Retailers who think they can attract shoppers by simply promising
savings might be surprised to hear that money alone is not necessarily
enough to make a bargain hunter happy.
Peter Darke, an assistant professor of Marketing in UBC’s Faculty
of Commerce and Business Administration, recently completed a study
that confirms that non-financial factors — such as the concept
of fairness — play an important role in bargain hunting and consumer
satisfaction.
“We found that shoppers are likely to be excited about having got
a bargain, even if there is no personal financial gain involved,”
Darke says, adding that this may help explain why people will drive
across town to buy something on sale even if the trip virtually
eliminates any real savings.
“People derive pleasure or satisfaction from the idea that they
are paying a fair price,” he says.
In the study, Darke and Darren Dahl, a graduate student in Marketing,
had subjects purchase videos in a store near UBC. The subjects,
students from the Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration,
were each given $10 to buy a video.
Some students were given a financial incentive to bargain hunt–although
they were not allowed to keep the video they purchased, they were
allowed to keep any change left over after their purchase. Others
students were told in advance that they would have to hand over
their video purchase and the change, removing any financial incentive.
In the video store, subjects received either no discount on their
purchase, a moderate discount or a high discount.
Darke and Dahl found that students who received a discount when
they made their purchase were excited about the fact that they got
a bargain whether they had a financial incentive or not.
The UBC study is Darke’s third in the area of non-financial motives
and bargain hunting. It confirms his earlier findings which suggested
that the motivation for bargain hunting extends beyond the prospect
of financial gain or savings.
In an earlier study, Darke found that shoppers tend to attribute
good deals to fairness on the part of the retailer and to luck,
rather than their own shopping prowess.
“The most surprising thing we’ve found was that the people in our
studies did not take credit for their success in getting a bargain,”
Darke says, adding that this finding is contrary to other research.
“One of the most substantial claims in social psychology is that
people bend over backwards to take credit for anything positive
that happens to them, even when it is impossible that they are responsible
for their achievement.”
Darke observed the reactions of research subjects who were given
a hypothetical situation in which they had to buy a TV set for their
office, with no financial incentives and knowing that the hypothetical
boss would be indifferent to the outcome.
The results suggested that people derived pleasure or satisfaction
from getting a good deal or “fair” price even when there was nothing
at stake.
“This may be why people like bargains, because even if there isn’t
a lot of money involved, at least they feel they have been treated
fairly. And that has positive meaning for people,” says Darke. “It’s
nice to be treated fairly, it’s terrible to be jerked around, even
if there is little money involved.”
Far from being based purely on financial factors, Darke says, consumer
behaviour is clearly influenced by non-financial motives which appear
to be important determinants of everyday economic activities.
-30-
