How Do Consumers Overcome Ambivalence toward Hedonic Purchases? A Typology of Consumer Strategies
Résumé
Purchase decisions for hedonic products and services are often characterized by ambivalence -sensory benefits make them attractive, but consumers may feel guilty about bying them. To overcome this ambivalence, consumers frequently adopt strategies that allow them to enloy hedonic benefits while limiting their negative feelings. Combining an extensive literature review with an interpretive study, the authors identify 23 consumer strategies and propose a typology in four groups on the basis of strategy antecedents: two groups of objective strategies (obtaining consumption benefits without purchasing, objectively contining purchasing costs) and two groups of subjective strategies (manipulating the mental accounting of costs and benefits, relinquishing responsability).