Regret Theory In Consumer Behavior

Past research has laid the foundations for the assumption that people take into account the emotional response to a possible outcome when making a decision (e.g., Janis & Mann, 1977). When the idea of regret is brought to the attention of the decision maker in the time the decision is made, regret will become more salient in the decision making process (Zeelenberg, 1999). Regret is defined as “the emotion that we experience when realizing or imagining that our current situation would have been better, if only we had decided differently” (Zeelenberg & Pieters, 2007, 3). Regret has important influences on consumer behavior, such as risk aversion (Zeelenberg), satisfaction, and brand switching (Bui, Krishen, & Bates, 2011). In a study of consumer decisions, Parker, Stradling, & Manstead (1996) presented subjects with four videos in order to examine the effect of regret on unsafe driving. One of the videos focused on the regret one may feel due to exceeding speed limit. This video lead to significant changes in beliefs and attitudes. However, the current research focuses on the effects of expectations of post-decisional feedback. Feedback is a crucial component in regret theory, since without explicit feedback on forgone outcomes, a decision maker cannot compare what is with what would have been (Zeelnberg). Regret is a subjective emotion, however, its powerful influence can be objectively illustrated by borrowing evidence from the field of behavioral economics.

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