An experimental investigation of prepurchase preference and postconsumption satisfaction in a service exchange

The value paradigm and reference price research emphasize the effect of price evaluations on prepurchase evaluations and current purchase intentions. The satisfaction paradigm focuses on how consumers integrate performance expectations and evaluations into satisfaction assessments. This research integrates these two paradigms within a conceptual model of prepurchase preference and postconsumption satisfaction. This model proposes that consumers generate cognitive evaluations of the benefits and sacrifices associated with an exchange that produce affective responses which ultimately determine preference and overall satisfaction. This model was tested within the context of a hotel service exchange using a sample of 200 subjects. Multimedia technology that integrated slides, text, audio, and video was used to simulate the service exchange and produce experimental manipulations of price and quality cues.;Prepurchase preference was examined using a 2 x 2 factorial design manipulating objective price (high/low) and brand name (present/absent). Dependent variables included evaluations of price, transaction value, quality, consumption value, and preference. Results fully supported the validity and reliability of the multi-item scales used to measure the proposed constructs. Key findings included the following. (1) The brand manipulation had no significant effect on preference and only a marginally significant effect on service quality expectations. (2) Price did not have a significant effect on service quality expectations. (3) Preference was almost entirely determined by price evaluation and transaction value; service quality and consumption value had no significant effect on preference.;Postconsumption satisfaction was examined within the context of a 2 x 2 factorial design manipulating price (high/low) and quality (high/low). Dependent variables included evaluations of price, quality, fairness, and satisfaction. Results generally supported the validity and reliability of the multi-item scales used to measure the proposed constructs. Key findings included the following. (1) Price had no significant effect on the service quality evaluation. (2) The service quality evaluation had a positive (i.e., favorable) effect on the price evaluation. (3) The service quality evaluation was the strongest predictor of overall satisfaction with the exchange. (4) The effect of the price evaluation on overall satisfaction was fully mediated by a fairness evaluation.