Journal of Marketing Management

Comparable or Enriched: Influence of Temporal Distance upon Consumer Tradeoff between the Two Attributes
Mei-Ching Huang, Pei-Hsun Wu, Chia-Hsun Lin

Abstract
The concept of temporal distance is already understood and discussed in Construal Level Theory. In previous researches, however, we found severely limited understanding regarding the influence of temporal distance on consumer behavior. This research looks into how temporal distance affects consumer tradeoff between comparable attributes (such as price) and enriched attributes (such as brand) by implementing two studies. Study 1 demonstrated that, in a buying context under nearer temporal distance, consumers prefer products with better comparable attributes (lower price) over products with better enriched attributes (better brand); in a buying context under farther temporal distance, consumer prefer products with better enriched attributes (better brand) over products with better comparable attributes (lower price). In Study 2 variables of decision-making task (joint evaluation or separate evaluation) were added to demonstrate that there is a reciprocal influence from temporal distance and decision-making model upon consumer tradeoff between comparable attributes (such as price) and enriched attributes (such as brand). For a purchase with nearer temporal distance, consumers prefer products with better comparable attributes (compared with products with better enriched attributes) in the joint evaluation model, while consumers prefer products with better enriched attributes (compared with products with better comparable attributes) in the separate evaluation model. For a purchase with farther temporal distance, consumers prefer products with better enriched attributes, regardless of whether it is the joint evaluation or separate evaluation model (compared with products with better comparable attributes).

Full Text: PDF     DOI: 10.15640/jmm.v4n1a10