Start Date
8-1-2011 9:45 AM
End Date
8-1-2011 10:30 AM
Track
2. Track 2 - Poster Session
Subject Area
Consumer Behavior
Faculty Member
Anna S. Mattila, asm6@psu.edu
Abstract
This study aimed at examining the joint impact of regulatory focus and delay type on consumers’ reactions to waits in a restaurant context. Based on both positive and negative utilities of a delay (Nowlis et al. 2004), the current study predicted that promotion-focused people will react more positively toward a delay than prevention-focused people. In addition, previous studies on delay type have generated opposite results based on two theoretical models. To reconcile these mixed findings, the current study added regulatory focus as a moderator and predicted that field theory is more salient in predicting promotion-focused customers’ responses whereas expectancy model is more appropriate in predicting prevention-focused customers’ responses.
Keywords
regulatory focus, delay type, field theory, expectancy model
The Effect of Regulatory Focus and Delay Type on Consumers’ Reactions to Delay
This study aimed at examining the joint impact of regulatory focus and delay type on consumers’ reactions to waits in a restaurant context. Based on both positive and negative utilities of a delay (Nowlis et al. 2004), the current study predicted that promotion-focused people will react more positively toward a delay than prevention-focused people. In addition, previous studies on delay type have generated opposite results based on two theoretical models. To reconcile these mixed findings, the current study added regulatory focus as a moderator and predicted that field theory is more salient in predicting promotion-focused customers’ responses whereas expectancy model is more appropriate in predicting prevention-focused customers’ responses.