Jungkeun Kim

More or Less: A Model and Empirical Evidence on Preferences for Under- and Overpayment in Trade-In Transactions

Trade-in transactions typically involve an exchange of an old, used version for a new or newer version of the product. When consumers trade in their used model for a new model, the firm faces the choice of paying the consumer a relatively low price for the used model and charging a commensurately low price for the new model or paying a relatively high price for the used model and charging a commensurately high price for the new model. The extant literature suggests that consumers always prefer to be overpaid in trade-in transactions because they disproportionately value the gain associated with the revenues from the sale of the used version of the product. The authors draw from the prospect theory value function to develop a simple analytical model that identifies a condition under which this preference for overpayment is reversed. Their model predicts that even when faced with economically equivalent price formats, consumers prefer to be overpaid when the ratio of the price of their used product to the price of the new product is low, but when that ratio is high, the preference for overpayment is reversed. They observe support for the predictions that emerge from the model in laboratory experiments.

Application of Construal-Level Theory to Promotional Strategies in the Hotel Industry

Effectively promoting products and services is important for the success of tourism companies in the competitive business environment. Based on construal level theory, this study examines whether psychological distance (temporal and spatial) influences preferred promotional messages in the tourism industry. The results from three experimental studies indicate that people who plan a vacation in the distant-future/to a far-destination prefer abstract promotional messages, while those who plan in the near-future/to a near-destination prefer concrete ones. We also find that informational media (textual vs. pictorial) have significant influences regarding the impact of psychological distance on travelers’ preferred promotional information. Further, using a field study, we investigate whether the current advertisements produced by tourism organizations are properly designed to be congruent with spatially driven construal levels (e.g., concrete promotional information for a near destination) but find them incongruent with what this study suggests. Implications of the findings are discussed for both researchers and practitioners.

Different or Similar Choices: The Effect of Decision Framing on Variety Seeking in Travel Bundle Packages:

This research investigates whether different ways of framing decisions influence travelers’ variety-seeking tendencies in choosing bundled product options. Based on the literatures of bundling, variety-seeking, and the decision-framing effect, we empirically test whether travelers show higher variety-seeking in travel package decisions when the bundle package is selected from a combined decision rather than from two single decisions. We also examine whether this different variety-seeking tendency is influenced by travelers’ preference for consistency. The results of six experimental studies support our main proposition, and the substantive theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed.

Are two arguments always better than one?: Persuasion knowledge moderating the effect of integrated marketing communications

Purpose This research aims to examine the moderating role of consumers’ persuasion knowledge (PK) on the persuasive effect of combined advertising and publicity within the same medium. The synergistic effect experienced when two messages are thus combined is reversed for readers with high PK who are first exposed to publicity then to advertising. Believability of the message is found to be a mediator within this context. Design/methodology/approach Based on a review of the appropriate literatures on PK and integrated marketing communication (IMC), this paper tests the hypotheses using two experimental studies. Findings The results of two experiments show that publicity-then-advertising yields poorer persuasion than advertising-then-publicity, especially under a high PK condition. The reduced synergistic effect of combinations of advertising and publicity is found especially when consumers activate temporary PK and/or when they have chronically high PK. A mediator for a decrease in the synergistic effect of combinations of advertising and publicity, believability, is examined. Practical implications This study contains significant managerial implications for marketing communicators about how to most effectively combine and coordinate publicity and advertising in the implementation of an IMC strategy. Originality/value Other than making a contribution to the IMCs’ literature, this research extends understanding of the power of PK within an IMC framework. The research contributes yet another extension to the original PK model of Friestad and Wright (1994) by suggesting an underlying theoretical mechanism to explain how PK works in the IMC domain.

The Influence of Decision Task on the Magnitude of Decoy and Compromise Effects in a Travel Decision

This research assesses the effects of choice alternatives on the travel destination decisions of travelers. The decoy effect involves the addition of a new inferior alternative into a choice set, thereby increasing the choice of an existing option. Meanwhile, the compromise effect involves the addition of a new alternative into a choice set that increases selection of an existing option with nonextreme attributes, and decreases selection of options with extreme attributes. In this study, a series of scenario-based experiments is performed to determine if the decoy and compromise effects influence travel destination decisions. Results show that the decoy effect is stronger in a choice (vs. rejection) task, whereas the compromise effect is stronger in a rejection (vs. choice) task when deciding travel destinations.

To Do or to Have, Now or Later, in Travel: Consumption Order Preference of Material and Experiential Travel Activities

The current research explores consumers’ preferred timing of consuming experiential and material purchases made during their travels and its downstream affective consequence. Previous research showed that people generally show relative preference toward consuming material purchases sooner than experiential purchases. Reversing this finding, we contend that travelers who are primed with the concept of an experience exhibit relative preference toward consuming experiential purchases sooner than material purchases. Further, we contend that travelers associate greater subjective happiness from the travel schedule with sooner experiential than material consumption. To provide convergent and robust evidence supporting our hypothesis, we conducted seven empirical studies, including a field study. Our work contributes to (1) researchers in the field of travel, psychology, and marketing; (2) travelers who want to optimize their travel; and (3) practitioners who want to understand travelers’ behavior and psychology.

Impacts of temporal and gender difference on hotel selection process

ABSTRACT This research investigates how temporal distance influences leisure travellers’ assessment of hotel attributes, and further examines whether gender moderates the impact of temporal distance. Two scenario-based experimental studies found that the importance of hotel choice factors considered by people who plan a trip in the near future differed from that of those who plan to travel in the distant future, and the importance also differed between females and males. Specifically, Study 1 found both main effects of temporal distance and gender and an interaction effect, in that the importance of hotel choice factors was evaluated differently across differing temporal distance (near-future vs. distant-future travel plans) and gender (males vs. females). Study 2 replicated the significant interaction effects of Study 1 by manipulating the temporal distance in the hotel choice task. The implications of the findings are discussed for both researchers and practitioners in the field of hospitality marketing and management.

Position Effects of Menu Item Displays in Consumer Choices: Comparisons of Horizontal Versus Vertical Displays:

Consumers typically make choices based on a menu that lists a variety of food items. Prior research has shown that the position of food items within a menu (center vs. edge) can impact choices (e.g., edge preference and edge aversion). This research extends the literature by demonstrating that the display format of a menu (horizontal vs. vertical displays) can determine the relative impact of these influences. Two experiments find that the middle options are preferred when food options are displayed horizontally (vs. vertically), whereas the edge items are preferred under a vertical display (vs. a horizontal display). These differences extend to different types of foods (food vs. beverage), and to even and odd numbers of options (e.g., four vs. five). These findings increase the understanding of how food item displays can influence consumer choices, and provide important implications for practitioners and policymakers, including how to effectively position food items.