How consumers with hedonic (vs utilitarian) purchase motive use item-price (vs price-item) presentation order as a mechanism to justify their hedonic purchase

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the moderating role of hedonic and utilitarian purchase motives for the presentation order effect. Although past research finds that presenting item first and price later (e.g. 70 items for $29) increases consumers’ purchase intention more than presenting the information in the opposite order (e.g. $29 for 70 items), the effect was mostly examined in a hedonic consumption context. This study examines whether the effect is applicable for hedonic purchases but is less applicable for utilitarian purchases, and why. Design/methodology/approach: Seven experiments tested the moderating effect of purchase motives for the presentation order effect. Two serial mediation analyses were conducted to examine the underlying mechanism. Findings: The “item-price” (vs “price-item”) order increases hedonic purchases, but not utilitarian purchases. Because consumers feel guilty about hedonic purchases, they engage in motivated information processing to perceive greater value from their hedonic purchase when item (benefit) information is presented first and price (cost) information is presented later. Perceiving greater value reduces guilt, which consequently increases hedonic purchases. In contrast, the order effect is not observed for utilitarian purchases that do not elicit guilt. When a price discount is offered, the order effect is reversed because actual savings justify hedonic purchases better than perceived savings resulting from motivated information processing. Practical implications: When promoting hedonic products, marketers are recommended to present item information before price information, unless a price discount is offered, in which case the price should be presented first. Originality/value: This research introduces a novel moderator for the presentation order effect and a novel underlying mechanism, driven by the motivation to alleviate guilt associated with hedonic purchases.