Emerald Management Reviews

Design/methodology/approach - The questions were addressed by building on two well-established ideas: that products evoke a positive emotional response when they exceed expectations on important benefit dimensions; and that there is a fundamental difference in the type of goals hedonic and utilitarian benefits help attain. Reports the results of three separate studies involving, respectively, mobile phones (cell phones), laptop computers, and motor cars to measure the hedonic and utilitarian benefits of the products and their ability to delight and satisfy customers.

Findings - The results supported the hypotheses that: a positive consumption experience with utilitarian benefits evokes feelings of confidence and security, whereas a positive consumption experience with hedonic benefits evokes feelings of cheerfulness and excitement; a product that meets or exceeds utilitarian expectations evokes satisfaction, whereas one that meets or exceeds hedonic expectations evokes delight; a product that fails to meet utilitarian expectations evokes anger, whereas one that fails to meet hedonic expectations evokes dissatisfaction; consumers are more likely to indulge in positive word of mouth and repeat purchase behaviour when their hedonic expectations are met or exceeded than when their utilitarian expectations are met or exceeded; and consumers are more likely to indulge in negative word of mouth and less likely to engage in repeat purchase when their utilitarian expectations are not met than when their hedonic expectations are not met.

Practical implications - The insights offered are likely to be beneficial to product designers and marketing managers.

Originality/value - Builds on previous work on hedonic versus utilitarian benefits, regulatory focus theory, customer satisfaction, and delight.