Comparing Consumers’ Recall of Prepurchase and Postpurchase Product Evaluation Experiences

Abstract

This study explores the phenomenon of postpurchase product evaluations primarily by comparing consumers' recalled postpurchase evaluation experiences with their recalled prepurchase evaluation experiences. Personal interviews and retrospective verbalizations were employed so that respondents could describe the phenomena in their own experiences and words. A secondary comparison was also made between consumers' postpurchase evaluation experiences in general versus those specifically cued by the terms “satisfaction” and “dissatisfaction.” While some similarities exist, the results show important differences between respondents' postpurchase thoughts versus those from both prepurchase and satisfaction. Significant implications of these results for theory, measurement, and future research are discussed.