects on their purchase decisions. Challenging this conventional wisdom, and on the basis of recent research on processing disfluency, this study proposes that the increased effort required to process disfluent price information can lead to deeper information processing. If the advertised price offer represents a good value, it can enhance purchase decisions, even if customers prefer the disfluent display less. A series of studies in the field and lab demonstrate support for this positive impact of disfluent price information on purchase decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because co-creation allows customers to help shape or personalize the content of their experience, it can affect customer satisfaction with recovery efforts, as well as offer a more cost-effective alternative to compensation. This article identifies specific situations in which co-creation is and is not useful. Study 1 tests the impact of co-creation in comparison with compensation for enhancing satisfaction with the recovery process and demonstrates that co-creation offers a cost-efficient strategy for companies when customers must deal with severe delays. Study 2 extends these results by showing that the impact extends to repurchase intentions. Study 3 details conditions in which co-creation harms evaluations. Finally, Study 4 explores whether it is necessary for the company to meet the customer's requests when co-creating a recovery, as well as what happens when the company exceeds a customer's requests. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications, limitations, and research directions that emerge from the studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates consumer responses to price-matching guarantees (PMGs) in the Internet environment and contrasts them with their responses in a traditional bricks-and-mortar retail environment. The effect of store reputation on consumer responses to price-matching policies is also investigated in both Internet and bricks-and- mortar retail settings. Two studies using a 2x2x2 between- subjects full factorial experimental design with two levels of PMG presence (PMG present, PMG absent), two levels of retail environment (Internet, bricks-and-mortar), and two levels of store reputation (no/low reputation, high reputation) were conducted. In study 1 reputation was manipulated using store names, while in study 2 the reputation was manipulated using store characteristics. The findings of two studies suggest that consumer reactions to price-matching guarantees, such as store price perceptions, postpurchase search intentions, and willingness to claim a refund if a lower competitive price is found, differ across the two purchase environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The predictive validity of two measurement methods of self-image congruence-traditional versus new-were compared in six studies involving different consumer populations, products, consumption settings, and dependent variables (brand preference, preference for product form, consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction, brand attitude. and program choice). The traditional method is based on tapping the subject's perception of product-user image and the subject's perception of his/her self-image along a predetermined set of image attributes and adding the self -congruity scores across all image dimensions. Three problems were identified and discussed in relation to the traditional method: (1) the use of discrepancy scores, (2) the possible use of irrelevant images, and (3) the use of the compensatory decision rule. The new method is based on tapping the psychological experience of self-congruity directly and globally. The findings demonstrated the predictive validity of the new method over and beyond the traditional method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we address the question of whether prior experience with a product moderates the extent to which the use of user-image based cues and utilitarian cues are predictive of brand attitude. Specifically, high experience consumers were expected to focus more on utilitarian cues and low experience consumers to focus on user-image based cues. Results of two studies generally support these predictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]