Consumer Choice between Hedonic and Utilitarian Goods
Abstract
In this article, the authors examine how consumer choice between hedonic and utilitarian goods is influenced by the nature of the decision task. Building on research on elaboration, the authors propose that the relative salience of hedonic dimensions is greater when consumers decide which of several items to give up (forfeiture choices) than when they decide which item to acquire (acquisition choices). The resulting hypothesis that a hedonic item is relatively preferred over the same utilitarian item in forfeiture choices than in acquisition choices was supported in two choice experiments. In a subsequent experiment, these findings were extended to hypothetical choices in which the acquisition and forfeiture conditions were created by manipulating initial attribute-level reference states instead of ownership. Finally, consistent with the experimental findings, a field survey showed that, relative to market prices, owners of relatively hedonic cars value their vehicles more than do owners of relatively utilitarian cars. The authors discuss theoretical implications of these reference-dependent preference asymmetries and explore consequences for marketing managers and other decision makers.
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Loss aversion appears to increase with affective enrichment of hedonic consumer goods and more generally with emotional attachment.
“loss aversion appears to increase with affective enrichment of “hedonic” consumer goods (e.g., music CDs versus computer disks) (11) and more generally with emotional attachment (12).”
From Amygdala damage eliminates monetary loss aversion (2010) · cites this paper as [11]
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“The benefits of products and promotions are usually distinguished between utilitarian and hedonic (Chandon et al., 2000; Dhar and Wertenbroch, 2000; Okada, 2005).”
Background
- Authors
- Dhar, R., & Wertenbroch, K.
- Affiliations
- Yale University (US)
- INSEAD (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Dhar, Ravi
- Wertenbroch, Klaus
- Venue
- Journal of Marketing Research
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2000-02
- Volume
- 37
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 60-71
- ISSN
- 0022-2437 (ISSN-L)
- 1547-7193
- OpenAlex
- W2086670988
- Cited by
- 2,239
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 125 · 2025: 111 · 2024: 151 · 2023: 126 · 2022: 123 · 2021: 121 · 2020: 134 · 2019: 147 · 2018: 126 · 2017: 99 · 2016: 109 · 2015: 117 · 2014: 127 · 2013: 91 · 2012: 100
- FWCI
- 8.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Marketing Research (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Decision Sciences › General Decision Sciences › Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Marketing › Consumer Market Behavior and Pricing
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Economic and Environmental Valuation
- Keywords
- consumer choice, elaboration, reference-dependent preferences, reference state, vehicle valuation, product attributes, discrete choice experiment
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