Selin A. Malkoc

Consuming Now or Later? The Interactive Effect of Timing and Attribute Alignability

Decisions are often temporally separated from their outcomes. Using theories of structural alignment and temporal construal, we examined how temporal distance and the associated shift in decision processes moderate susceptibility to context effects. Specifically, in two experiments (one hypothetical, one with real outcomes), we demonstrated that people attend more to nonalignable differences when the outcome of the decision is in the distant future than when it is in the near future. This shift in decision processes was found in preference and choice data, as well as coded written protocols. We further show that this temporal shift cannot be explained by differential involvement with the decision or by the feasibility and desirability of the attributes. Our findings establish temporal distance as an important moderator of structural alignment effects and also extend the implications of temporal construal theory beyond the nature of the attributes to the structural relationships among attributes.

Celebrate or Commemorate? A Material Purchase Advantage When Honoring Special Life Events

Special life events (e.g., graduations, promotions) are rare and meaningful. Consumers often honor these events with a purchase—either a celebratory experience or a commemorative material item. The authors propose that marking special life events with a material purchase provides a stronger connection to the past special event, allowing consumers to be transported back to their positive emotions experienced at the time of the event. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate this material advantage, while studies 3A–3C show that consumers’ predictions run counter to this finding, leading them to choose celebrations over commemorations. Studies 4 and 5 explore this misprediction and demonstrate that when consumers were encouraged to think about permanence, they more accurately forecasted a material advantage and were more likely to choose material purchases over experiences. The results suggest a potential exception to the widely accepted experiential advantage, while providing important implications for how purchases contribute to meaningfulness in life.

The Calendar Mindset: Scheduling Takes the Fun Out and Puts the Work In

Consumers often schedule their activities in an attempt to use their time more efficiently. Although the benefits of scheduling are well established, its potential downsides are not well understood. The authors examine whether scheduling uniquely undermines the benefits of leisure activities. In 13 studies using unambiguous leisure activities that consumers commonly schedule (e.g., movies, a coffee break), they find that scheduling a leisure activity (vs. experiencing it impromptu) makes it feel less free-flowing and more work-like. Furthermore, scheduling diminishes utility from leisure activities, in terms of both excitement in anticipation of the activities and experienced enjoyment. Importantly, the authors find that maintaining the free-flowing nature of the activity by “roughly scheduling” (without prespecified times) eliminates this effect, thus indicating that the effect is driven by a detriment from scheduling rather than by a boost from spontaneity. The reported findings highlight an important opportunity for marketers to improve consumers’ experiences and utility by leveraging scheduling behavior while also providing important implications for consumer well-being from leisure consumption.