Source: Jisook &1xbet online casino ;April&1xbet online casino ; Park, 785-532-6850, jsapril@k-state.edu
News release prepared by: Jennifer Torline, 785-532-0847, jtorline@k-state.edu

Thursday, April 7, 2011

FROM IMPULSE BUYS TO PENNY-WISE, RESEARCH EXPLORES HOW TO AVOID POST-PURCHASE 1xbet online casino

MANHATTAN -- If you've ever suffered from a bad case of buyer's remorse, there may be a scientific remedy: spend more cognitive effort.

Cognitive effort involves performing research, gathering opinions and exploring options before purchasing a product. Research by Jisook &1xbet online casino ;April&1xbet online casino ; Park, a Kansas State University doctoral candidate in psychology, Korea, shows that consumers often experience less post-purchase 1xbet online casino when they use more cognitive effort, especially when that effort is easy to justify. Post-purchase 1xbet online casino also relates to whether the purchase was in-store or online.

Park has been working with Gary Brase, K-State associate professor of psychology, to study consumer decision-making strategies and understand the causes and remedies for post-purchase 1xbet online casino .

&1xbet online casino ;We're looking at whether consumers could increase or decrease cognitive effort in the decision process as needed to avoid post-purchase regret,&1xbet online casino ; Park said.

For her research, Park differentiated regret from dissatisfaction or discomfort after buying an item. She sees two aspects of purchase-related regret: &1xbet online casino ;I should not have bought this&1xbet online casino ; and &1xbet online casino ;I should have bought this.&1xbet online casino ;

&1xbet online casino ;Regret is very interesting to me compared to any other negative emotion because it's based on how you think,&1xbet online casino ; Park said. &1xbet online casino ;If you don't think about those 'what if' situations, you aren't really going to experience regret. People experience regret because they think about the past and what they could have done.&1xbet online casino ;

To explore post-purchase 1xbet online casino , Park performed two types of studies that involved more than 250 K-State students.

In the first study, Park gave participants two types of decision-making situations. One situation involved choosing between two laptops and the other situation involved choosing between two pairs of jeans. Participants had to use different levels of cognitive effort -- or different amounts of research -- to choose between the two. Based on this study, Park found that participants experienced less 1xbet online casino when more cognitive effort was invested and when a pair of jeans was purchased rather than a laptop.

Park also added online and in-store purchase factors to her first study, and told participants that two weeks after buying the laptop or jeans, they saw the same item either online or in stores for a cheaper price. She found that participants experienced more 1xbet online casino if they bought an item online and later found it cheaper in stores than if they bought an item in stores and later found it cheaper online. Park plans follow-up studies focused on in-store versus online purchases.

&1xbet online casino ;Buying something in stores has different aspects,&1xbet online casino ; Park said. &1xbet online casino ;You can actually feel and experience an item in stores and the emotions associated with touch are a very important decision factor. That's why we think online shoppers try to read comments of other buyers because they're trying to compensate for the fact that they can't touch a product in an online store.&1xbet online casino ;

Park's second study explored whether justification of cognitive effort affected consumer 1xbet online casino .

&1xbet online casino ;People can still feel regret if they put forth cognitive effort but are still dissatisfied with the product,&1xbet online casino ; Park said. &1xbet online casino ;But consumers can feel less regret if they decide 'I've done all that I can' instead of 'I should have done more and this is my responsibility.'&1xbet online casino ;

For the second study, Park again had participants choose between two laptops and two pairs of jeans. She had participants put forth cognitive effort deemed &1xbet online casino ;unjustified&1xbet online casino ; -- meaning they either spent a lot of time researching other products but ended up buying the original laptop or pair of jeans they wanted -- or put forth cognitive effort deemed &1xbet online casino ;under spent&1xbet online casino ;-- meaning they did not spend a lot of time researching even when they did not know much about the product. Results showed that &1xbet online casino ;unjustified&1xbet online casino ; cognitive effort did not make much difference in post-purchase regret but &1xbet online casino ;under spent&1xbet online casino ; cognitive effort created more post-purchase regret.

&1xbet online casino ;That means that high cognitive effort itself may be a way to justify the consumer's decisions and the decision-making process,&1xbet online casino ; Park said. &1xbet online casino ;It's as if you were about to buy a house and you put a lot of effort into it only to buy the original house you wanted. Since this is a very important decision, people expect you to look around and research more than if you were just buying a stick of gum.&1xbet online casino ;

While cognitive effort can help reduce 1xbet online casino , there is no one-size-fits-all amount of cognitive effort to practice in order to reduce post-purchase 1xbet online casino , Park said. It varies for each person and situation.

&1xbet online casino ;You have to make sure that the amount of effort that you put forth is justifiable to you,&1xbet online casino ; Park said. &1xbet online casino ;If you're satisfied with the amount of effort that you have put in, then you are less likely to experience regret.&1xbet online casino ;