Michael Tsiros

Attribute-Level Performance, Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions Over Time: A Consumption-System Approach

Instead of offering products or services alone, increasingly, firms and their partners are offering consumption systems. Consumption systems are offerings characterized by a significant product and service subsystem, as well as a pattern of consumption in which consumption occurs in multiple episodes over time. The authors develop a theoretical model for conceptualizing satisfaction with consumption systems and empirically test it using longitudinal data from 5206 automobile owners. Results show that an intertemporal examination of attribute-level performance, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions can improve an understanding of their relationships because these relationships change as the consumption of the product unfolds. For example, on the basis of their salience, attribute weights in determining satisfaction shift over time. Furthermore, the crossover effect of product and service satisfaction in determining intentions toward the manufacturer and the service provider is asymmetric, and this asymmetry reverses over time. Service satisfaction initially has a much larger impact in determining intentions toward the manufacturer, but later, product satisfaction is more influential in generating intentions toward the service provider and manufacturer. The results show that there is no direct link between satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Rather, satisfaction affects behavioral intentions in the future through a dual-mediation route.

Regret: A Model of its Antecedents and Consequences in Consumer Decision Making

The article develops a model of regret and tests it via four studies. Study 1 develops a multi-item measure of regret and distinguishes it from satisfaction. It also shows that, while satisfaction directly influences both repurchase and complaint intentions, regret directly influences only repurchase intentions, and its effect on complaint intentions is fully mediated via satisfaction. Study 2 examines the antecedents and moderators of regret. It shows that regret is experienced even in the absence of information on a better-forgone outcome. Furthermore, the moderating effect of three situation-specific characteristics (outcome valence, status quo preservation, and reversibility of the outcome) is examined. Studies 3 and 4 examine the cognitive process underlying the experiencing of regret in the absence of information on a better-forgone outcome. Generation of counterfactuals is identified as the cognitive mechanism that engenders regret. Results show that counterfactuals are most likely to be generated when the chosen outcome is negative and not the status quo.

The Effect of Expiration Dates and Perceived Risk on Purchasing Behavior in Grocery Store Perishable Categories

In this article, the authors examine consumers’ behavior with respect to expiration dates for grocery store perishable products. A better understanding of such behavior can both guide efforts to educate consumers about the risks associated with perishables that are approaching their expiration dates and help managers implement effective promotional strategies for these products throughout the course of their shelf lives. Both of these approaches can help reduce waste due to spoilage.

The Role of Attributions in Customer Satisfaction: A Reexamination

We investigate the role of disconfirmation, responsibility, and stability attributions in the formation of satisfaction judgments. Building on the valence-expectancy framework, we find that disconfirmation and attributions impact satisfaction in a complex manner. Besides its main effect, responsibility moderates disconfirmations effect on satisfaction, manifested as a two-way interaction between the two. Disconfirmation and responsibility jointly determine the valence component, and stability determines the expectancy component of the satisfaction evaluation. This is consistent with the three-way interaction among stability, responsibility, and disconfirmation that we also find. These results clarify past studies and provide new insights about the relationship among the constructs.

Measuring service quality: a systems approach

Initially, development of theory and processes for the evaluation of service quality lagged behind that for evaluating product quality. Even now, service quality measurement is beset by several problems. Describes some of the difficulties in evaluating service quality and presents a framework for evaluating it which uses a general systems theory approach. Suggests that, to understand consumers′ views of the quality level in the firm, service managers should consider perceptions of service inputs and the service process as well as perceptions of service outcomes. Presents the results of two studies involving six types of service in support of the framework. Discusses recommendations for the implementation of a systems outlook and its implications for services marketers.

Ending a Price Promotion: Retracting it in One Step or Phasing it Out Gradually

Using the literature on both pricing and regret, the authors develop a conceptual model of purchase likelihood and propose a pricing tactic that appears to have marketplace potential. Sellers currently using a hi–lo pricing tactic discount a product for a limited time and then raise the price back to its original level in one step. Here, the authors investigate whether sellers should return prices to their prepromotion levels all at once or in steps. They propose that sellers should consider an alternative tactic, labeled “steadily decreasing discounting” (SDD). This alternative tactic requires that the seller offer one or more additional discounts that are less than the prior discount before returning the product to its original price. Study 1 is a laboratory experiment that tests the proposed underlying mechanisms (future price expectations and anticipated inaction regret) influencing likelihood to buy. In Study 2, an additional laboratory experiment is undertaken to provide further empirical support in favor of the SDD tactic, to address alternative explanations for the findings, and to demonstrate that there are no negative perceptions associated with using SDD. Study 3 is a field experiment that assesses the effectiveness of SDD, and Study 4 examines scanner panel data to evaluate its generalizability.

When More Is Less: The Impact of Base Value Neglect on Consumer Preferences for Bonus Packs over Price Discounts.

The interpretation of a percentage change often hinges on the base value to which it is attached. The authors identify a tendency among consumers to neglect base values when processing percentage change information and investigate the implications of such base value neglect for how consumers evaluate economically equivalent offers presented in percentage terms, such as bonus packs and price discounts. The authors first document a substantial advantage in sales volume for a bonus pack over an economically equivalent price discount in a field experiment conducted in a retail store. Furthermore, in a mall-intercept survey and multiple lab studies, the authors provide additional evidence in support of the effect and identify managerially useful boundary conditions for when the effect is likely to manifest. The article concludes with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of the findings.

The Role of Issue Valence and Issue Capability in Determining Effort Investment

How decision makers invest their effort among various issues is critical to organizational success (Ocasio 1997). The authors investigate the effects of issue valence and issue capability on how decision makers allocate effort to an issue. They develop hypotheses regarding these constructs and test them in three studies. Results show that in the condition of high capability, decision makers are more likely to invest effort in an issue that is negatively, rather than positively, framed. Conversely, with low capability, they are more likely to invest effort in an issue that is positively, rather than negatively, framed. Results also clarify the variable focus on upside potential and risk taking as two mechanisms that underlie this preference reversal.

An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Uncertainty in Marketing Promotions Involving Free Gifts

The authors provide a framework to predict when uncertainty will have a beneficial or detrimental impact on marketing promotions involving free gifts. Whereas uncertainty (i.e., not knowing which free gift will be offered) decreases purchase likelihood when the decision is cognitive, it increases purchase likelihood when the decision is affective. Using field and laboratory studies, the authors demonstrate that when the decision involves affect, people like to be surprised and appreciate uncertainty in the purchase process. When the decision is cognitive, consumers appreciate having information about the product offer. This research has both theoretical implications for research on affect and uncertainty and practical implications for marketing managers designing and implementing promotional campaigns.

How Commitment Influences the Termination of B2B Exchange Relationships

Commitment is a key construct determining relationship outcomes, especially in B2B relationships. However, the processes by which commitment affects relationship outcomes—specifically likelihood to terminate a B2B relationship—are not well understood. Using a number of decision-process models, we propose three mechanisms by which commitment influences supplier termination. We suggest that commitment may (a) curtail search, (b) bias supplier evaluation, or (c) curtail action. These are tested using an experimental study as well as a survey. Convergent findings from both studies demonstrate that a combination of all three processes is involved in determining how commitment affects termination likelihood.