The effect of positive anticipatory utility on product pre-order evaluations and choices
PRIMARY, and this is the whole of the real pre-order literature. Four studies: three controlled online experiments plus ONE RETAIL STORE FIELD EXPERIMENT, with an internal meta-analysis across the studies. The framing treats pre-order delay as a COST: the authors expect that non-monetary promotions that enhance positive anticipation work best at reducing negative responses to longer pre-order delays, and that affect-laden marketing tools (free products, products positioned as hedonically superior, anticipatory buzz) attenuate the negative effects of pre-order delay. Claim to novelty: the authors present it as the first research on positive anticipation in pre-order delays.
PRIMARY, and this is the whole of the real pre-order literature. Four studies: three controlled online experiments plus ONE RETAIL STORE FIELD EXPERIMENT, with an internal meta-analysis across the studies. The framing treats pre-order delay as a COST: the authors expect that non-monetary promotions that enhance positive anticipation work best at reducing negative responses to longer pre-order delays, and that affect-laden marketing tools (free products, products positioned as hedonically superior, anticipatory buzz) attenuate the negative effects of pre-order delay. Claim to novelty: the authors present it as the first research on positive anticipation in pre-order delays.
Written from the abstract read 2026-10-18.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Mukherjee, A., Smith, R. J., & Burton, S. (2021). The effect of positive anticipatory utility on product pre-order evaluations and choices. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 51(3), 551-569. doi:10.1007/s11747-021-00810-1.