The future bias in marketing : a longitudinal approach

Abstract

This study set out to explore consumer responses to pre-launch advertising, i.e. the advertising of products prior to launch. According to the construal level theory (CLT) people’s representation of future objects and events change with temporal distance. Drawing inferences from CLT to marketing, consumers’ attraction towards forthcoming products is explained. Further, using theory on consumer judgments the effects of pre-launch advertising is explored over time. A longitudinal experimental study using digital photo camera advertisements is used for testing the hypotheses in the paper. The results show that consumers have a statistically significant bias towards forthcoming products compared to identical products that are available now. Moreover, the presence of an initial judgment effect makes this “future bias” endure over time, causing forthcoming products to be preferred over identical current products, even when the former is launched. The results indicate that pre-launch marketing should be included as a means to efficient marketing, and that companies’ media scheduling should be extended to also include marketing efforts prior to product launch.