The Impact of Certain and Uncertain Store Promotions on the Decision-Making Process in Product Choices

• Main Author: CHEN, Cathy Yi
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2006
• Subjects: Marketing; Sales and Merchandising
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/lkcsb_research/2458; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/lkcsb_research/article/3457/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Various store promotions ranging from dollar-off discounts to sweepstakes can induce different affects among consumers. Built on recent studies on the uncertainty of incidental affect, this research examines how promotions differ in the feeling of uncertainty elicited, which, in turn, influence the decision-making process of product choices. Specifically, we demonstrate that “uncertain” promotions (e.g., sweepstakes) can increase the extent of systematic decision-making in a subsequent product choice relative to “certain” promotions (e.g., discount) when the choice is easy. But the pattern is reversed when the choice is difficult. The implications to the incidental affect and promotion research are discussed.