In this paper, the authors investigate how price promotions influence the post purchase consumption experience of hedonic products over time. Depending on whether there is an immediate consumption or a delay in consumption after receiving a discount, a price discount may either increase consumer enjoyment by enhancing positive moods while dampening the “pain” of payment or decrease consumer enjoyment by lowering attention during consumption. Four experiments were conducted to test if immediate or delays in consumption after receiving a discount would play significant role in determining this increase or decrease in consumer enjoyment. These experiments involved real spending and consumption and set out to demonstrate that when consumption occurred immediately after a price discount, consumption experience was more enjoyable and there was an opposite effect on consumption experience when consumption was delayed. The experiments further investigated feelings (mood) and attention respectively to support these effects while ruling out perceived quality, absolute paid price and direct sunk cost as possible explanations.

In experiment 1, they tested the influence of price promotions and a delay in consumption on overall consumer enjoyment (Hypothesis 1) of chocolate truffles. Hypothesis 1a stated an increase in consumer enjoyment between price promotion and immediate consumption while Hypothesis 1b stated a decrease in consumer enjoyment between a price promotion and a delay in consumption. The independent variables manipulated in this experiment were price discount (price discount vs no price discount) and consumption delays (immediate consumption vs delayed consumption), while the dependent variable observed was consumption enjoyment of the purchased chocolates. The results showed that price promotions enhanced the consumption experience in the immediate consumption conditions and lowered consumption experience in the delay consumption conditions, supporting Hypotheses 1a and 1b.

Overall, experiments 2, 3 and 4 were conducted to test if the immediate effect and delayed effect of price promotions were driven, respectively, by the relative strength of positive mood and attention to consumption over time (Hypothesis 2). Experiment 2 specifically tested if mood could account for the effects observed between a price discount and immediate consumption by including mood in the mediation analysis. It also provided more support for Hypothesis 1 using a different sensory stimulus, music, and a shorter time delay while excluding absolute paid price as an explanation for the effects of discounts and time delay. The independent variables manipulated were price discount and consumer delay, similar to experiment 1. The dependent variable observed was consumer enjoyment levels of the music purchased. From this experiment, perceived quality was ruled out as an explanation and the mediation results implicated positive moods as a crucial role in affecting the level of consumer enjoyment derived from immediate consumption conditions but not in the delayed consumption conditions, supporting Hypothesis 2. Furthermore, the results showed that price promotion enhanced the consumption experience in the immediate consumption conditions but lowered consumption experience in the delay consumption conditions, supporting Hypothesis 1 as well.

Experiment 3, on the other hand, tested if attention could account for the effects observed between a price discount and delay in consumption by manipulating product valence in the orange juice product category (Hypothesis 2). To test if the observed effect would still manifest if there was a larger sunk cost, participants were given a larger budget upon completion of surveys. In this experiment, the independent variables manipulated were product valence (sweet vs sour juice), price discount (discount vs no discount) and consumption delay (delay vs no delay). The dependent variable observed was consumer enjoyment of the orange juice purchased. Attention and product valence were also included in a mediation analysis to see if they had any mediating effects on the relationship between price promotion and consumption delay. The results of experiment 3 showed that attention played a crucial role in mediating the effects of price promotions on consumption experience in the delay consumption conditions and had no effect in the immediate consumption conditions, supporting Hypothesis 2. The mediation analysis also ruled out perceived quality and direct sunk cost as possible explanations for the hypothesis.

Using the same sensory stimulus in experiment 3, experiment 4 was conducted to further test attention account by manipulating cognitive load during consumption in addition to discount and consumption delay. The independent variables manipulated were cognitive load (high vs low), discount (discount vs no discount) and consumption delay (delay vs no delay) and the dependent variable observed was consumer enjoyment of the orange juice purchased. The results proved that with immediate consumption, price promotions increased enjoyment in both high and low load conditions because cognitive load impeded the affective spillover mechanism underlying the positive mood effect, supporting Hypothesis H3a. However, it also proved that in delayed consumption conditions, price promotions decreased enjoyment only in the low load conditions and had no effect in the high cognitive load conditions as the load reduced negative attention during consumption, supporting Hypothesis H3b.

In my opinion, this paper has done well as extra effort was taken to rule out perceived quality, absolute paid price and direct sunk cost as possible explanations for the hypotheses. Also, the experiments were conducted over three product categories, increasing its external validity. However, the external validity is limited as only low involvement product categories were considered. Thus, the results of the experiment may not be applicable to more expensive hedonic products like jewelry or cars where there is a higher level of consumer involvement. Furthermore, the findings may not be applicable to real life settings where people knowingly purchase an unpleasant experience that serves higher purpose, like grueling weight loss programs, as the experiments only focused on impact of price promotions on consumption of positive experiences.

Implementing the findings of the paper, marketing managers of The Hershey Company should reduce the frequency and reliance on discounts to boost temporary sales as discounts can lower consumer experience of the chocolates if consumed at a later time. This would in turn lower customer satisfaction and consumer loyalty which would adversely affect long term sales. However, when consumers experience positive feelings by anticipating the pleasurable experience of consuming the purchased good, a delay in consumption after a price discount may enhance consumer enjoyment instead of decreasing it. Thus, Hershey’s can take advantage of this by promoting the “pleasurable experience” of eating a Hershey’s milk chocolate bar through different media marketing campaigns, making consumers anticipate the taste of the purchased chocolate, increasing the chance of enhancing consumer enjoyment in delayed consumption.

The results supported the mood-attention dual-process framework, especially with the proposed attention account for delayed consumption conditions.

??In reality, brands have a large part to play as price does not signal quality in an unambiguous product. Meaning, aThus, the results may not be externally valid as products used in this experiment didn’t have any labels indicating brands. For experiment 1, if they labelled the chocolates Godiva, the results of the experiment would have been affected as Godiva, with a good reputation might get higher levels of consumer enjoyment even in the delay consumption condition as the price which it was bought at does not signal its quality.

here is a chance that a, strategies like improving brand name/quality of the good should be implemented. If price discounts straetgies are implemented, extra effort should be put into increasing the attention of the consumer during the consumption if it is delayed. One strategy possibly could be to have a large discount instead of small frequent ones. Thus, the large savings could increase the consumers attention at a later date.

To reduce the effect of lowered consumer enjoyment levels after a delay in consumption,
Consumption experience plays an essential role in influencing customer satisfaction, repeat purchases, word of mouth and consumer loyalty. Managers should be aware that discounts are a double edged sword. While Taking this into account, the marketing manager of UNIQLO Singapore should reconsider the highly frequent number of sales it has in stores.
• Affect people’s perceptions of Uniqlo and its brand loyalty as people might feel that uniqlo is a cheaper brand.
• With so frequent sales, people’s attention during consumption will fall and lower consumption enjoyment. Hence, reducing important factors such as repeat purchases, consumer loyalty and customer satisfaction.
Have less frequent sales. With sales, focus on the quality of the clothes, have interesting displays for sales items to increase attention as usually there will be less motivation to put thought products which are cheap or discounted compared to more expensive /not discounted products which induce more cautious and deliberate thinking about the product.

Done well- account for other factors and dimissed them as potential reasons etc.

External validity- same group of students in lib or from same school
Real life, they make price quality inference. The products used in this experiment didn’t have any labels on it. For example, for experiment 1, if they labelled the chocolates godiva vs hershey’s ( real life choices), the results of the experiment would have been affected as price does not signal quality when the quality of the product is unamibigious. Thus, godiva, known for its reputation might get higher levels of consumer enjoyment even in the delay consumption condition as the price which it was bought at does not signal its quality.

The hypotheses were tested only on 3 different relatively cheap product categories which were mostly low involvement purchases (chocolates, music, orange juice). The results may not be applicable to more expensive prodcuts like cars or houses were there is a higher level of consumer involvement and a longer delay in consumption after a special sale/discount. When larger purcahsese are made and consumption does not occur immediately, consumers will experience s a larger cognitive dissonance and will try to reduce it by convincing themselves they made the right choice. Thus, the results for such product categories might potentially show a higher level of consumption enjoyment in the delay conditions after a discount as attention is not reduced during the consumption of such a high invovlevemnt good.
Consumption experience plays an essential role in influencing customer satisfaction, repeat purchases, word of mouth and consumer loyalty. Managers should be aware that discounts are a double edged sword. While price promotions could potentially induce short term sales and enhance consumer enjoyment if the product is consumed immediately, it could reduce consumer enjoyment if there is delay between the discount and consumption due to lower attention levels. Taking this into account, the marketing manager of UNIQLO Singapore should reconsider the highly frequent number of sales it has in stores. * Affect people’s perceptions of Uniqlo and its brand loyalty as people might feel that uniqlo is a cheaper brand. * With so frequent sales, people’s attention during consumption will fall and lower consumption enjoyment. Hence, reducing important factors such as repeat purchases, consumer loyalty and customer satisfaction.
Have less frequent sales. With sales, focus on the quality of the clothes, have interesting displays for sales items to increase attention as usually there will be less motivation to put thought products which are cheap or discounted compared to more expensive /not discounted products which induce more cautious and deliberate thinking about the product.

Findings of the experiments.

1. What do you think was done well or done badly in this paper? 2. What is your assessment of the external validity of the results of this paper? i.e. to what extent do you think (and why) that the results of this paper are applicable to other consumers, product categories in real life consumer settings? 3. How might a marketing manager of a specific firm (i.e. think of and specify which brand in what product category) find these results useful in designing or changing their marketing plan?

Price promotions can affect consumption experience by raising shopper’s moods as they have the tendency to feel they have gotten a “good deal”. This opinion would also lead them to value promotional items over non-promotional items and increase their buying tendencies. Furthermore, a reduction in a price of a product would lead to a decrease in the “pain of payment” as less money is spent, increasing their consumption experience. Overall, these positive mood effects derived from price promotions will enhance the enjoyment received from using the product. However, price promotions may affect consumption levels negatively as there is a fall in our attentiveness during the consumption. This reduction in attention can be attributed to the fact that either price promotions reduce sunk-cost considerations, or the psychological need to validate or recuperate one’s spending based on the “waste-not” rule. Furthermore, more expensive products induce more cautious and deliberate thinking about the product. Conversely, there would be less motivation to put thought products which are cheap or discounted.

Hypothesis one investigated how price promotions and a delay in consumption would influence overall consumer enjoyment. There were two sub-hypothesizes H1a and H1b which tests the effect on consumer enjoyment between a price promotion with an immediate consumption and a delay in consumption respectively. To test this Hypothesis, experiments

For H1a, a consumer would experience a higher level of consumer enjoyment with immediate consumption after receiving the price promotion. Positive moods are generally more linked to affective processing which tends to be more instinctive, associative and unforced. Thus, if there is little or no time delay between payment and consumption, the prominent and intuitive positive mood effects will tend to dominate the negative impact of reduced consumption attention. This effect, coupled with the reduction of the “pain of payment” a discount provides, could have a positive spillover effect of mood on consumption enjoyment and thus augmenting the consumption experience.

In contrast to H1a, the second sub-Hypothesis states that the level of consumer enjoyment would decline with a time lag between receiving the discount and the actual consumption of the hedonic product. The positive mood effect on consumption experience induced by promotions are reduced when there is a delay in consumption as mood effects are only temporary while cognitive responses to an event or object are more persistent over time. Thus, rational considerations about price promotions may now play a more dominant role in influencing the consumption experience rather than mood. Specifically, because of a lower price paid, sunk cost considerations and the need to recover one’s expenditure are reduced. Thus, these dominant cognitive responses lower attention during product consumption, reducing hoe much one enjoys the product.

We can see that positive moods and attention play a crucial role in affecting the level of consumer enjoyment derived when there is a delay or not between a discount and consumption. To test this relationship, Hypothesis 2 investigated the immediate effect and delayed effect of price promotions are driven, respectively by the relative strength of positive mood and attention to consumption overtime.

To test the validity of the proposed mood-attention dual-process framework, experimenters manipulated cognitive load during consumption in addition to discount and consumption delay. During high levels of cognitive load, attention will be reduced and little details about a product which make it enjoyable will be missed, thus, reducing the overall consumption experience.

During immediate consumption, spillover of positive mood which is likely to be associated with automatic affective processing is dominant over attention in determining consumer enjoyment. Thus, cognitive load which affects attention is not expected to have an impact on the positive effect of a discount .Thus, H3a states that for immediate consumption, price promotions will increase enjoyment in both high and low load conditions because cognitive load will not impede the affective spillover mechanism underlying the positive (mood) effect.

However, for delayed consumption where cognitive responses are dominant over positive mood effect in determining the level of consumption experience, cognitive load would weaken the negative attention effect in the delay conditions. Thus, H3b states that for delayed consumption, price promotions would decrease enjoyment in the low load conditions but will have no effect in the high load conditions because cognitive load will reduce attention during consumption.

Intro
Before we move onto experiemtns, we will be talking about the theoretical bg of the Hypothesis

Findings of the experiments.

4. What do you think was done well or done badly in this paper? 5. What is your assessment of the external validity of the results of this paper? i.e. to what extent do you think (and why) that the results of this paper are applicable to other consumers, product categories in real life consumer settings? 6. How might a marketing manager of a specific firm (i.e. think of and specify which brand in what product category) find these results useful in designing or changing their marketing plan?

External validity-

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[ 1 ]. Participants were given money after completing a survey and then used (some of) the money to buy one of given 2 products either a full or discounted price
[ 2 ]. Chocolates, music and orange juice