Strategy and response to purchase intention questions
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Strategy and response to purchase intention questions Jayson L. Lusk · Leatta McLaughlin · Sara R. Jaeger
Received: 21 July 2005 / Accepted: 8 September 2006 / Published online: 5 October 2006 C Springer Science + Business Media, LLC 2006
Abstract Purchase intention and willingness-to-pay (WTP) questions are often analyzed without considering that a respondent’s utility maximizing answer need not correspond to a truthful answer. In this paper, we argue that individuals act, at least partially, in their own self-interest when answering survey questions. Consumers are conceptualized as thinking along two strategic dimensions when asked hypothetical purchase intention and WTP questions: (a) whether their response will influence the future price of a product and (b) whether their response will influence whether a product will actually be offered. Results provide initial evidence that strategic behavior may exist for some goods and some people. Keywords Strategic behavior . Purchase intention . Survey methods . Willingness-to-pay (WTP) A fundamental tenet of modern economics, confirmed in countless empirical studies, is that individuals respond to incentives. If incentives matter, their effects are not likely relegated to the marketplace, but permeate behavior in all facets of life including how individuals respond to survey questions. As long as individuals believe their responses might influence actions taken by businesses, they might respond to surveys in such a
J. L. Lusk () Department of Agricultural Economics, Oklahoma State University, 411 Ag. Hall, Stillwater, OK 74078 e-mail: [email protected] L. McLaughlin Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, West Lafayett, IN e-mail: [email protected] S. R. Jaeger Department of Marketing, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand e-mail: [email protected] Springer
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Market Lett (2007) 18:31–44
way as to maximize their own utility. A utility maximizing answer need not correspond to a truthful answer. For example, if a person is asked what they would pay for a product, they might purposefully state a dollar amount lower than their actual willingness-to-pay (WTP) so that the brand manager will reduce the price. Several authors have noted the potential for people to answer surveys in a way to attempt to manipulate price (e.g., Gibson, 2001; Jedidi et al., 2003; Monroe, 1990; Wertenbroch and Skiera, 2002). Although strategic responses to survey questions have received little attention in the marketing literature, it is a maintained assumption in many disciplines such as game theory, economics, and political science that humans behave with strategic intent. In this paper, we argue that individuals act, at least partially, in their own selfinterest when answering survey questions. We define a strategic survey response as one in which a person indicates a preference or intention different than their actual preference or intention so as to benefit themselves in some way. Seeking to bridge the gap in knowledge regarding the role of strat
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