The low effect of perceived risk in the relation between hedonic values and purchase intention

ABSTRACT

This research seeks to identify the influence of perceived risk in the purchase intention environment regarding innovative technological products, and also to understand how brand trust reduces the expected impact of this risk due to the hedonic and utilitarian characteristics influencing purchase intention. Quantitative research was carried out and analysed through structural equation modelling, where the influence of perceived risk on utilitarian value and purchase intention was identified, as well as the influence of brand trust in reducing this risk. The conceptual implications of the study describe as the perceived risk moderates hedonic features less compared to utilitarian features regarding purchase intention, thus demonstrating that emotional relationships are less affected by this risk. The managerial implications suggest that devices with utilitarian characteristics should be more carefully planned according to their brand and complexity, while hedonic products do not require brand trust to guarantee consumers’ purchase intention in the current innovative scenario.     

Beyond presence: Creating attractive online retailing stores through the cool AR technology

Augmented reality (AR) is increasingly coming into the spotlight for its potential to improve the consumer experience through the creation of presence. This research aims to explore the theoretical mechanisms through which AR-based product presentation influences online store attractiveness and whether the effects differ in the purchasing contexts of hedonic and utilitarian product types. From the perspective of consumers' bidimensional experience, we find that AR increases online store attractiveness by creating perceived coolness (intrinsic attribute) and spatial presence experience (extrinsic attribute), which would further have a positive impact on consumers' purchase intention. The mediating mechanisms are different in purchasing contexts of various product types: for hedonic products, perceived coolness and spatial presence are parallel mediating factors leading to the improvement of online store attractiveness; while for utilitarian products, only the mediation effect of spatial presence presents. Our findings enrich the literature on AR marketing by proposing an insightful mediating force (i.e., perceived coolness) to complement the effect of presence, and explore the different purchasing contexts. We also provide managerial guidance for e-retailers to differentiate AR interface design for diverse product types to apply AR technology effectively.     

Impact of sales Promotion's benefits on perceived value: Does product category moderate the results?

The purpose behind the development of this research article is to assess the impact of sales promotions benefits on consumer perceived value and examine the moderating effect of product categories on the relation between sales promotions, their benefits, and consumer perceived value. The study used a sample of 400 consumers from India and ‘Structure Equation Modelling’ technique is applied to evaluate the research assumption. Finally, the moderating effect of the product category is evaluated by utilizing ‘Multi-Group Analysis' technique. Research findings reveal that the product category moderates the consumer's perceived value for hedonic and utilitarian benefits of sales promotion tools. It is found that utilitarian benefits of sales promotion have more impact on consumer perceived value in the context of personal care product while hedonic benefits are having more impact on consumer perceived value in the context of food products. A sales promotion plan can be made more effective when it is hedonic benefit oriented in the case of food products and utilitarian benefit oriented in the case of personal care products. The findings of this research can be useful for marketers to develop an effective sales promotion strategy considering the category wise differential impact of sales promotions benefits.     

The Impact of Mobile App Adoption on Cross-buying: The Moderating Roles of Product Category Characteristics and Adoption Timing

With more and more companies introducing mobile apps and consumers using them during the purchase journey, it is increasingly important to understand the consequences of app adoption on behavioral outcomes. This paper investigates the impact of app adoption on the number of additional products purchased by customers (i.e., cross-buying) and how this effect varies across different product categories and different customers. We focus on two key product category characteristics (utilitarian vs. hedonic nature and perceived risk) and on adopters who vary in their adoption timings (early vs. late adopters). Using data from an online retailer and a combination of propensity score weighting with difference-in-differences and Heckman correction estimation techniques, the results show that app adoption has a positive effect on cross-buying overall, but the effect varies greatly across products and consumers. App adoption promotes additional product purchases for hedonic products but leads to less cross-buying for utilitarian products. In addition, early adopters purchase a higher number of additional product categories than late adopters, with this difference decreasing over time and for new consumers compared to existing customers. These results offer novel insights into the behavioral consequences of app adoption and provide managers with useful recommendations for improving the effectiveness of their mobile app investments.     

Payment formats and hedonic consumption

Payment formats have many important influences on consumer behavior. However, few studies have examined how the payment format affects hedonic consumption. This study explores how the transparency of the payment format (e.g., bonus points vs. cash) influences consumers’ willingness to pay, budget assignments, and consumption choices through differences in their perceived pain of purchasing (exchanging) hedonic and utilitarian options. Specifically, consumers who pay with highly transparent payment formats (e.g., cash), compared with consumers who pay with less transparent payment formats (e.g., store points, bonus points, and gift certificates), are willing to pay less, assign a lower budget, and are less likely to choose hedonic products. The perceived pain of purchasing (exchanging) a hedonic product plays an important mediating role on the influence of the payment format on hedonic consumption. However, the perceived pain of purchasing (exchanging) a utilitarian option plays a parallel mediating role only when people have paid for the less transparent payment format (e.g., buying store points) rather than when they accumulate the points through previous consumption events. The research findings provide insights that can benefit both theory and practice.     

When Do Online Consumers Shop in an Offline Store: The Moderating Effects of Product Characteristics

This study serves as an initial attempt to demonstrate empirically how online consumers react to the offline channel extensions (i.e., opening physical stores) of e-tailers. Specifically, we examine how the attributes of offline channels influence consumer intentions to switch to offline channels and how they also lead to incremental demands on online channels. We investigate how these effects vary across highly complex utilitarian and hedonic products. The results of the study indicate that although store openings encourage online consumers to shop there when purchasing highly complex utilitarian products, the addition of offline stores results counterintuitively in incremental patronage of the online channels when consumers shop for highly complex hedonic products. This study validates the guiding role of product characteristics in designing offline channels for e-tailers and suggests that incorporating product type and complexity into the design is likely to contribute to the development of stores tailored to specific consumer segments.     

The influence of anthropomorphic appearance of artificial intelligence products on consumer behavior and brand evaluation under different product types

While artificial intelligence products are widely used in the market, their anthropomorphic appearance design is becoming a frontier issue in product strategy and consumer behavior research. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of anthropomorphic appearance on consumer behavior and brand evaluation under different AI product types. It was conducted in China, a new but rapidly-growing country in the field of Internet, AI technology and AI product consumption. This study conducted four situational experiments with a 2 (anthropomorphic design: anthropomorphic vs. non-anthropomorphic) × 2 (product type: hedonic vs. utilitarian) between subjects’ experimental design. Data was collected from 1172 Chinese “Digital Natives” by using a structured questionnaire. The findings revealed that for hedonic AI products, anthropomorphic appearance improves consumers' purchase intention and brand evaluation through perceived entertainment, and intelligence level significantly moderates the mediating effect of perceived entertainment; while for practical AI products, anthropomorphic appearance improves consumers' purchase intention and brand evaluation through perceived usefulness, and intelligence level does not significantly moderate the mediating effect of perceived usefulness. There is no significant moderating effect of intelligence level on perceived usefulness. The study contributes to development and validation of a more comprehensive understanding and theoretical foundation of anthropomorphism, and furthermore explores the impact of anthropomorphic appearance on consumer behavior and brand evaluation under different AI product types. This study also provides insights for companies to apply anthropomorphic strategies.     

An investigation on the effectiveness of hedonic versus utilitarian message appeals in luxury product communication

This research studies the role of hedonic versus utilitarian message appeals in luxury goods communication, investigating how using one or the other type of message appeal affects product perceived luxuriousness and, in turn, product attitude, and consumers' willingness to buy. This research presents three experiments in which message appeal and brand prominence have been manipulated, while perception of luxuriousness, attitude toward luxury products, willingness to buy them and consumers' conspicuous consumption orientation have been measured. Hedonic, compared with utilitarian, message appeals increase perceived luxuriousness, thereby increasing product attitude and consumers' willingness to buy the product promoted. This effect is particularly likely to occur for consumers with lower levels of conspicuous consumption orientation and for products carrying lowly prominent logos. We extend the literature on luxury communication by studying the effect of hedonic versus utilitarian message appeals on consumers' responses, and the literature on hedonism versus utilitarianism by studying this dichotomy in the context of luxury goods communication. This research suggests that different message appeals used in luxury goods communication produce different effects on consumers' responses and that this differential effectiveness is particularly likely to manifest for certain types of consumers and certain types of luxury products.     

“Yes,we do. Why not use augmented reality?” customer responses to experiential presentations of AR-based applications

Augmented reality (AR) is regarded as a visually transformative technology that enables consumers to gain immersive and enjoyable information about experience products/services during the purchasing process. Based on the stimulus-organism-response (S–O-R) paradigm, this study investigates how experiential AR applications (apps) influence customers' experiential value, in turn enhancing continued usage intention. Furthermore, perceived customer support plays an even more important role in enhancing customers’ continued usage intention. This study obtained data through an online survey of 437 customers of the YouCam Makeup app in Taiwan. We used SmartPLS software to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. The findings suggest that the features of an experiential AR app have a greater positive impact on hedonic value than utilitarian value; in turn, only hedonic value has a positive impact on continued usage intention. The results further demonstrate that the effect of hedonic value on continued usage intention is positively moderated by perceived customer support.     

Impacts of product type and representation type on the perception of justice and price fairness

Consumers make purchasing decisions every day. This paper investigates perceptions of justice and price unfairness, where the product (hedonic vs. utilitarian) is presented either in a more abstract (verbal) or a more concrete (photo) way in a context of discriminatory pricing—a widely-employed marketing practice. Two experimental studies were completed. Results show an interaction between product and representation types. When consumers pay more than others to purchase utilitarian products that are concretely represented, participants perceive more unfairness when compared to hedonic products. However, when consumers pay more than others to purchase utilitarian products abstractly represented, the perception of unfairness decreased compared to hedonic products. For consumers and practitioners, this study offers important contributions—it presents situations in which a discriminatory price can result in a different perception of injustice or price unfairness to informed consumers. Accordingly, implications of these findings for the literature, consumers, and managers are discussed.     

Out-of-stock justifications and consumers’ behavioral outcomes– exploring the role of product type and sales level information in out-of-stock situations

The present study extends prior research on stockouts by examining how product-related attributes interact with OOS justifications to influence consumer responses to stockouts. Drawing from Out-of-stock (OOS) literature, this study investigates how perceived popularity, perceived uniqueness, negative affect, and behavioral outcomes are influenced by out-of-stock justifications, product type, and sales level. Two scenario-based experiments and two field studies are conducted in which the cause of the stockout, product type, and sales level are manipulated at different levels. The results of the studies provide the following primary insights- 1) Consumers infer popularity of the product when the product is OOS due to high demand or when the sales level is high 2) Consumers infer uniqueness of the product when the product is OOS due to short supply but not when sales level is low 3) As the perceived popularity of utilitarian products or the perceived uniqueness of hedonic products increases, consumers' propensity to switch stores to purchase the OOS products increases 4) Consumers’ intention to spread negative word of mouth decreases when the cause of OOS or a high sales level is specified. Retailers can influence behavioral outcomes by specifying the cause of stockout tailored according to the type of product, or by providing sales level information.     

Do Farmers' Market and Specialty Food Store Customers Differ in the Effects of Perceived Utilitarian and Hedonic Shopping Values?

This study explored differences in the effects of perceived utilitarian and hedonic shopping values on customer satisfaction for the two separate groups of the agricultural product marketing channel: farmers' markets and specialty food stores. Empirical data were collected from customers of agricultural product retailers located in Taiwan (N = 412). The results show that different agricultural product marketing channels provide different values to their customers. Farmers' market customers experience a greater hedonic value, and specialty food store customers experience a greater utilitarian value. In addition, the perceived utilitarian and hedonic shopping values of farmers' market customers are more highly positively associated with customer satisfaction than are those of specialty food store customers.     

Age-related differences in responses to affective vs. rational ads for hedonic vs. utilitarian products

This research investigated the moderating role of product category type (hedonic vs. utilitarian) on age-related differences in responses to affective vs. rational ads. An experiment showed that elderly consumers (age 65 plus) had more favorable attitudes toward affective (vs. rational) ads, regardless of product category type. In contrast, young adult consumers (age 18–25) favored affective ads only for hedonic products. They favored rational ads for utilitarian products. Results of the experiment imply that, to explain age-related differences in decision making, researchers must take into account age-related differences in motivational states apart from apparent shortfalls in cognition.     

Which Products are More Responsive to In-Store Displays: Utilitarian or Hedonic?

In-store displays aim to boost sales of both utilitarian and hedonic products. Noting typical differences in the information processing and purchase behavior evoked by these product types, and building on congruency theory principles, the authors propose that different types of in-store displays (i.e., island, end-of-aisle, or shelf signage) are more appropriate for utilitarian versus hedonic products, and the use of price or product promotions might reinforce these effects. With a database that combines three data sources (scanner, observational, and survey), this article presents an analysis of a market share model at the SKU level. The results confirm that in-store displays have differential effects on sales, depending on their characteristics; congruency between the decision-making process of utilitarian versus hedonic products and the characteristics of in-store display types moderates their effectiveness in terms of SKU sales. Shelf signage strongly increases the sales of utilitarian products, whereas island and end-of-aisle displays increase sales of hedonic product categories more effectively. The use of congruent promotions creates synergistic influences that reinforce these effects. In particular, price promotions improve the impact of shelf signage on utilitarian products, and product promotions strengthen the impacts of island and end-of-aisle displays on hedonic products. These results extend prior research on in-store marketing actions and the nature of utilitarian versus hedonic products, as well as providing recommendations for retailers and manufacturers seeking to optimize their retail space and commercial budgets.     

The role of product type and country‐of‐origin in decisions about choice of endorser ethnicity in advertising

Two experiments examine the effects of endorser ethnicity and product country of origin on consumer responses toward ad and brand, and investigate the moderating role of utilitarian versus hedonic product type. In Experiment 1, for utilitarian products, participants showed more favorable responses when the endorser's ethnicity was incongruent with the product's country of origin compared to when it was congruent, supporting an attribution‐theory explanation. For hedonic products, however, participants preferred ads that featured an endorser whose ethnicity matched their own, irrespective of the product's country of origin. In Experiment 2, building on the attribution explanation, two endorsers of different ethnicities generated more favorable responses than two of the same ethnicity. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Different Effects of Utilitarian and Hedonic Benefits of Retail Food Packaging on Perceived Product Quality and Purchase Intention

Since consumers primarily make in-store purchase decisions, firms use product packaging to attract potential consumers. Ever-increasing market competition in many food product industries has further fueled this phenomenon in firms. However, the question of how retail food packaging affects consumer processes has received very little attention. This study investigates the benefits of food packaging on consumer responses to hedonic products by comparing different benefits (i.e., utilitarian and hedonic) of food packaging to understand which one has more impact on consumers’ perceived quality and purchase intention. The results show that both utilitarian and hedonic benefits of retail food packaging are critical predictors of consumer evaluations but play different important roles in determining customers’ reactions. Utilitarian benefits of food packaging impact perceived quality more than hedonic benefits do. Compared to utilitarian benefits, hedonic benefits of retail food packaging have more impact on consumer purchase intention.     

“Alexa,lock my front door”: An empirical study on factors affecting consumer's satisfaction with VCA-controlled security devices

Voice conversation agents (VCAs) have moved beyond simple tasks such as information gathering. The integration of VCAs in smart technologies for security has grown in the consumer market. This paper investigates consumers' motivation to use smart technologies controlled by voice conversational agents and how that impacts their perceived hedonic and utilitarian value, which eventually leads to their satisfaction with smart technologies usage. Two cross-sectional studies and a netnography were conducted. The findings showed that the variables measuring technology acceptance mediate the relationship between consumers' motivation and the perceived value of the VCA-controlled smart technologies. Study 1 results show that ease of use and usefulness of the VCA-controlled smart technologies have a more substantial mediating effect between motivation and hedonic value than utilitarian value. For study 2, results show that the mediators had a stronger influence on hedonic and utilitarian values for outdoor voice conversational agent-controlled smart technologies than indoor smart technologies. Study 3 showed that smart technologies have both risks and benefits and depend on whether they are being used for themselves or others. The results suggest that marketers need to consider consumer's emphasis on the products' features including its ease of use and usefulness, and strategically complement it with consumers' prevention and promotion focus for each product.     

Running for pleasure or performance? How store attributes and hedonic product value influence consumer satisfaction

Previous retailing studies have linked consumer satisfaction to perceived hedonic or utilitarian product value. This research extends previous studies by examining how the context in which the product is purchased (store attributes) and product value influence consumer satisfaction. We conducted a field study with 213 consumers attending two major running events. The findings from structural equation modelling suggest that a specific combination of store attributes (tangible and intangible) and hedonic product value has a positive influence on satisfaction. Results also show that tangible store attributes have a stronger positive impact on utilitarian (vs. hedonic) product value, and that intangible store attributes have a positive impact on hedonic product value. However, we found that only hedonic product value has a positive impact on satisfaction. This research contributes to theory by showing that a match between store attributes (tangible and intangible) and hedonic product value can positively influence satisfaction. In managerial terms, the findings provide insights on how to improve consumer satisfaction in retail environments through store attributes and hedonic product value.     

产品类别视角企业微博互动内容策略的差异性研究

本文基于产品的实用性和享乐性分类视角,按照内容将企业微博互动策略分为社会性和任务导向型两种类型,并以此为依据对企业微博互动策略进行内容分析,探究不同产品类别的企业微博互动策略效果。研究表明,实用性产品和享乐性产品在企业微博互动内容策略及效果上存在差异,以此为企业有效开展微博营销提供理论依据与实践参考。     

What motivates customers to shop in smart shops? The impacts of smart technology and technology readiness

With the rapid diffusion of smart technologies, a new retail mode, the smart shop, has received increasing attention from both academia and practitioners in the 5G era. However, previous studies on smart shops have largely focused on the effects of smart technologies on technology adoption rather than customer shopping behaviors. To fill this gap, this study applies the hedonic information systems acceptance model (HISAM) to identify the utilitarian and hedonic motivations affecting consumer shopping intention. In addition, we characterize a second-order formative construct, technology readiness, as a technology-related personality to test its moderating role in the research model in the marketing context when consumer behaviors may differ due to individual characteristics. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we applied SmartPLS 3.2.8 to analyze 298 valid samples. The results show that perceived ease of use significantly affects perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment, in turn, these three factors directly influence shopping intention. Additionally, perceived ease of use will have a stronger impact on perceived usefulness and shopping intention when the customer has a high level of technology readiness. Finally, theoretical and practical suggestions and future research directions are also discussed.