Abstract:

Satiation refers to the cognitive disorder and corresponding negative emotional perception in the process of repeated consumption of the same brand (store) or product (service). In the process of repeated consumption, the hedonic adaptation and diminishing marginal effect will lead to the decrease of enjoyment, utility, stimulation or satisfaction, which will eventually lead to satiation. In order to alleviate or prevent satiation, consumers will take such behaviors as brand switching, variety seeking and control of consumption cycle. Therefore, satiation has become the main obstacle for enterprises to cultivate consumer loyalty. According to the generation process of satiation, it can be divided into implicit satiation, explicit satiation and dull satiation. According to the functional responses, satiation can be divided into physiological satiation and psychological satiation. According to the perceptual state, satiation can be divided into actual satiation and future satiation. According to different attributes, satiation can be divided into sensory-specific satiation and non-sensory-specific satiation. The generation of consumers' satiation can be explained by the hedonic adaptation theory, the marginal utility theory, the cognitive dissonance theory and the optimal stimulation level theory. The existing literature has made contributions in the following two aspects: First, in the basic theory of satiation, the existing literature has deeply explored the influence of consumption quantity, consumption frequency and consumption continuity on physiological satiation, as well as, the influence of attention, memory, metacognition and classification on psychological satiation. At the same time, it has discussed the effect of consumption cycle control and memory recurrence on relieving or recovering satiation. Secondly, in the aspect of the influence of satiation on consumption behavior, the existing literature has demonstrated the correlation between satiation of different attributes and brand switching, variety seeking. The moderating effects of external factors (such as products, services, consumption environment) and internal factors (such as OSL, self-control, adventurous spirit, loyalty, self-construal, time perceived distance, perception of variety, age and gender) on the correlation between consumers' satiation and brand switching or variety seeking have also been examined. The limitations of the existing literature are as follows: First, there is no in-depth research on the relationship between satiation and variety seeking. Second, it ignores the relationship between consumption cycle control and brand switching or variety seeking. There is a lack of longitudinal research at long intervals. Third, there is a lack of dynamic research on the optimal stimulation level of individuals and its influence on satiation. For future studies, it is necessary to introduce attention and satiation rate as mediating variables, and discuss the influence of situational factors (such as catastrophe, network choice environment, food crisis, etc.), individual factors (such as financial constraint, awe, etc.) and resource endowment factors (such as selection set size, selection set classification, conversion cost, substitute attractiveness, etc.) on consumers’ direction and concentration of attention and satiation rate to deepen the understanding of the relationship between antecedents and variety seeking. Besides those factors mentioned above, consumption cycle control behaviors, the dynamic change of consumer’s optimal stimulation level, the satiation of online consumption are also need to be further studied in this field. From a long-term perspective, the mechanism of satiation alleviation in long-term consumption should also be explored by long-term longitudinal tracking methods.

Key words: satiation, physiological satiation, psychological satiation, satiation rate, variety seeking