The antecedents of anticipatory purchase: Reconciling the two routes to optimism

Consumers often behave optimistically, purchasing products that they are unable to use at the time of purchase, but anticipate being able to use in the future. This research investigates such anticipatory purchase behavior, and demonstrates that optimism exerts its influence on anticipatory purchase via two distinct routes. One is driven by the perceived ease of the process required to achieve a given outcome and prevails when sufficient cognitive resources are available, while the other is driven directly by the perceived favorability of the outcome itself and holds when cognitive resources are constrained. Within each route, the focus of thought (process vs. outcome-focus) moderates the influence of optimism, and the two routes converge on enhanced motivation. Multiple experiments provide support for predictions derived from this framework, illuminating the substantive domain of anticipatory purchasing and providing theoretical insights into the nature of optimism.