Abstract

Virtue products promise future benefits and, at the same time, carry immediate and ongoing costs. Although consumers acknowledge the benefits such products offer they find it difficult to consume them on a daily basis. This research focuses on a key problem in the consumption of virtue products — ongoing use and identifies ways to help consumers maintain ongoing consumption.

We propose that product attributes (in terms of future versus present benefits) and consumers' self control interact to shape the consumption of virtue products.

We report findings from two field experiments using two different product categories; dental floss and sunscreen lotion. Findings indicate that adding an attribute that entails a present benefit increases daily consumption among low-self-control participants, whereas highlighting the product's essence, that is, its future benefit increases consumption among high-self- control participants.

Citation

Ein-gar, Danit, Jacob Goldenberg, and Lilach Sagiv. "The Role of Consumer Self-Control in the Consumption of Virtue Products." International Journal of Research in Marketing 29, no. 2 (June 2012): 123-133.

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