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Disfluent vs. fluent price offers: paradoxical role of processing disfluency

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Abstract

Conventional wisdom and prior research on processing fluency suggest that consumers prefer fluent information, such that it has positive effects on their purchase decisions. Challenging this conventional wisdom, and on the basis of recent research on processing disfluency, this study proposes that the increased effort required to process disfluent price information can lead to deeper information processing. If the advertised price offer represents a good value, it can enhance purchase decisions, even if customers prefer the disfluent display less. A series of studies in the field and lab demonstrate support for this positive impact of disfluent price information on purchase decisions.

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Notes

  1. Four participants from the original sample of 51 were not included due to technical issues with completing the survey (2) or they indicated they had participated in one of the other research studies (2). Not including them did not change the pattern of results.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Keck Graduate Institute, Claremont Colleges, 535 Watson Drive, Claremont, CA, 91711, USA

    Scott Motyka

  2. Department of Marketing, LeBow College of Business, Drexel University, 818 G. Hall, 3141 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA

    Rajneesh Suri

  3. Department of Marketing, Babson College, 213 Malloy Hall, Babson Park, MA, 02457, USA

    Dhruv Grewal

  4. Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, California State University, SGMH 5270, Fullerton, CA, 92834-6848, USA

    Chiranjeev Kohli

Authors
  1. Scott Motyka
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  2. Rajneesh Suri
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  3. Dhruv Grewal
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  4. Chiranjeev Kohli
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Dhruv Grewal.

Appendices

Appendix 1

Study 2 advertisement (disfluent choices)

figure a

Appendix 2

Study 4 advertisement (disfluent font)

figure b

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Motyka, S., Suri, R., Grewal, D. et al. Disfluent vs. fluent price offers: paradoxical role of processing disfluency. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 44, 627–638 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-015-0459-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-015-0459-0

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