It's Not Whether You Win or Lose, It's How You Play the Game? The Role of Process and Outcome in Experience Consumption

• Published in: Journal of marketing research 2012-12, Vol.49 (6), p.954-966
• Main Authors: YANG, XIAOJING, MAO, HUIFANG, PERACCHIO, LAURA A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Consumer research; Economic competition; Games; Literary tropes; Marketing; Observational research; Perceptual experiences; Personality psychology; Singing; Social psychology
• ISSN: 0022-2437; 1547-7193
• DOI: 10.1509/jmr.10.0083

Many firms attempt to enhance experience consumption by facilitating the consumption outcome (i.e., the end state achieved, such as the final score of a basketball game) and the consumption process (i.e., the course through which the end is achieved, such as how the game is played). The authors propose that the roles of outcome and process in the evaluation of experience consumption are dependent not only on consumers' role in the experience (participant vs. spectator) but also on their self-construal (independent vs. interdependent). As a spectator (e.g., watching a game), independents' (vs. interdependents') experience consumption evaluations are more likely to be influenced by outcome, while interdependent (vs. independent) consumers are more likely to be affected by process. The reverse is true when consumers assume the role of a participant in the experience (e.g., playing a game). The authors' theorizing is supported across three studies.