The Contingent Effects of Semantic Price Cues

• Impact of semantic cues is contingent on different factors.
• Between-store cues are more effective at home; within-store cues in the store.
• These results hold for utilitarian shopping goals, but not hedonic ones.
• These results hold under low motivation, not high motivation.
• Within-store cues are more effective than between-store cues when shopping alone.

This research endeavors to understand the contingent effects of semantic price cues while taking into consideration several important contextual factors. These factors include where the customer encounters the semantic cue (in-store, at-home, online), whether the consumers’ shopping goal is hedonic or utilitarian in nature, the impact of shopping alone or with a companion, as well as the consumer's motivation to process the product information. Findings indicate that a within-store cue (compared to a between store cue) enhances evaluations when the shopping in a store with a utilitarian goal, when shopping alone, and when their motivation to process is low. A meta-analysis of the results demonstrates the robustness of the differential impacts of these semantic cues.

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