The Effects of Anchors on Usage Amount of Fast Moving Consumer Goods

• Main Author: 江美賢
• Other Authors: 別蓮蒂
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/05257618525912819999

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 企業管理研究所 === 102 === Could the anchors relating to the appearance of product stimulate consumers to make different judgment and further affect the amount of usage? This is the focus of this study. “Anchoring and Adjustment Heuristics”, a theory suggested by Kahneman and Tversky (1974), assumed decision-makers are irrational, they will make estimates based on an initial value or starting point and then ‘adjusting’ their judgments and decisions. This study applies the concept of “anchors” to the using behaviors of fast moving consumer goods and assumes that marketers could stimulate the perception of consumers by manipulating the anchors relating to the appearance of products and affect the usage amount of them. Due to the hypothesis, this research develops two studies consisting three experiments to verify the effects of anchors on the amount of usage on fast moving consumer goods. Study one includes two experiments focusing on identifying the possible anchors influencing the usage amount. Study two includes the third experiment focusing on the effects of regulatory focus on anchoring effects. Experiment one chooses “the size of container” to be the first anchor of test and toothpaste as the product for the experiment after removing unsuitable product through pretest. Due to the common behavior of using toothpaste with tool (toothbrush) simultaneously, experiment one add “the size of tool” to be another possible anchor. Moreover, experiment one finds that the “residual amount” seems to affect the usage amount. Therefore, experiment one added “the size of tool” and “residual amount” in the formal experiment. To observe and measure the residual amount easily, experiment two added “transparent container” into the experimental design and use hand soap as the product for experiment to analyze the anchoring effects of “the size of container”, “residual amount” and “transparency of container”. Study two concerns the effects of regulatory focus on anchoring effects. Therefore, experiment three added the variable of “regulatory focus”. Aside from duplicating experiment two to verify the anchoring effects demonstrated in study one. Experiment three separates participants into the “promotion focus” and “prevention focus” groups by regulatory focus theory and analyze the difference of anchoring effects between them. The results of study one are as following. “Bigger container”, “more residual amount” and “transparent container” which convey the “sufficient and certain” available quantity, will result in more usage amount. Otherwise, “smaller container”, “less residual amount” and “non-transparent container” which convey the “insufficient and uncertain” available quantity, will result in less usage amount. The results of study two are as following. (1) Verified the anchoring effects on usage amount which study one assumed again. (2) Verified the difference of anchoring effects on usage amount between the promotion focus and prevention focus people. Anchoring effects are more significant on prevention focus people. Specifically, “Transparency of container” has significant effect on prevention focus people. Moreover, the moderating effect of “transparency of container” and “residual amount” to the usage amount is significant. To sum up, one of the key findings in this study is verifying that anchors relating to the appearance of products are objective stimuli which can affect the usage amount of fast moving consumer goods and certifying the anchoring effects of “size of container”, “residual amount” and “transparency of container”. Another key finding of this study is the more significant anchoring effects on the prevention focus people than on the promotion focus people.