User:Amm257/Buyer's remorse

Content forthcoming.

Buyer's Remorse and Cognitive Dissonance
The phenomenon of buyer’s remorse has been generally associated with the psychological theory of cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is described as a state of psychological discomfort that motivates the person to appease it. More specifically, buyer’s remorse fits into a category of cognitive dissonance called postdecision dissonance, where a person stresses over a made decision and seeks to decrease their discomfort. Dissonance occurs when at least two elements of the buyer’s cognition are in opposition. These can include his behavior, his feelings, his knowledge about the world (what he thought the purchased item would be like), or even his knowledge of himself. Buyers who purchased an item and later realizes that the item isn’t what he expected it to be or isn’t too sure about the purchase and has a feeling that he will later regret the purchase is experiencing buyer’s remorse via the cognitive discomfort theorized by cognitive dissonance. The more resources such as money, time, and cognitive resources that are invested into making a purchase, the more likely the buyer will experience buyer’s remorse or psychological discomfort. Common purchases with high investment that people often experience buyer’s remorse include automobiles, homes, and computers. Psychologists have focused on three main elements that are related to cognitive dissonance and buyer’s remorse. They are: effort, responsibility, and commitment. Effort is the resources invested in a purchase (material, intellectual, psychological, and others) and effort is directly related to the importance of the purchase. Purchases that require high amounts of effort but don’t bear high rewards are likely to lead to buyer’s remorse. Responsibility refers to the fact that the purchase is done out of free will. Buyers that have no choice on the purchase will be less likely to feel dissonance because it was not out of their own volition. Commitment refers to the continuing of an action. The purchase of an automobile has high commitment because the car must be driven for usually a long duration. Purchases with higher commitment will lead to more buyer’s remorse. Low rewards matched with these three conditions will most likely result in buyer’s remorse via cognitive dissonance. The buyer feel anxiety and psychological discomfort because their behavior (the purchase of the item) does not match their attitude (they expectation of the purchased item).

The following scale was developed by Sweeney, Hausknecht, and Soutar in a study to investigate three elements (one emotional, two cognitive) of buyer's remorse.

Duality of Attitudes: Extended Cognitive Dissonance in Buyer's Remorse
There may be a duality of attitudes that explain how a person may be satisfied with their purchase but have the intention to never repeat the purchase. For example, a husband who takes her wife to the most expensive restaurant in town for their anniversary only to find that the food and service does not meet his expectations might still be satisfied with his decision to go to the restaurant but have the intention to never return. In this extension of cognitive dissonance, the duality of satisfaction and intention are separate phenomena within buyer’s remorse.

Buyer's Remorse and the Paradox of Choice
The Paradox of Choice is a theory by American psychologist Barry Schwartz claiming that, after a certain threshold is reached, an increase in the number of choices will cause a significant amount of psychological distress. This distress, according to Professor Schwartz, can manifest itself in many ways. One way is through buyer's remorse. The theory states that buyer's remorse is created through increasing opportunity costs associated with increased choices. Opportunity costs associated with alternate choices compound and create strong feelings of dissonance and remorse.

As the number of choices increase, it is easier to imagine a different choice that may have been better than the one selected. The constant comparison to one's expectations induces regret, which reduces the satisfaction of any decision, even if it fills the individual's needs. When there are many alternatives to consider, it is easy to imagine the attractive features of rejected choices and there is a decrease in overall satisfaction.

Consider the amount of choices in a simple supermarket. There are likely to be hundreds of different options of a single product. With so many options, expectations are as high as possible. It is the expectation that the product is perfect for an individual and will have no drawbacks. This leads to expectations rarely being met, a significant psychological issue. In the example of a supermarket, a wrong product choice can be immediately put into perspective. However, for more involved decisions, the consequences of a wrong decision are significant.

Marketing Implications
Buyer's Remorse is a powerful experience for consumers. For years, marketers have been attempting to reduce buyer's remorse through many different methods. One specific technique employed by marketers is the inclusion of a coupon towards a future purchase at the point of sale. This has many benefits for both the consumer and retailer. First, the consumer is more likely to return to the store with the coupon, which will result in a higher percentage of repeat customers. Each successive time a purchase is made and is deemed satisfactory, buyer's remorse is less likely to be experienced. Customers can justify their purchases with product performance.

Another technique used is the Money Back Guarantee, a guarantee from the retailer that the product will meet the customer's needs or the customer is entitled to a full refund. This technique is highly successful at lessening buyer's remorse because it immediately makes the decision a changeable one. The unchangeability of an "all-sales-final" purchase can lead to a larger amount of psychological discomfort at the point of the decision. This makes the stakes higher, and poor choices will cause significant buyer's remorse.