Research On The Formation Mechanism Of Consumers’Uncertainty Promotion Preference Under The Effects Of State Boredom

With the development of social economy and the continuous improvement of people’s material living standards,human consumption behavior is no longer to meet the basic physiological needs such as food,warmth,and gradually become an important means to meet psychological and emotional needs.Consumers pay more attention to emotional and personalized prominent goods,the era of emotional consumption has come.In this context,it is particularly important to explore and grasp the relationship between consumers’ emotions and their consumption behavior,which can not only help enterprises to adapt to the changes in consumer trends to achieve better development,but also help consumers to understand their own consumption behavior,so as to better improve the sense of well-being through consumption.State boredom is a common and inevitable emotional experience in daily life,especially in today’s rapid technological development.The fast-paced lifestyle has led to more and more fragments of time available to people in life and work,such as waiting in queues or taking public transport,and "I’m so bored" has become the mantra of many people.Relevant studies show that 63%of adults have experienced boredom at least once in their lives,and state boredom is therefore regarded as the "plague of modern society"and affects the psychological and emotional needs of individuals all the time.In recent years,marketing scholars have gradually realized the unique role of state boredom among the many factors affecting individual consumer psychology and consumer behaviour,and have introduced it into the field of marketing research to explore its relationship with individual consumer behavior.However,the focus of existing studies is relatively single,and most of them focus on the negative impact of boredom on individual consumption behaviour,such as the promotion of unhealthy food consumption and impulsive purchasing of unwanted goods.Whether and how to promote positive consumption behaviour in the context of boredom is worth exploring in depth,but there is a lack of research on this topic.As for the internal mechanism,researchers mainly focus on the sensation-seeking perspective and the meaning reconstruction perspective.Regarding the meaning reconstruction perspective,studies have focused on the impact of boredom-induced loss of meaning on individual consumption tendencies,and consumption tendencies such as the desire for uniqueness and materialism can be seen as a defense against the threat of meaninglessness when people are in a state of boredom.In addition to the mechanism of meaning reconstruction,some studies have focused on the mechanism of sensation seeking.Research on state boredom and consumption behavior under this perspective focuses on the role of products with certain representations under the influence of boredom or a consumption behavior itself in satisfying an individual’s need for sensation,e.g.,bored individuals tend to choose to watch exciting TV programs,buy exciting and appealing food(e.g.,candy),and show a preference for financial risk-taking behavior.However,this paper argues that in some marketing scenarios,the act of consumption itself is an important avenue for emotional need satisfaction.Uncertainty promotion,as a common promotional method used by many domestic and international manufacturers,is widely present in all types of purchase choices that consumers are exposed to on a daily basis.So does state boredom affect an individual’s preference for uncertainty promotions?Few have explored the relationship between the two.Based on the study of state boredom under the sensation-seeking perspective,this paper will be the first attempt to explore whether status boredom can serve as an antecedent variable influencing individuals’ preference for uncertainty promotions,and what are its explanatory mechanisms and boundary conditions.The findings will be of great theoretical value in expanding the positive impact of state boredom in the field of consumer behaviour.Against the above background,this paper finds that need of sensation seeking is an important explanatory mechanism for the influence of state boredom on individual consumption behavior,and the moderating effects of purchase decision type and consumption focus on the influence of state boredom on individual uncertainty preference for promotions have also been revealed in the literature.Therefore,this paper proposes a theoretical framework of "state boredom-need of sensation seeking-uncertainty promotion preference" based on the theory of optimal stimulus level,and on the basis of the main framework,we incorporate the types of purchasing decisions and consumption focuses,and examine the effects of both on state boredom and individual uncertainty promotion preference,respectively.On the basis of the main framework,the two types of purchasing decisions and consumption focus are included to examine the moderating effect of state boredom on individual uncertainty promotion preferences.Thus,this paper has constructed a theoretical model with need of sensation seeking as the internal mechanism and consumption motivation as the boundary conditions,in order to deeply and comprehensively interpret the formation mechanism of individual uncertainty promotional preference under the influence of state boredom.After combing and reviewing the relevant literature,this paper proposes a corresponding theoretical framework and research hypotheses,and tests the proposed hypotheses through three studies,totaling six laboratory experiments and one field experiment.Specifically,the main objective of Study 1 is to verify the main effect,and Hypothesis 1 is tested by designing one laboratory experiment and one field experiment to find that status boredom enhances consumers’ preference for uncertainty promotions.Based on this,Study 2 tested the mediating role of need of sensation seeking between state boredom and individual preference for uncertainty promotions through three experiments.The first experiment validated the mediating mechanism by measuring need of sensation seeking and ruling out alternative explanatory mechanisms for meaning-seeking motives,and the second experiment consolidated the reliability of need of sensation seeking as a mediating mechanism by ruling out its possible alternative explanatory role through a direct manipulation of the propensity to act.The third experiment futher validated the mediating mechanism laterally by introducing a more direct effect of product novelty perception on individuals’ need of sensation seeking.Study two validated the mediating role of need of sensation seeking through three methods,increasing the robustness of the mediating effect and thus testing Hypothesis 2.Study three was conducted through two laboratory experiments to verify the moderating role of purchase decision type and consumption focus between state boredom and individual uncertainty promotional preferences,respectively.The first experiment was conducted to test the moderating role of purchase decision type between state boredom and individual uncertainty promotional preferences by manipulating purchase decision type,and Hypotheses 3 and 4 were established.The second experiment was to test the moderating role of consumption focus between state boredom and individual uncertainty promotional preference by manipulating consumption focus,and Hypotheses 5 and 6 were established.As a result,the findings of this paper can be summarized in the following five points:first,state boredom has a positive effect on individuals’ uncertainty promotion preferences.Specifically,individuals in a high boredom state have a higher preference for uncertainty promotions than those in a low boredom state;second,need of sensation seeking mediates the relationship between state boredom and individuals’ preference for uncertainty promotions.Third,purchase decision type moderates the relationship between state boredom and consumers’ preference for uncertainty promotions.Compared to affective purchase decision contexts,state boredom has a stronger effect on consumer uncertainty promotion preferences in cognitive purchase decision contexts.In this case,the mediating role of need of sensation seeking between state boredom and individual uncertainty promotion preference was moderated by purchase decision type.The effect of state boredom on need of sensation seeking is stronger in cognitive purchase decision contexts than in affective purchase decision contexts.Fourth,consumption focus moderated the relationship between state boredom and individual uncertainty promotional preferences.The effect of state boredom on consumer uncertainty promotion preference is stronger in the promotion outcome-focused context than in the promotion process-focused context.In this context,the mediating role of need of sensation seeking between state boredom and individual uncertainty promotion preference is moderated by consumption focus.The effect of state boredom on need of sensation seeking is stronger in the focus on promotion outcome context than in the focus on promotion process context.In summary,this paper reveals for the first time the formation mechanism of individual uncertainty promotion preference under the influence of state boredom from the perspective of need of sensation seeking,which has important theoretical contributions and practical insights.In terms of theoretical contributions,this paper focuses on the influence of consumers’ emotional state on uncertainty promotion preference,i.e.,state boredom affects consumers’ uncertainty promotion preference,which enriches the research results in the field of uncertainty promotion;expands the research on the positive influence of state boredom in the field of consumer behavior;identifies the moderating role of purchase decision type and consumption focus while revealing the internal mechanism of state boredom affecting individuals’ uncertainty promotion preference;breaks through the previous studies on the formation mechanism of individual uncertainty promotion preferences under the influence of state boredom.In addition to revealing the internal mechanism of state boredom affecting individuals’ preference for uncertain promotions,we have also identified the moderating effects of purchase decision types and consumption focus,and broken through the limitations of previous research horizons in the fields of state boredom and need of sensation seeking.In terms of marketing practice,when designing uncertainty promotions,enterprises should effectively play the role of state boredom in promoting consumers’ preference for uncertainty promotions,carry out precise marketing for consumers in different boredom states,and optimize uncertainty promotions marketing strategies by utilizing the mechanism of need of sensation seeking.In addition,the findings of this paper are of great practical significance for enterprises and marketers who sell practical products to plan and implement uncertainty promotions.