



摘要:时间标志不仅显著塑造了个体的认知与行为,也会导致消费者对特定产品产生差异化偏好,但已有研究尚未关注其能否对一般消费类型的相对偏好产生影响。因此本文考察了消费者在开端与末端时间标志下对于实物和体验消费的相对偏好是否存在差异,并探索了其中的心理机制及边界条件。本文依托Credamo在线实验平台招募2626名被试进行了4项正式实验和3项补充研究,在一天、一月与一年等不同时间尺度上操纵时间标志,系统检验了时间标志对消费类型偏好的影响,心理模拟难易度的中介作用及产品熟悉度的调节作用。研究发现:(1)处于末端(vs.开端)时间标志时,消费者更偏好实物消费而非体验消费。该效应在夜晚相对于清晨、月末相对于月初以及年末相对于年初等不同情境下均得到一致支持。(2)心理模拟难易度在其中发挥中介作用。相较于实物消费,体验消费的偏好形成更依赖对未来消费过程的生动想象,而末端时间标志下消费者对体验消费进行心理模拟更困难,从而更难被体验消费所吸引。(3)产品熟悉度会削弱上述效应,当产品熟悉度较高时,时间标志对消费者消费类型偏好的影响显著减弱。本文将时间标志这一高频且普适的情境因素引入消费类型偏好研究,拓展了时间心理学与消费者行为的交叉研究,并揭示了体验优势具有情境依赖性。基于本文发现,企业可结合不同时间节点优化营销策略,在末端时间标志下强化实物产品推广,在开端时间标志下突出体验产品推荐;同时通过情境化展示与预热传播提升消费者对体验产品的心理模拟流畅性与产品熟悉度,以缓解末端时间标志对体验消费的不利影响。
Abstract: Temporal landmarks significantly influence individuals, cognition and behavior and can lead consumers to form differentiated preferences for specific products. However, prior research has yet to investigate whether such landmarks affect relative preferences between general categories of consumption.Across four experiments, this study finds that under terminal (vs. initial) temporal landmarks, consumers exhibit a stronger preference for material over experiential consumption. This effect arises because it is more difficult to engage in mental simulation of experiential consumption in terminal contexts. Furthermore, for highly familiar products, the influence of temporal landmarks on material (vs. experiential) preferences is weakened. This research not only advances the integration of temporal psychology and consumer behavior theories but also highlights the situational dependency of the experiential consumption advantage, offering practical implications for firms to optimize marketing strategies for material and experiential products at different temporal landmarks.