Purpose

Consumers can spend their disposable income on hedonic consumption or save for the future. Their preferences were altered by the prolonged life and livelihood-threatening experiences of the pandemic. This paper aims to study the spillover effect of the pandemic experience on consumer savings attitudes and hedonic purchase preferences in the new normal.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors conducted 35 in-depth interviews with consumers in India. The data were analysed thematically.

Findings

The results showed that when fear of life and negative emotions of the pandemic persisted, consumers became short-term focused, moved towards materialism and increased hedonic spending. Alternatively, individuals who faced substantial financial hardships resorted to an increased preference for savings. The relationship between changes in savings orientation and hedonic consumption was found to be moderated by consumer's individual differences in financial vulnerability and life history strategies.

Practical implications

As the trend towards increased hedonic consumption and preference for luxury products continues, the study findings can be used to devise effective marketing strategies to tap the emerging segment of mass luxury consumption.

Originality/value

Despite ample work being conducted in the hedonic consumption domain, it has not been studied in conjunction with savings orientation, a significant determinant. This research links personal savings orientation with hedonic spending and substantiates that purchase decisions are cognitively weighted as a choice of discretionary spending against the opportunity to save.

中文翻译：

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探索新常态下的个人储蓄与享乐消费

目的

消费者可以将可支配收入用于享乐性消费或为未来储蓄。他们的偏好因大流行病的延长寿命和生计威胁而改变。本文旨在研究新常态下疫情经历对消费者储蓄态度和享乐性购买偏好的溢出效应。

设计/方法论/途径

作者对印度消费者进行了 35 次深度访谈。对数据进行了主题分析。

发现

结果显示，当对生活的恐惧和疫情带来的负面情绪持续存在时，消费者会变得关注短期，转向物质主义并增加享乐性支出。另一方面，面临巨大经济困难的个人更加倾向于储蓄。研究发现，储蓄取向变化与享乐消费之间的关系受到消费者财务脆弱性和生活史策略的个体差异的调节。

实际影响

随着享乐性消费和对奢侈品偏好的持续增长，研究结果可用于制定有效的营销策略，以开拓大众奢侈品消费的新兴领域。

原创性/价值

尽管在享乐消费领域开展了大量工作，但尚未将其与储蓄导向（一个重要的决定因素）结合起来进行研究。这项研究将个人储蓄取向与享乐支出联系起来，并证实购买决策在认知上被加权为可自由支配支出与储蓄机会的选择。