How Nextopia Impacts Satisfaction & WOM Post-Purchase

Sammanfattning: A growing number of products are being released in succession, making future related marketing concepts more relevant than ever before. Theory on the topic shows that consumers are positively biased towards the future and evaluate "to-be-released" products in a more favorable light than currently (identical) products on the market. Recent research demonstrates that positive associations from product preannouncements (PPAs) can spill over onto current products in a brand portfolio. As an extension of existing academic research on Nextopia theory, spillover effects and PPAs, the purpose of this quantitative study is to explore the link between the future and past by investigating if future related aspirations from PPAs also can affect satisfaction and word of mouth (WOM) in the post-purchase phase for a related product to the one preannounced. In this thesis, the effect is first tested in a field experiment where a movie theatre audience is manipulated by a film sequel preannouncement. The effect is later re-tested in a laboratory experiment. The study is the first of its kind to investigate a "kick-back effect" from a PPA to a consumed product/experience post-purchase and shows positive results in favor for PPAs. This finding adds to theory concerning future oriented marketing concepts and post-purchase behavior.