| The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the roles of consumer attributions, mental simulations, and specific emotions in pre- and post-purchase consumer behaviors. The dissertation conceptually proposed and tested the model of other- and self-focused psychological processes, an integrated framework to explain post-purchase consumer behaviors in a multi-channel retail environment and pre-purchase consumer decision-making process in an innovation adoption context.; The dissertation consists of three essays, which are related under the common research goal, yet distinct from each other in terms of theoretical focus and research context. Essay #1, “Multi-Channel Consumers: Attributional, Affective, and Behavioral Reactions to Cross-Channel Price Differences,” conducted two online experiments. Results revealed that two distinct psychological processes—an other-focused process by which consumers blame others and feel betrayed and a self-focused process by which consumers blame themselves and feel regret—differentially impacted post-purchase consumer reactions to cross-channel price differences.; Essay #2, “Communal and Exchange Relationship Norms: Moderating Consumer Reactions to Cross-Channel Price Differences,” further replicated the other—versus self-focused process model via a program of three experiments that employed different data collection methods, retailer settings, and product contexts. Furthermore, Essay #2 investigated the roles of retailer-consumer relationship norms—communal versus exchange relationship—as moderators of consumers' voice, exit, and negative word-of-mouth behaviors.; While the first two essays investigated post-purchase consumer behaviors, Essay #3, “Inaction Inertia: Roles of Experienced and Anticipated Regret in Consumer Innovation Adoption,” examined pre-purchase processes. The phenomenon of the inaction inertia effect—consumers' tendency to forgo an opportunity after missing an attractive offer—provided a research context in which consumer attributions, mental simulations, and specific emotions are interrelated at a pre-purchase phase. Two experiments were conducted to reconcile competing accounts of experienced versus anticipated regret as a mediator, to examine the roles of consumer attribution as a moderator, and to investigate early adopters' susceptibility to the inaction inertia effect.; Discerning underlying mechanisms beneath surface-level behaviors and detecting boundary conditions of the mechanisms, a set of three essays help researchers and managers better understand how consumer attributions, mental simulations, and specific emotions impact consumer behaviors in multi-channel retailing and innovation adoption contexts. |
