본 연구는 소비자들이 한 번의 쇼핑에서 서로 다른 여러 가지 제품들을 구매하는 경우에 연속적으로 거치는 연속적 구매의사결정을 대상으로, 첫 구매가 후속 구매의사결정에 미치는 영향에 대해 알아보았다. 소비 감정과 Mind-set 이론에 관한 선행 연구들을 바탕으로, 연속적 구매의사결정시 첫 구매가 긍정적 감정을 향상시키고 후속 구매의사결정을 위한 정보처리 수준을 낮추어, 후속 구매에 정적 영향을 미칠 것이라 예상하였다. 또한 제품 특성에 관한 선행 연구들의 고찰을 통하여, 첫 구매가 긍정적 감정과 후속 구매의사결정을 위한 정보처리 수준에 미치는 영향이 제품 특성에 따라 다를 것이라 예상하고, 연속적 구매의사결정의 감정적 기제와 인지적 기제에 대한 가설들을 도출하였다. 가설을 검증하기 위하여 전문 리서치 기관의 패널을 이용하여 온라인으로 실험연구를 실시하였으며, 수집된 자료들에 대한 분석을 통하여 알게 된 연구의 결과는 다음과 같다. 먼저, 첫 구매의사결정시 제품을 구매하기로 결정한 첫 구매 결정자들이 제품을 구매하지 않기로 결정한 첫 비구매 결정자들 보다 긍정적 감정을 더 높게 경험한 것으로 나타나, 첫 구매가 긍정적 감정을 향상시킴을 알 수 있었다. 다음으로, 첫 구매의사결정 후의 긍정적 감정이 후속 구매에 유의한 정적 영향을 미치는 것으로 나타나, 첫 구매로 인하여 발생한 긍정적 감정이 후속 구매 가능성을 증가시킴을 알 수 있었다. 마지막으로, 후속 구매의사결정 대상이 쾌락적 제품일 경우, 첫 비구매 결정자들 보다 첫 구매 결정자들의 후속 구매의사결정을 위한 정보처리 수준이 더 낮은 것으로 나타나, 첫 구매가 쾌락적 제품에 대한 후속 구매의사결정을 위한 정보처리 수준을 감소시킨다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 본 연구의 결과는 구매가 소비자들의 심리 상태를 변화시킨다는 선행 연구들의 결과를 간접적으로 지지하고 있으며, 구매 자체가 소비자들의 심리 상태를 변화시켜 후속 구매가 보다 쉽게 발생하게 함을 시사하고 있다. 연속적 구매의사결정의 감정적, 인지적 기제를 밝혔다는 데 본 연구의 의의가 있으며 특히, 제품의 실재감이 떨어지고 구매 제품을 바로 사용할 수 없어 구매로 인한 소비자들의 즉각적이고 직접적인 반응 수준이 낮은 온라인 쇼핑을 대상으로 연속적 구매의사결정의 기제를 검증하였다는 데 본 연구의 더욱 큰 의의가 있다.
Consumers often purchase multiple products in a single shopping trip. Consumers, who hesitate to make a purchase, once an initial purchase is made, occasionally easily make buying decisions regarding subsequent purchases. This study aims to understand the mechanisms of sequential buying, in which consumers continue to purchase various goods consecutively in a single shopping trip. Previous research on sequential buying and sequential choice closely related to sequential buying shows that an initial purchase influences subsequent purchases. The initial purchase increases the probability of a subsequent purchase by reducing psychological barriers which would otherwise prevent a purchase (Dhar et al., 2007), and the outcome of the initial choice influences subsequent choices through a goal-activation mechanism (Novemsky and Dhar 2005). Research assuming two steps of the purchase decision-making process (Dhar and Nowlis 2004; Xu and Wyer 2007, 2008) also implies an impact of an initial purchase on subsequent purchases. If consumers choose a product alternative first between two steps (a step to decide whether or not to buy and a step to choose a product alternative), the probability of making a purchase increases. Therefore, in purchase decision-making for a subsequent product, consumers who made an initial purchase may directly move to the step of choosing a product alternative, thus increasing their probability of a subsequent purchase. Moreover, based on a review of the literature on emotions and mind-sets, we predict that an initial purchase generates positive emotions and induces changes in consumers`` psychological states. A purchase generates positive emotions such as pleasure, excitement, enjoyment and happiness (Richins 1997). Positive emotions have a positive impact on purchase intentions (Donovan and Rossiter 1982; Donovan et al. 1994; Spies et al.1997). Accordingly, it is expected that consumers who made an initial purchase would experience positive emotions and that their positive emotions would increase the probability of a subsequent purchase. Gollwitzer``s mindset theory (1990) insists that with an implemental mind-set, which people have after they make decisions, information processing for decision-making is relatively imperfect. Thus, in purchase decision-making for a subsequent product, it is expected that the degree of information processing by consumers who made an initial purchase would decrease. Emotional and cognitive mechanisms related to purchase decision-making differ depending on the product types (hedonic vs. functional); thus, it is also expected that the impact of an initial purchase is moderated by the product type. Hypotheses regarding emotional and cognitive mechanisms pertaining to sequential buying are developed here. H1 and H2 predict a positive impact of an initial purchase on positive emotions and a moderation effect of the product type. H3 predicts a positive effect of positive emotions on a subsequent purchase. H4 and H5 predict a negative impact of an initial purchase on the degree of information processing for subsequent purchases and a moderation effect of the product type. We conducted an experimental study using an online survey to test the hypotheses. We undertook a factor analysis, ANOVA, t-tests and logistic-regression using SPSS software, version 18.0. The hypotheses are mostly supported, except for H2, which predicts that the purchase of an initial product would not generate positive emotions when the initial product is functional. Regardless of the product type, a buying decision generated positive emotions. We deem that the failure of the support of H2 arose because positive emotions, in our study, are emotions which are directly and promptly generated by a buying decision at the time of purchase. Although emotional responses related to the consumption process differ depending on the product type, there can be no difference with regard to a prompt and direct emotional response. Our findings are summarized as follows. First, an initial purchase generates positive emotions. Second, the positive emotions generated by the initial purchase influence subsequent purchases positively. Lastly, the initial purchase reduces the level of information processing in the purchase decisionmaking process when purchasing a subsequent hedonic product. The results of this study correspond to the findings of previous research, which holds that an initial purchase makes subsequent purchases easily occur by changing consumers`` psychological states. The theoretical contribution of this research is that this study extends the findings of previous research pertaining to sequential buying by highlighting emotional and cognitive mechanisms that have been thus far relatively unexplored. This research successfully demonstrated that an initial purchase increases the probability of a subsequent purchase by generating positive emotions and decreasing the level of information processing. A deep understanding of the inter-relationships between an initial purchase and a subsequent purchase is provided by this research. Demonstrating the mechanisms of sequential buying in an online shopping environment is another contribution. The degree of psychological response induced by an initial purchase could be weaker in online shopping as compared to offline shopping because consumers cannot experience an actual product at the time of purchase. However, this research successfully demonstrated the impact of an initial purchase in online shopping. From the results of this study, we derive meaningful practical implications for marketers. First, marketers have to develop distinctive strategies for consumers who made a purchase to induce subsequent purchases. Second, a strategy to sell subsequent products should be differentiated from the strategy to sell the initial product because consumers`` psychological states change after they make their initial purchases. Third, to induce a subsequent purchase, the online shopping environment needs to be constructed such that it amplifies the positive emotions generated by the initial purchase.