Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics

Call for Paper: Special Issue on Experiential Approach to Consumer Decision Making

Extant literature has revealed differences in hedonic and utilitarian consumption, in terms of consumption needs, motives, goals, values, emotions and benefit seeking (Jiang and Wang, 2006; Hirschman and Holbrook 1982; Dhar and Wertenbroch, 2000; Wang et al., 2000). However, there are limited studies that focus on experiential approach of decision-making in hedonic consumption contexts, including leisure, recreation, entertainment and conspicuous consumption situations (Huang and Wang, 2017). Besides a functional quality, there can be affect-quality (Russell and Pratt 1980) or “emotional-induced quality” (Darden and Babin 1994), which are evaluated based on affective expectations or hedonic needs. Affective responses, such as pleasure and arousal can be important outcomes that consumers use to assess service quality which elicit satisfaction/dissatisfaction based on whether expected affective goals are met (Jiang and Wang, 2006).

The objective of this special issue is to extend the research scope and advance knowledge development in consumer decision-making process in hedonic and experiential consumption. The research scope covers all stages of consumer decision-making process, from pre-consumption needs, information search attributes and determinant criteria, choice and selection, to consumption and post-consumption experience and behavior. A state of art the literature review and empirical studies with both qualitative and quantitative approaches are welcome. The suggested topics include (but not limited to) following areas which emphasize both theoretical contributions and managerial implications of experiential approach to decision making:

• Decision-making hierarchy and the role of affect
• Promotion- versus prevention-focused in decision-making
• Information search process and choice criteria
• Intrinsic and extrinsic cues used in evaluation and choice
• Perceived importance of warmth versus competent of the service provider
• Consumption experiences and affect response/outcome
• Virtual reality and vicarious consumption experience (e.g., in gaming and cosplay)
• Perceived quality, performance assessment and satisfaction
• Mood and emotions and consumption/post-consumption experiences
• Gender difference and cross cultural differences
• The influence of physical environment and atmosphere
• Consumer engagement and co-creation
• Word of mouth and viral marketing

Submission information

The deadline for submission is March 31st, 2019. Submitted manuscripts should follow the format as indicated in the author guidelines on the journal web site: www.emeraldinsight.com/apjml.htm. All papers will go through a double blind peer review process. To submit your article, from the author guidelines choose “submit to the journal” and when submitting ensure you choose this special issue from the drop down menu provided.

If you have questions please contact the Guest Editors at: Dr. Cheng Lu Wang, University of New Haven, cwang@newhaven.edu; Dr. Yong Wang, Ohio University, wangy@ohio.edu; Dr. Joicey Wei, Singapore University of Social Sciences, joiceyweij@suss.edu.sg, and Dr. Henry Chung, Massey University, H.Chung@massey.ac.nz

References

Darden, William R. and Barry J. Babin (1994), “Exploring the Concept of Affective Quality: Expanding the Concept of Retail Personality,” Journal of Business Research, 29 (February), 101-109.

Dhar, Ravi and Klaus Wertenbroch (2000), “Consumer Choice between Hedonic and Utilitarian Goods,” Journal of Marketing Research, 37 (1), 60-71

Hirschman, Elizabeth C. and Morris B. Holbrook (1982), “Hedonic Consumption: Emerging Concepts, Methods and Propositions,” Journal of Marketing, 46 (Summer), 92-101.

Huang Zhen and Cheng Lu Wang (2017), Conspicuous consumption in emerging market: The case of Chinese migrant workers, Journal of Business Research, (In press): http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296317302734

Jiang, Yin and Cheng L. Wang (2006), “The Impact of Affect on Service Quality and Satisfaction: The Moderation of Service Contexts”, Journal of Service Marketing, 20 (4/5), 211-218

Russell, James A. (1980), “A Circumplex Model of Affect,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39 (December), 1161-1178.

Wang, Cheng L., Zhen X. Chen, Allan K. K. Chan and Zong C. Zheng (2000). “The Influence of Hedonic Value on Consumer Behaviours: An Empirical Investigation in China,” Journal of Global Marketing, 14 (1/2), 169-186.

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