The role of fundamental motivations in willingness-to-pay online

This study aims to determine whether an understanding of chronic fundamental consumer motivations can help determine the mechanisms of willingness-to-pay for products online. To do so, it employs a simulated buying task on a fictional e-commerce site for a consumer product (branded either as a “new arrival” or a “classic”) to investigate the effects of two fundamental motivations (mate acquisition vs. self-protection) on willingness-to-pay for the product online. The primary focus of the paper to investigate the capacity of mate acquisition and self-protection motives to moderate the relationship between attitude toward the product and willingness-to-pay, as well as, the effects of the motives on willingness-to-pay are considered. Through regression and interaction effect analyses, it is shown that chronic fundamental motivation for mate acquisition is directly correlated with an increased willingness-to-pay for both product types, and it moderates the relationship between attitude toward a product and willingness-to-pay. Self-protection motivation increases willingness-to-pay for classic products but not new arrivals. By offering a rare look at chronic fundamental motivation in the consumer context and potentially being the first investigation of the moderating effects of fundamental motivations, the results mostly support the notion of predictable motivation induced behavioral tendencies.