Consumer Decision Making and Behavioral Research
Description
John Gourville’s research focuses on consumer behavior, especially in the areas of pricing and consumer decision making. In the area of pricing, for instance, he has looked at the role of time on how consumers interpret and react to product costs and prices. He has looked at how the temporal separation between payments and product consumption, as increasingly seen with advanced payment transactions, impacts the likelihood and timing of product consumption. he has investigated the effect of price bundling on product consumption. And John has looked at 'downsizing price increases,' the increasingly common practice of increasing the price of a product by keeping the sticker price the same, but reducing the quantity contained in the offering. He is intestested in its effects on consumer purchase and its implications for manufacturers and retailers.
In the realm of consumer decision making, John has explored the impact of brand variants on likelihood of consumer choice. This research suggests that while some types of product variety (e.g., size variety) increase the likelihood of choosing within a brand, other types of variety (e.g., non-overlapping features) decrease that likelihood.
In recent years, John has been investigating the decision making surrounding the adoption and purchase of technological innovations. In particular, he is interested in 'why consumers don't buy' when rational expectations suggest that they should. As part of this work, he developed a new MBA course called 'The Marketing of Innovations.' Increasingly, he is working with companies apply this research to foster more effective new product development.