| Previous studies have explored the effects of internal numerical characteristics of prices(e.g.,discount strength,discount frame)on consumers,but the role of external characteristics of prices(e.g.,price color)is unclear.This study examines the effect of the color consistency of the original and sales price in comparative price advertisements on consumers and the moderating effects of gender,product type,and involvement.In addition,this study also examines the mediating mechanisms by which price color consistency produces its effects.Based on the theoretical foundations of research related to the color domain,the persuasion knowledge model,and the elaboration likelihood model,this study used four between-subjects experiments to explore the effect of price color and its consistency on consumers’ purchase intentions,advertising attitudes,and willingness to pay in comparative price advertising.Experiments 1 and 2 used a two-factor 4(original price color: red,blue,green,black)× 4(sales price color: red,blue,green,black)between-subjects design to extend the choice of price color and explore the stability of the price color consistency effect based on a replication of previous studies.Experiment 3 used a four-factor 2(original price color: red,black)× 2(sales price color: red,black)× 2(product type: utility goods,hedonic goods)× 2(gender: male,female)between-subjects design to explore the moderating effect of product type by selecting different types of goods.Experiment 4 used a four-factor 2(original price color: red,black)× 2(sales price color: red,black)× 2(involvement: low level,high level)× 2(gender: male,female)between-subjects design,by setting different levels of product prices to manipulate subjects’ involvement in the product,and to explore the moderating effect of involvement level based on experiment.The results of experiment 1(n = 191)showed that(1)The interaction between original price color and sales price color was not significant on all dependent variables;(2)The interaction between original price color and gender was significant on advertising attitude,and not significant on purchase intention and willing to pay.When the original price color was red or green,men’s advertising attitudes were significantly higher than women’s;for men,advertising attitudes were significantly lower when the original price color was blue or black than when the original price color was green;for women,advertising attitudes did not differ significantly across the original price color cases;(3)The mediating effects of advertising fluency,perceived value and perceived trust were not significant on all dependent variables.The results of Experiment 2(n = 239)showed that(1)The interaction between original price color and sales price color was not significant on purchase intentions and advertising attitudes;(2)The interaction between original price color and sales price color was significant on willingness to pay.When the original price was red,the willingness to pay was significantly lower when the sales price was green than when the sales price was black or blue;when the original price was blue,the willingness to pay was significantly lower when the sales price was blue than when the sales price was black;when the original price was green,the willingness to pay was significantly higher when the sales price was green than when the sales price was blue;when the original price was black,there was no significant difference in the participants’ willingness to pay between the sales price colors.(3)The interaction between sales price color and gender was significant on advertising attitude,and not significant on purchase intention and willing to pay.When the sales price color was red,men’s advertising attitudes were significantly higher than women’s advertising attitudes,when the sales price color was black,men’s advertising attitudes were significantly lower than women’s advertising attitudes.The difference between men’s and women’s advertising attitudes was not significant when the sales price color was green or blue;(4)The mediating effects of advertising fluency,perceived value and perceived trust were not significant on all dependent variables.The results of Experiment 3(n = 223)showed that(1)The interaction between original price color and sales price color was not significant on all dependent variables;(2)The interaction between original price color,sales price color,product type,and gender was not significant on all dependent variables;(3)The interaction between original price color and product type was significant on advertising attitude,and not significant on purchase intention and willing to pay.When purchasing utilitarian products,the advertising attitudes were significantly higher when the original price color was red than when the original price color was black;the advertising attitudes toward hedonic products were significantly higher than utilitarian products when the original price color was black.(4)The mediating effect of advertising fluency was significant on all dependent variables;the mediating effect of perceived trust and perceived value were both insignificant.The results of Experiment 4(n = 220)showed that(1)The interaction between original price color and sales price color was not significant on all dependent variables;(2)The interaction between original price color,sales price color,involvement,and gender was not significant on all dependent variables;(3)In terms of advertising attitudes,the interaction between sales price color and involvement was significant.At low levels of involvement,when the sales price was red,advertising attitudes were significantly lower than those when the sales price was black;at high levels of involvement,the difference between advertising attitudes when the sales price was red or black was not significant.(4)In terms of willingness to pay,the interaction between original price color and gender was significant.For men,the willingness to pay when the original price was black was significantly higher than the willingness to pay when the original price was red,and for women,the difference between the willingness to pay when the original price was black or red was not significant.(5)The mediating effects of advertising fluency,perceived value and perceived trust were not significant on all dependent variables.Therefore,the following conclusions are as follows:(1)The consistency of original price color and sales price color did not have a stable and significant effect on consumers;(2)Gender,product type,and involvement did not moderate the effect of price color consistency;however,gender moderated the effect of original price color and sales price color on advertising attitudes,and also moderated the effect of original price color on willingness to pay.Product type moderated the effect of original price color on advertising attitudes,and involvement moderated the effect of sales price color on advertising attitudes;(3)Advertising fluency mediated the effect of the interaction of product type and sales price color on consumers’ purchase intentions,advertising attitudes,and willingness to pay.The present research enriches studies related to gender differences in the fields of comparative price advertising and persuasive knowledge models,and also extends theories related to elaboration likelihood model and color psychology,which also have implications for consumers and marketers. |
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