Expanding the experiential advantage model: exploring the mediating roles of a sense of meaning and moderating effects of motivational autonomy
ISSN: 0736-3761
Article publication date: 26 April 2022
Issue publication date: 23 May 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to test the experiential advantage argument from both the hedonic and eudaimonic well-being perspectives and seeks to explore the mediating roles of a sense of meaning, as well as the moderating effects of consumers’ motivational autonomy, in a novel context – China.
Design/methodology/approach
Study 1 (n = 203) used a between-subject experiment where participants role-played an imaginary purchase with experiential versus material focus; Study 2 (n = 290) used a recall method where participants were asked to recall their past experiential purchase or material purchase that cost more than RMB500 (about US$70); Study 3 (n = 185) used a between-subject experiment where participants were assigned to one of the four scenarios (two types of purchases (experiential vs material) × 2 levels of motivational autonomy (high vs low).
Findings
The authors find that the experiential advantage argument holds true for eudaimonic well-being as well as hedonic well-being in three studies with Chinese consumers. In addition, the authors find that a sense of meaning serves as an additional mediator for the experiential advantage argument. Further, the authors find that the level of motivational autonomy positively moderates the effect size of experiential advantages and the mediating roles of a sense of meaning.
Research limitations/implications
The authors only address the two ends of the experiential–material purchase continuum. Whether the discovered mediation roles of a sense of meaning and the moderation roles of motivational autonomy hold for hybrid experiential products remain unknown.
Originality/value
The authors enriched the experiential advantage literature through exploring the mediation roles of a sense of meaning and the moderating effects of motivational autonomy in the experiential advantage model.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by National Natural Science Fund of China (NSFC) (Grant Number: 71601084), Foundation of Institute for Enterprise Development, Jinan University, Guangdong Province (Grant Number: 2021MYZD01), Foundation of Research Institute on Brand Innovation and Development of Guangzhou (Grant Number: 2021CR03), and Jinan University Management School Funding Program (Grant Number: GY21011).
Citation
Li, B., Wang, S., Lei, L. and Li, F. (2022), "Expanding the experiential advantage model: exploring the mediating roles of a sense of meaning and moderating effects of motivational autonomy", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 39 No. 4, pp. 317-332. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-09-2020-4140
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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