To neglect or to consider? Opportunity cost consideration during product sampling can accelerate satiation

Abstract

Sampling provides limited experience with an offering to promote its purchase, either now or later. Sampling involves an ongoing choice about whether to buy the sampled option. We propose that ongoing choice feels more like a choice when people consider opportunity costs. Consequently, we predict that opportunity cost consideration will accentuate the impact of ongoing choosing on enjoyment over time of the sampled option (i.e., a slope effect). It follows that when ongoing decision evolves toward not choosing the sampled option today, its negative impact on enjoyment should become more pronounced when people consider their opportunity costs, decreasing overall enjoyment. Studies 1, 2, and 3 provided support for this key prediction. Studies 4 and 5 showed that when the best alternative use of a resource people considered was more attractive, they experienced accelerated satiation from an unchosen sampled option. While previous research showed that opportunity cost consideration accentuated the impact of one-time choice on evaluation (i.e., intercept effect), we showed that it accentuated the impact of ongoing choice on enjoyment over time (i.e., slope effect). We also contribute to the understanding of the factors that increase overall enjoyment of a sampling experience, which should influence future purchase likelihood.