The Mysteries of Mystery Deals: The Roles of Purchase Type (Material vs. Experiential Purchases) and Excitement Neglect

• Published in: Journal of experimental psychology. Applied 2022-03, Vol.28 (1), p.179-188
• Main Authors: Urumutta Hewage, Ganga S., He, Xin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Choice Behavior; Consumer Behavior; Female; Human; Humans; Male; Materialism; Pilot Projects; Pleasure; Popularity; Preferences; Retailing
• ISSN: 1076-898X; 1939-2192
• DOI: 10.1037/xap0000318

Despite the popularity of mystery offers in retail settings, less is known about how consumers choose such offers. In this research, we examine the role of the purchase type (material vs. experiential purchases) in consumers' trade-offs between mystery and nonmystery options. In 11 studies (including a Pilot Study and 5 Supplemental Studies), we show that, when making material purchases, consumers have a lower relative preference for mystery options than when making experiential purchases. Such an effect is driven by excitement neglect; that is, consumers are less likely to seek the excitement embedded in mystery options when making material purchases. In addition to mediation analysis, we use the moderation-of-process approach for mechanism testing by manipulating the need for excitement. We demonstrate the robustness and the generalizability of the effects through a variety of study designs and data sources, including scenario-based studies, a choice experiment, and real-world data from Groupon. Public Significance Statement This research examines how consumers make trade-offs between mystery and nonmystery deals, and how their relative preferences are affected by the purchase type (material vs. experiential purchases). Because consumers are less likely to seek excitement when making material purchases, they have a lower preference for mystery deals in material purchases than in experiential purchases.