What was yours is (for now) mine: Prior user knowledge reduces product satisfaction but can improve experiential satisfaction in access‐based consumption
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: With the rise of the sharing economy, more consumers than ever are thinking about products not in terms of ownership, but in terms of access necessary to facilitate experiences. In this paper, we build on prior literature, which distinguished product from experiential satisfaction to explore the role that knowledge of a prior user plays in shaping these two types of satisfaction in access‐based consumption experiences. Across three studies, we demonstrate that product and experiential satisfaction can be affected differently when consumers are provided with information about previous users of products. We find that information about the previous user of a product consistently negatively impacts product satisfaction. However, we find that when the previous user has positive and experientially relevant traits, experiential satisfaction is increased. When the information about the previous user is negative or experientially irrelevant, experiential satisfaction is decreased. In cases in which we find a positive effect of prior user information on experiential satisfaction, we find it is mediated by transfer of the previous user's traits and that the effectiveness of this mechanism depends on the relevance of traits and the stability of the self‐concept of the consumer.
Source: Journal of Consumer Behaviour
DOI: 10.1002/cb.2164
Authors: Rusty Allen Stough, Erin Percival Carter
Institution: University of Maine
Language: English
Subfield: Marketing
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,040
OpenAlex ID: W4366212971