IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v75y2023ics096969892300228x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cancel anytime!: How easy cancellation options enhance purchase intentions for services that require long-term commitments

Author

Listed:
  • Park, Sohyeon
  • Kim, Kacy
  • Park, Seolwoo
  • Choi, Yung Kyun
  • Yoon, Sukki

Abstract

The authors recognize that an uncertain environment associated with prolonged pandemic conditions have made consumers reluctant to make long-term contractual commitments in various retail contexts. Hypothesizing that retailers might offer cancellation options to motivate consumers to undertake long-term commitments, the authors conduct two studies in which cancellation messages accompany ads for an online language course and a gym membership. Findings indicate that retailers can alleviate the pressures associated with long-term commitment decisions and can heighten purchase intentions by providing cancel options for consumers who register for services requiring long-term but not short-term commitments. Perceived goal achievability is identified as an underlying mechanism that mediates the effects.

Suggested Citation

  • Park, Sohyeon & Kim, Kacy & Park, Seolwoo & Choi, Yung Kyun & Yoon, Sukki, 2023. "Cancel anytime!: How easy cancellation options enhance purchase intentions for services that require long-term commitments," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:75:y:2023:i:c:s096969892300228x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103481
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S096969892300228X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2023.103481?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. Ayelet Fishbach & Ravi Dhar, 2005. "Goals as Excuses or Guides: The Liberating Effect of Perceived Goal Progress on Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 32(3), pages 370-377, December.
    2. Richard H. Thaler, 2008. "Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 15-25, 01-02.
    3. Baek, Tae Hyun & Yoon, Sukki, 2020. "Looking forward, looking back: The impact of goal progress and time urgency on consumer responses to mobile reward apps," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    4. Thaler, Richard, 1980. "Toward a positive theory of consumer choice," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 1(1), pages 39-60, March.
    5. Stayce Camparo & Philip Z. Maymin & Chanmo Park & Sukki Yoon & Chen Zhang & Younghwa Lee & Ellen J. Langer, 2022. "The fatigue illusion: the physical effects of mindlessness," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, December.
    6. Shefrin, Hersh M & Thaler, Richard H, 1988. "The Behavioral Life-Cycle Hypothesis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 26(4), pages 609-643, October.
    7. Ran Kivetz & Oleg Urminsky & Yuhuang Zheng, 2006. "The Goal-Gradient Hypothesis Resurrected: Purchase Acceleration, Illusionary Goal Progress, and Customer Retention," Natural Field Experiments 00658, The Field Experiments Website.
    8. Ying Zhang & Szu-Chi Huang, 2010. "How Endowed versus Earned Progress Affects Consumer Goal Commitment and Motivation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(4), pages 641-654, December.
    9. Minjung Koo & Ayelet Fishbach, 2012. "The Small-Area Hypothesis: Effects of Progress Monitoring on Goal Adherence," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(3), pages 493-509.
    10. Jordan Etkin & Rebecca K. Ratner, 2012. "The Dynamic Impact of Variety among Means on Motivation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 38(6), pages 1076-1092.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Baek, Tae Hyun & Yoon, Sukki, 2020. "Looking forward, looking back: The impact of goal progress and time urgency on consumer responses to mobile reward apps," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    2. Scott G Wallace & Jordan Etkin & Johar GitaEditor & Rajesh BagchiAssociate Editor, 2018. "How Goal Specificity Shapes Motivation: A Reference Points Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(5), pages 1033-1051.
    3. Huang, Szu-chi & Jin, Liyin & Zhang, Ying, 2017. "Step by step: Sub-goals as a source of motivation," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1-15.
    4. Kim, Hye-Young, 2024. "The different roads not taken: considering diverse foregone alternatives motivates future goal persistence," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121459, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Keri L. Kettle & Remi Trudel & Simon J. Blanchard & Gerald Häubl, 2016. "Repayment Concentration and Consumer Motivation to Get Out of Debt," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(3), pages 460-477.
    6. Karlsson, Niklas & Garling, Tommy & Selart, Marcus, 1999. "Explanations of effects of prior income changes on buying decisions," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 449-463, August.
    7. Som, Anirban & Dubelaar, Chris & Chowdhury, Rafi M.M.I., 2019. "The effects of goal orientation on goal pursuit," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 322-332.
    8. Mehmet Karacuka & Asad Zaman, 2012. "The empirical evidence against neoclassical utility theory: a review of the literature," International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 3(4), pages 366-414.
    9. Eduard Marinov, 2017. "The 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 117-159.
    10. Silverman, Jackie & Barasch, Alixandra P. & Small, Deborah A., 2023. "Hot streak! Inferences and predictions about goal adherence," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    11. Jaakko Aspara & Arvid Hoffmann, 2015. "Selling losers and keeping winners: How (savings) goal dynamics predict a reversal of the disposition effect," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 201-211, June.
    12. Rockenbach, Bettina, 2004. "The behavioral relevance of mental accounting for the pricing of financial options," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 513-527, April.
    13. Feurer, Sven & Haws, Kelly L., 2022. "Justifiable justifications in sequential indulgent choice situations: A framework for future research based on perceived exceptionality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 630-639.
    14. Sudarman - & Septian Yudha Kusuma, 2018. "Consumtive Behavior: Mental Accounting and Retention-Time Toward," International Journal of Human Resource Studies, Macrothink Institute, vol. 8(4), pages 252266-2522, December.
    15. Kumar, Pradeep & Kant, Shashi, 2019. "Endogenous time preferences of forest goods and community-based forest management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 163(C), pages 205-214.
    16. Silva, Emmanuel Marques & Moreira, Rafael de Lacerda & Bortolon, Patricia Maria, 2023. "Mental Accounting and decision making: a systematic literature review," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    17. Diamond, Peter, 2008. "Behavioral economics," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(8-9), pages 1858-1862, August.
    18. Waidler, Jennifer, 2016. "On the fungibility of public and private transfers: A mental accounting approach," MERIT Working Papers 2016-060, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    19. Priya Jha-Dang, 2006. "A Review of Psychological Research on Consumer Promotions and a New Perspective Based on Mental Accounting," Vision, , vol. 10(3), pages 35-43, July.
    20. Dilip Soman & Amar Cheema, 2002. "The Effect of Credit on Spending Decisions: The Role of the Credit Limit and Credibility," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(1), pages 32-53, September.

    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:75:y:2023:i:c:s096969892300228x. 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.