Now or Never: Perceptions of Uniqueness Induce Acceptance of Price Increases for Experiences More Than for Objects

Abstract

Seven studies test and support the prediction that consumers are more willing to accept a price increase for an experiential versus a material purchase; an effect explained by the greater uniqueness of experiences. Critically, the uniqueness model advanced here is found to be independent of the happiness consumers derive from the purchase. To gain a deeper understanding of the uniqueness mechanism, this investigation then advances and tests a four‐facet framework of uniqueness (unique opportunity, unique purchase, unique identity, and counterconformity). Together, the findings converge on the conclusion that consumers perceive the opportunity to have a particular experience (vs. object) as more unique, and this unique opportunity increases their willingness to accept a price increase. Overall, this work extends the experiential versus material purchases literature into a new domain—that of pricing; identifies the dimension—uniqueness—and its precise facet responsible for the effect—unique opportunity; and demonstrates that this model unfolds in a pattern distinct from the oft researched model centered on consumer happiness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Consumers’ pursuit of material and experiential purchases: A review

“…One corollary of the fact that experiential purchases are evaluated in less comparative terms is that they are less tied, psychologically, to money—the basis of exchange that facilitates comparison between very disparate potential purchases. One finding that’s consistent with this idea is that consumers tend to be more willing accept a price increase for an experiential purchase than for a material purchase (Bastos, ). More broadly, the extent to which consumers say they are satisfied with what they bought and how much they paid for it is significantly higher for material goods than for experiences (Mann & Gilovich, , Study 1).…”

Want to make me happy? Tell me about your experiences but not your objects

“…In contrast to the actual purchaser who directly buys and consumes the experience or object, the listener experiences the purchase only indirectly , via the conversation. Therefore, this investigation, centered on the listener, extends prior research on experiential versus material purchases (e.g., Van Boven and Gilovich, 2003; Carter and Gilovich, 2010, 2012; Rosenzweig and Gilovich, 2012; Bastos and Brucks, 2017; Bastos, 2019a, 2019b, 2020), which has focused primarily on the purchaser as a direct beneficiary of the “experience recommendation” (Nicolao et al ., 2009)—the idea that experiential purchases advance happiness more than do material purchases (Van Boven and Gilovich, 2003). This work proposes and shows that this experiential advantage goes beyond the purchaser and manifest also in those who have only indirect exposure to the purchase via listening to a purchase‐related conversation.…”

“…Finally, by searching for a boundary of the model, this work reveals that purchase valence qualifies a novel mechanism via conversation substantiveness. This finding adds to previous evidence indicating that purchase valence moderates psychological adaptation (Nicolao et al ., 2009), uniqueness (Bastos, 2019a), and perceived positive impact (Bastos and Barsade, 2020) associated with experiential versus material purchases.…”

“…Using a framing approach, Study 2 keeps the focal purchase constant (i.e., a BBQ grill) and manipulates whether the purchase is presented to participants as an experience or an object (Carter and Gilovich, 2010, 2012; Rosenzweig and Gilovich, 2012; Bastos and Brucks, 2017; Bastos, 2019a). This approach neutralize idiosyncrasies between the experiential and material purchases discussed in Study 1.…”

“…Consistent with this work's prediction, the findings indicate that the model holds for positive but not negative purchases. This finding adds to current knowledge in the following way: Past research has shown that purchase valence moderates the mechanism via psychological adaptation, a mechanism that explains the greater happiness that purchasers gain from experiences versus objects (Nicolao et al ., 2009) and the mechanism via uniqueness, a mechanism that explains consumers' greater willingness to accept a price increase for experiences than objects (Bastos, 2019a). Adding to body of research, the present work shows that purchase valence moderates a novel mechanism, via substantiveness and social connection, a mechanism that sequentially explains the greater happiness that listeners obtain from experiential (vs. material) conversations.…”