Frequency Versus Intensity: How Thinking of a Frequent Consumption Indulgence as Social Versus Solitary Affects Preferences for How to Cut Back
研究发现，消费者将频繁的放纵消费视为社交型（vs.独处型）时，更不愿减少消费频率，而更愿通过选择低资源消耗的替代品来降低强度，这源于社交情境提升了产品之外的享受预期。
Many consumers engage in frequent consumption indulgences. Because such indulgences accumulate resource costs (e.g., money, calories), consumers are often prompted to cut back, posing questions for how to design cutback programs with consumer appeal. This research distinguishes between frequent indulgences that consumers think of as social (vs. solitary), demonstrating that thinking of an indulgence as social (vs. solitary) decreases preferences to cut “frequency” (how often the indulgence occasion occurs) and increases preferences to cut “intensity” (choosing a within-category substitute that involves lower resource expenditure). The author explains these effects by differentiating between enjoyment from the product itself and enjoyment from aspects outside the product. Thinking of an indulgence as social (vs. solitary) heightens people’s anticipated enjoyment, particularly for aspects outside of the product, decreasing interest in cutting the number of occasions (cutting frequency) and increasing interest in cutting back on the product itself via a within-category substitute (cutting intensity). This divergence in cutback preferences for social (vs. solitary) experiences is thus eliminated (1) when consumers think of social experiences with distant (vs. close) others, which involve lower enjoyment outside of the product, or (2) when solitary experiences primarily involve heightened enjoyment for aspects outside of the product.