Anticipated Sharing and Preference for Hedonic Products

Consumption situations in which people share products with others are common (Belk 2010). For example, people may share an appetizer at dinner with a friend or share household items with a roommate. We examine how sharing can alter consumers’ product preferences. Specifically, although products can differ along many dimensions, we focus on how anticipating sharing products shifts consumers’ preference for hedonic versus utilitarian products. Research has shown that there is an important distinction between hedonic and utilitarian products; hedonic products are desired for their greater enjoyment but are more difficult to justify selecting, whereas utilitarian products are desired for their functionality and easier to justify selecting (Khan and Dhar 2006; Kivetz and Simonson 2002; Wertenbroch and Dhar 2000). Prior research has shown that a variety of different factors can alter preferences for hedonic versus utilitarian products. For example, Okada (2005) found that in single evaluation (i.e., products presented separately), preference for hedonic products was higher than preference for utilitarian products, but that in joint evaluation (i.e., products presented together), preference for utilitarian products was higher than preference for hedonic products. Kivetz and Simonson (2002) found that expending greater effort in a frequency reward program shifted consumers’ preferences away from utilitarian rewards and towards hedonic rewards.