As Good as New: Embarrassment and Consumers' Preference for Used versus New Products

Wu, Ruomeng1; Gaffney, Donald R.2; Kardes, Frank R.3; Li, Shaobo (Kevin)4,6; Liu, Meng5

2023-10-01

10.1080/08961530.2023.2268286

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING   Impact Factor & Quartile

0896-1530

1528-7068

The condition of a product (i.e., being used or new) plays an important role in consumer judgment and purchase decisions, yet this phenomenon has been relatively under-researched. Using an experimental approach, this study investigates the effect of embarrassment on choice of used and new products. We demonstrate that due to the embarrassment associated with buying used products, Chinese consumers are more likely than their US counterparts to choose new products over used ones. Furthermore, we find that this difference can be attenuated by reframing used products positively as antiques. Our findings enrich the theoretical understanding of consumer behavior across cultures, offer important managerial implications, and provide novel insights into future research directions.

Culture product condition secondhand embarrassment framing

ESCI

English

Corresponding

Business & Economics

Business

WOS:001087114500001

ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD

Web of Science

1.Western Kentucky Univ, Gordon Ford Coll Business, Bowling Green, KY USA
2.Vanderbilt Univ, Owen Grad Sch Management, Nashville, TN USA
3.Univ Cincinnati, Carl H Lindner Coll Business, Cincinnati, OH USA
4.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Coll Business, ISME, Shenzhen, Peoples R China
5.Univ Cent Florida, Coll Business, Orlando, FL USA
6.Southern Univ Sci & Technol, Coll Business, ISME, 1088 Xueyuan Ave, Shenzhen 518055, Peoples R China

Wu, Ruomeng,Gaffney, Donald R.,Kardes, Frank R.,et al. As Good as New: Embarrassment and Consumers' Preference for Used versus New Products[J]. JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING,2023.

Wu, Ruomeng,Gaffney, Donald R.,Kardes, Frank R.,Li, Shaobo ,&Liu, Meng.(2023).As Good as New: Embarrassment and Consumers' Preference for Used versus New Products.JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING.

Wu, Ruomeng,et al."As Good as New: Embarrassment and Consumers' Preference for Used versus New Products".JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL CONSUMER MARKETING (2023).