Asymmetric Effects of Consumers'Sensitivity to Price Cues in the Evaluation of Experiential and Material Product
Prices serve as a pivotal cue for consumers to evaluate com-modity values.For instance,consumers can infer various commodity values,such as safety,quality,healthfulness,and status,based on price cues and make purchasing decisions accordingly.However,prior re-search on price cues and value evaluation has predominantly focused on tangible material products,neglecting intangible experiential prod-ucts.Whether consumers'value evaluation of intangible experiential products will follow the similar rules has not been fully studied.To fill this gap,this research compares the differences in consumers'evaluation of experiential products and material products and proposes that there is an asymmetric effect of consumers'sensitivity to price cues in the evaluation of experiential and material product.This re-search adopts a rigorous experimental design involving five studies,systematically varying the evaluation contexts,manipulation methods,and materials to test four core hypotheses.Study1,Study 2,and Study 3 comprehensively utilized indices of instrumental value and emotional value to examine the main effect of product type on consumers'sen-sitivity to price cues.Based on the establishment of the main effect,Study 4 tested the mediating effect of evaluation process and ruled out alternative explanatory mechanisms related to the difficulty of the val-ue evaluation task.Study 5 examined the moderating role of evaluation mode,further revealing the boundary conditions of the main effect.The findings consistently reveal that consumers exhibit higher sensitiv-ity to price cues when evaluating material products compared to expe-riential products.This asymmetry arises because consumers are more inclined to utilize calculation-based evaluation process when evaluat-ing material products,thus being more sensitive to quantifiable price cues.Conversely,for experiential products,consumers lean towards a feeling-based process to evaluate values,resulting in lower sensitivity to price cues.Further analysis indicates that evaluation mode—sepa-rate evaluation versus joint evaluation—acts as a boundary condition in this effect.Specifically,joint evaluation mitigates the asymmetric effect of price cue sensitivity in value evaluation of experiential and material products,compared to separate evaluation.In separate eval-uation mode,the interaction between product type and price cues is significant,with material products showing a higher value associated with higher price cues,while the value of experiential products remains relatively stable across different price cues.However,under joint evalu-ation,the interaction effect between product type and price cues dimin-ishes,suggesting that consumers become more sensitive to price cues when evaluating experiential products in a comparative context.These findings contribute to the body of knowledge in several ways.Firstly,by contrasting the value evaluation processes and consumers'price cue sensitivity between material and experiential products,this research reveals that unlike previous findings concerning material products,consumers are less influenced by price cues when evaluat-ing experiential products,offering a cross-domain perspective to the price-quality effect research.Secondly,this research integrates the in-dicators of emotional value and instrumental value,establishing a more comprehensive value evaluation framework for both material and experi-ential consumption.Prior research focused mainly on material products'quality(instrumental value)and experiential consumption's happiness(emotional value).However,consumers also consider emotional value in material product purchases and instrumental value in experiential ones.This study integrates both dimensions,finding that consumers use a cal-culation-based process for material products and a feeling-based one for experiential,governed by the product type rather than evaluation goals.Thirdly,this research extends the preference reversal effect to the domain of value evaluation modes,revealing how changes in evaluation context can influence consumers'sensitivity to price cues.Finally,the conclusion of this study can also enrich the research perspective in the field of ma-terial and experiential consumption.Although previous research in the fields of material and experiential consumption has identified numerous asymmetrical characteristics between these two types of consumption,such as intangibility,self-relevance,sociality,and uniqueness,these research primarily focused on exploring the outcomes associated with these different types of consumption,for instance,how experiential con-sumption tends to make people happier,less regretful,and more willing to share with others.Comparatively little attention has been paid to how different types of product characteristics influence consumers'pre-pur-chase evaluations and decisions.This research highlights the necessity of examining the pre-purchase evaluation process in both experiential and material consumption.Moreover,this research has practical implications for marketers and policymakers.By recognizing the asymmetric effects of price cue sen-sitivity,marketers can tailor their pricing strategies and promotional activities to better align with consumers'value evaluation preferences.For instance,emphasizing non-price attributes may be more effective in promoting experiential products,while highlighting price-related benefits could enhance the appeal of material products.Additionally,our findings suggest that the evaluation mode should be considered when designing marketing interventions or consumer surveys,as it can significantly influence the perceived value of products.
Experiential vs.Material PurchaseEvaluation ProcessSingle Evaluation and Joint EvaluationSensitivity of Price CuesEvaluability Theory
万方数据
维普
