Department of Marketing, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Department of Entrepreneurship, Marketing and Social Innovation, Mount Royal University, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
PLoS One. 2023 Mar 31;18(3):e0282876. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0282876. eCollection 2023.
Inaction inertia is the tendency to forego an opportunity after missing a significantly better opportunity. We show that inaction inertia is rooted in reference dependence. This is consistent with prior work finding that smaller discounts are devalued and inertia is motivated by avoidance of loss. We further illuminate the process by showing that consumers treat the missed discount (rather than the regular price) as a reference point relative to which a smaller discount feels like a loss. Missing a significantly better deal causes people to focus first and foremost on thoughts critical of the current deal. Notably, consumers who miss a smaller discount also construe the second deal as a loss, even if they take it. This research integrates inaction inertia and reference dependence theory using query theory analysis to contextualize inaction inertia with biases such as loss aversion, anchoring, and the default effect.
不作为惯性是指在错失一个明显更好的机会后，放弃另一个机会的倾向。我们表明，不作为惯性源于参照依赖。这与先前的研究结果一致，即较小的折扣会被低估，而惯性是由避免损失所驱动的。我们通过表明消费者将错过的折扣（而不是正常价格）视为参照点，相对于该参照点，较小的折扣感觉像是一种损失，从而进一步阐明了这一过程。错失一个明显更好的交易使人们首先关注对当前交易的批判性思维。值得注意的是，即使消费者错过了较小的折扣，他们也会将第二笔交易视为损失，即使他们接受了这笔交易。这项研究通过查询理论分析将不作为惯性和参照依赖理论结合起来，将不作为惯性与损失厌恶、锚定和默认效应等偏见联系起来。
