IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v21y2014i3p293-305.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Consumers׳ perception of the complexity of selected household purchase decisions

Author

Listed:
  • Erasmus, Alet C.
  • Donoghue, Suné
  • Dobbelstein, Thomas

Abstract

This study provides evidence of consumers׳ perception of the complexity of a variety of product/service decisions in terms of a complexity continuum and indicates how such categorisation is influenced by specific demographic characteristics, specifically gender, age and education level that are predominant in terms of consumer socialisation. A survey which was conducted in a major city and involved 461 respondents. The multiple section structured questionnaire were completed by willing spouses/partners of participating households. Complexity values were calculated in terms of a specific anchoring product, namely major household appliances. It became evident that the most expensive purchases that households ever make, namely purchasing a home and a car, which were perceived to be the most complex by all while grocery purchase was on the least complex divide of the continuum. Also on the more complex divide of the continuum were service related decisions such as insurance. Particularly noteworthy is the confirmation of significant differences in perceived complexity within product categories that are perceived to be the most- and the least complex by all. This confirms the vulnerability of certain segments of the consumer society and the need for concerted effort to communicate with them in appropriate media and on a level that would enhance informed consumer decision-making. Underlying reasons probably relate to consumers׳ risk perception and affordability issues that could be explored in future research. Interestingly the findings of the gender comparison shifted the focus to different product categories than those elicited in the age-, income and level of education comparisons. Findings therefore confirm the relevance of demographic characteristics in media communication and consumer facilitation as well as in research. Retailers and marketers should therefore be cognisant of the characteristics of their target markets and be very selective and cautious when identifying communication media.

Suggested Citation

  • Erasmus, Alet C. & Donoghue, Suné & Dobbelstein, Thomas, 2014. "Consumers׳ perception of the complexity of selected household purchase decisions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 293-305.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:21:y:2014:i:3:p:293-305
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2014.02.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698914000216
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2014.02.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dhar, Ravi, 1997. "Consumer Preference for a No-Choice Option," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(2), pages 215-231, September.
    2. Swait, Joffre & Adamowicz, Wiktor, 2001. "The Influence of Task Complexity on Consumer Choice: A Latent Class Model of Decision Strategy Switching," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(1), pages 135-148, June.
    3. Dellaert, Benedict G.C. & Arentze, Theo A. & Timmermans, Harry J.P., 2008. "Shopping context and consumers’ mental representation of complex shopping trip decision problems," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 219-232.
    4. Amos Tversky & Daniel Kahneman, 1991. "Loss Aversion in Riskless Choice: A Reference-Dependent Model," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 106(4), pages 1039-1061.
    5. Keller, Kevin Lane & Staelin, Richard, 1987. "Effects of Quality and Quantity of Information on Decision Effectiveness," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(2), pages 200-213, September.
    6. Mandel, Naomi, 2003. "Shifting Selves and Decision Making: The Effects of Self-Construal Priming on Consumer Risk-Taking," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(1), pages 30-40, June.
    7. Ursic, Michael L. & Helgeson, James G., 1990. "The impact of choice phase and task complexity on consumer decision making," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 69-90, August.
    8. Shao, Wei & Lye, Ashley & Rundle-Thiele, Sharyn, 2009. "Different strokes for different folks: A method to accommodate decision -making heterogeneity," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 495-501.
    9. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    10. Puto, Christopher P, 1987. "The Framing of Buying Decisions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(3), pages 301-315, December.
    11. Cowley, Elizabeth & Mitchell, Andrew A, 2003. "The Moderating Effect of Product Knowledge on the Learning and Organization of Product Information," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(3), pages 443-454, December.
    12. Winer, Russell S, 1986. "A Reference Price Model of Brand Choice for Frequently Purchased Products," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 13(2), pages 250-256, September.
    13. Rachel Croson & Uri Gneezy, 2009. "Gender Differences in Preferences," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 448-474, June.
    14. Sherry, John F, Jr, 1983. "Gift Giving in Anthropological Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 10(2), pages 157-168, September.
    15. Bettman, James R & Luce, Mary Frances & Payne, John W, 1998. "Constructive Consumer Choice Processes," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 25(3), pages 187-217, December.
    16. Grant, Robert & Clarke, Rodney J. & Kyriazis, Elias, 2010. "Research needs for assessing online value creation in complex consumer purchase process behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 53-60.
    17. Wallendorf, Melanie, 2001. "Literally Literacy," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 27(4), pages 505-511, March.
    18. John, Deborah Roedder, 1999. "Consumer Socialization of Children: A Retrospective Look at Twenty-Five Years of Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 26(3), pages 183-213, December.
    19. Sihaam Nieftagodien & Servaas van der Berg, 2007. "Consumption patterns and the black middle class: The role of assets," Working Papers 02/2007, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    20. Sheth, Jagdish N. & Newman, Bruce I. & Gross, Barbara L., 1991. "Why we buy what we buy: A theory of consumption values," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 159-170, March.
    21. Elke U. Weber & Christopher Hsee, 1998. "Cross-Cultural Differences in Risk Perception, but Cross-Cultural Similarities in Attitudes Towards Perceived Risk," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 44(9), pages 1205-1217, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Elshaer, Ibrahim A. & Alrawad, Mahmaod & Lutfi, Abdalwali & Azazz, Alaa M.S., 2024. "Social commerce and buying intention post COVID-19: Evidence from a hybrid approach based on SEM – fsQCA," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Peter Balsarini & Claire Lambert & Maria M. Ryan & Martin MacCarthy, 2021. "Subjective Knowledge, Perceived Risk, and Information Search when Purchasing a Franchise: A Comparative Exploration from Australia," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Lopes, Evandro Luiz & Yunes, Lucas Zimbres & Bandeira de Lamônica Freire, Otávio & Herrero, Eliane & Contreras Pinochet, Luis Hernan, 2020. "The role of ethical problems related to a brand in the purchasing decision process: An analysis of the moderating effect of complexity of purchase and mediation of perceived social risk," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    4. Basu, Rituparna & Sondhi, Neena, 2014. "Child socialization practices: Implications for retailers in emerging markets," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 797-803.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tarnanidis, Theodore & Owusu-Frimpong, Nana & Nwankwo, Sonny & Omar, Maktoba, 2015. "Why we buy? Modeling consumer selection of referents," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 24-36.
    2. Ran Kivetz, 2003. "The Effects of Effort and Intrinsic Motivation on Risky Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 22(4), pages 477-502, December.
    3. Cheng, Yin-Hui & Yen, HsiuJu Rebecca & Chuang, Shih-Chieh & Chang, Chia-Jung, 2013. "Product option framing under the influence of a promotion versus prevention focus," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 402-413.
    4. repec:cup:judgdm:v:1:y:2006:i::p:23-32 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Jin, Liyin & He, Yanqun & Song, Haiyan, 2012. "Service customization: To upgrade or to downgrade? An investigation of how option framing affects tourists’ choice of package-tour services," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 266-275.
    6. David Gal, 2006. "A psychological law of inertia and the illusion of loss aversion," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 1, pages 23-32, July.
    7. Ying Zhu & Haipeng (Allan) Chen, 2017. "A tale of two brands: The joint effect of manufacturer and retailer brands on consumers’ product evaluation," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 24(3), pages 284-306, May.
    8. Popkowski Leszczyc, Peter T.L. & Qiu, Chun & He, Yongfu, 2009. "Empirical Testing of the Reference-Price Effect of Buy-Now Prices in Internet Auctions," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(2), pages 211-221.
    9. Cawley, John & Price, Joshua A., 2013. "A case study of a workplace wellness program that offers financial incentives for weight loss," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 794-803.
    10. Hiromasa Takahashi & Junyi Shen & Kazuhito Ogawa, 2020. "Gender-specific reference-dependent preferences in the experimental trust game," Evolutionary and Institutional Economics Review, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 25-38, January.
    11. Joost M. E. Pennings & Ale Smidts, 2003. "The Shape of Utility Functions and Organizational Behavior," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(9), pages 1251-1263, September.
    12. Becker-Peth, Michael & Thonemann, Ulrich W., 2016. "Reference points in revenue sharing contracts—How to design optimal supply chain contracts," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 249(3), pages 1033-1049.
    13. Tanjim Hossain & John A. List, 2012. "The Behavioralist Visits the Factory: Increasing Productivity Using Simple Framing Manipulations," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(12), pages 2151-2167, December.
    14. Cheng, Yin-Hui & Chuang, Shih-Chieh & Pei-I Yu, Annie & Lai, Wan-Ting, 2019. "Change in your wallet, change your choice: The effect of the change-matching heuristic on choice," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 67-76.
    15. Jacobs Martin, 2016. "Accounting for Changing Tastes: Approaches to Explaining Unstable Individual Preferences," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 67(2), pages 121-183, August.
    16. Ding, Min & Ross, William T. & Rao, Vithala R., 2010. "Price as an Indicator of Quality: Implications for Utility and Demand Functions," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 86(1), pages 69-84.
    17. Necati Tereyağoğlu & Peter S. Fader & Senthil Veeraraghavan, 2018. "Multiattribute Loss Aversion and Reference Dependence: Evidence from the Performing Arts Industry," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(1), pages 421-436, January.
    18. Sirikarn Phuchada & Phumsith Mahasuweerachai, 2022. "The Higher the Goal, the More You Eat: Reference Dependence In an “ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT†Restaurant," PIER Discussion Papers 185, Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research.
    19. Heribert Gierl & Roland Helm & Michaela Satzinger, 2000. "Die Wirkung positiver und negativer Aussagen in der Werbung vor dem Hintergrund des Message Framing," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 52(3), pages 234-256, May.
    20. Aurélien Baillon & Han Bleichrodt & Vitalie Spinu, 2020. "Searching for the Reference Point," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 93-112, January.
    21. Pepper, Alexander & Gore, Julie, 2014. "The economic psychology of incentives: An international study of top managers," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 350-361.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:21:y:2014:i:3:p:293-305. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.