Influence of habitual level of consumption on willingness to pay: A satiation, sensitization, and habituation approach

Abstract

[EN] The purpose of this study is to test how Willingness to pay (WTP) change depending on habitual level of consumption (HLC), which provokes satiation, sensitization, and habituation responses. Using a longitudinal research, two questionnaires in different purchase occasions measure WTP over three consumption periods (N = 279). We find that HLC exerts an S-shaped moderating effect on WTP, which change from a previous purchase setting relative to new and repetitive purchase. The results show how WTP increases relative to previous consumption if the HLC is moderate (sensitization). However, WTP decreases relative to previous consumption if the HLC is low (satiation) or high (habituation). Regarding implications, these findings can help revenue managers to implement segmentations according HLC to optimize the value captured from customers in each purchase. Besides, we demonstrate empirically the key influence of HLC on WTP, of we know of no applications to specific products or services.