Playing When Paying and What Happens Next: Customer Satisfaction and Word-of-Mouth Intention in Gambled Price Promotions

Abstract

Gambled price promotions, i.e., discounts in which the customers’ savings depend on the outcome of a game, have recently gained increasing attention from research and practice. This type of promotion is often framed as an in-store event, and consumers experience two properties inherent in gambling: entertainment and varied financial payoffs. Depending on the consumers’ assessments of these two elements, these experiences might drive two postpurchase consequences of such campaigns: customer satisfaction with the retailer and word-of-mouth intention. To assess these effects, two field quasi-experiments with gambled price promotions were conducted: one in a candy store and the other in a retail furniture store. Two main findings emerge from these studies: (1) The customers in both studies endorse gambled price promotions and are more willing to engage in word-of-mouth when participating in such a campaign. The effect of gambled price promotions on customer satisfaction is positive in the low-stakes setting of the candy store but insignificant in the furniture store. (2) The positive effects of such promotions are mediated by their entertainment value and moderated by the consumers’ assessments of the discount. The implication of these results is that, in addition to the already known revenue-increasing prepurchase effects, gambled price promotions can also result in positive postpurchase effects and should represent a valuable addition to the seller’s promotion toolbox.

Importance of the perceived quality of touchpoints for customer journey analysis – evidence from the B2B sector

“…The results of our study show that also the quality of a website has a different impact on buying intention depending on the phase of the customer journey the consumer is in. Consistent with findings that consumers form beliefs and expectations about the quality and suitability of an offer that need to be met to create customer satisfaction [2], consumers also seem to form expectations about the quality of a touchpoint along the customer journey. To create satisfaction, touchpoints must fit customers' expectations derived from their individual experience and usage intentions which differ depending on the customer journey phase consumers are in when visiting a touchpoint.…”

When do price discounts become attractive? A study comparing discount strategies on consumer perceptions

“…On the one hand, surprise, as an emotional amplification, provides consumers sense of discovery and excitement (Gupta et al. , 2020) leading to entertainment being a driver of GPD success (Akbari and Wagner, 2021). On the other hand, surprise can lead to negative evaluations, generate anger and regret among consumers (Gupta et al.…”

“…, 2015; Xu, 2020). Despite the above studies, GPD has only recently received increasing attention from academia and practitioners (Akbari and Wagner, 2021). When GPD will and will not perform, and in what context, remain to be studied.…”

“…There are also several studies that have investigated how prices and GPD influence consumers' provision of WOM (Matzler et al. , 2019; Liu and Lee, 2016; Akbari and Wagner, 2021). Despite these studies and the role played by product and WOM in the purchase process, how they affect GPD attractiveness has not been adequately considered.…”

“…Apparel chains such as Mustang jeans offer discounts revealed by the rolling of a dice after the purchase has been checked out (Alavi et al, 2015). The Sugar Shop, a regional icon in Heidelberg, Germany provides another example of the "roll the discount" (Akbari and Wagner, 2021). 7-Eleven, a major convenience store chain in Taiwan, offers an uncertain discount to drink buyers during the summer by asking the customers to press a button available on the computer screen of the point of sales (POS) system to reveal the discount received (Business Today, 2017).…”