关键词: 居住流动性, 易得型产品, 理想型产品, 自愿简约, 社会经济地位

Abstract: Nowadays, billions of people frequently change their residence, and residential mobility has become an essential part of consumers’ lives all over the world. Researchers have recognized the importance of residential mobility and prior research mainly focused on how residential mobility affected individuals’ self-concept and their interactions with others. There are also some research investigating the long-term effects of residential mobility on individuals’ health and education. However, little is known about how residential mobility influences consumers’ product preferences. To fill this research void, this research focused on the feasible and desirable attributes of products and proposed that residential mobility strengthened consumers’ voluntary simplicity, which in turn increased their preferences for feasible (rather than desirable) products. In addition, we believed that this effect would not be significant for consumers with low socioeconomic status(SES). We conducted seven studies to test our hypotheses. Study 1 employed a correlation design. We randomly interviewed 106 university students and asked how many cities they had lived before attending university to measure their residential mobility. Then the participants were asked to indicate their preference between a pair of desks (one desk was more feasible and the other was more desirable). The results showed that as participants’ residential mobility increased, their preference for feasible products became stronger. Study 2 employed a single factor (residential mobility: high vs. low) between-subjects design and 136 Mturk workers were recruited. We manipulated participants’ residential mobility through a writing task and then measured their preferences for five pairs of products (one was feasible product and the other was desirable product). The results showed that residential mobility increased consumers’ preference for feasible products. Study 3 employed a 2(mobility: high vs. low) × 2(product type: feasible vs. desirable) between-subjects design and 537 Credamo workers were recruited. We manipulated participants’ perceived residential mobility in another way and further tested our main effect in a separate decision mode. The results confirmed that residential mobility increased consumers’ preferences for feasible products rather than decreased their preferences for desirable products. In Study 4, we aimed to measure participants’ preference in a real product choice context to test the robustness of our main effect. This study employed a single factor (residential mobility: high vs. low) between-subjects design, and we randomly recruited university students. We manipulated residential mobility same as Study 3 and told participants that they had the extra chance to win a puzzle to measure their real choice. The results further confirmed the robustness of the effect of residential mobility on the preference for feasible products in a real product choice context. In Study 5 we tried to explore the underlying mechanism. This study employed a single factor (residential mobility: high vs. low) between-subjects design. 149 Credamo workers participated in the study. The manipulation of mobility and measurement of preference for feasible products was similar to Study 2. Then we measured participants’ voluntary simplicity with 3 items. This study not only showed that our proposed effect was driven by the voluntary simplicity, but also ruled out alternative explainations such as construal level and anxiety. In Study 6, we employed a single factor (residential mobility: high vs. low) between-subjects design and recruited 211 Credamo workers. We manipulated residential mobility same as Study 3 and measured participants’ minimalism. Results replicated the effect of residential mobility on preference for feasible products and futher supported the mediating role of voluntary simplicity. Finally, in Study 7, we employed a single factor (residential mobility: high vs. low) between-subjects design and recruited 365 Credamo workers. We manipulated residential mobility same as Study 3 and measured participants’ SES. Results showed that SES moderated the effect of residential mobility on preference for feasible product. Taken together, this research demonstrated that consumers with high residential mobility preferred feasible products, which was driven by voluntary simplicity. For consumers with low SES, this effect would not be significant. Our research not only reveals a novel downstream effect of residential mobility, but also enriches the literature on feasibility, desirability and voluntary simplicity. Accordingly, this research yields strong practical implications for marketing strategies.

Key words: Residential mobility, Feasible product, Desirable product, Construal level, Sense of control