Exploring anticipation role on consumer behavior while waiting to experiment a delayed purchased product

Abstract

The anticipation of future consumption is an area which has not been studied in depth so far. Despite the fact that in recent years large studies on the subject have taken on great relevance, very little is known about the different emotions that different consumers may experience while waiting for future consumption. In order to investigate these emotions and behaviors of the various consumers, this study focuses mainly on the consumption of hedonic experiences, which, unlike material products, have a great psychological impact on the consumer since these are products that cannot be experienced quickly, such as festivals or concerts. During this study, the different emotions and behaviors that future consumers will have while waiting for the experimentation of a festival will be observed through a netno-graphic study. This hedonic consumption provides enough information to distinguish the different stages during a waiting time, which can affect both positively and negatively the future perception of final consumption, ensuring that this period plays a crucial role when reaching the final experimentation of a product. Similarly, this anticipation study distinguishes different emotions that consumers experience during this period, being of great importance when developing marketing strategies to increase the level of "savoring" towards a future event. Finally, this study manages to demonstrate how the emotions generated by consumers are not static during the process, being highly influenced by external factors such as unexpected events during the wait, comments from third parties, delays or advertising exposure.