How does recency influence the timing of purchasing smartphones? The moderating role of context

Abstract

AbstractConsumers replace their smartphones more frequently, with their increasing requirements for better functions, superior performance, and fancier appearance. The pursuit of replacement may also identify market opportunities and incur business risks. In line with the research streams in product replacement, this study focuses on the effect of recency on consumers’ purchase timing in the context of replacing smartphones. The framework of this research accordingly stems from the rationale of consumer psychology, with concentration on the moderation of consumers’ need for uniqueness, anticipated regret, and education level, besides the focal recency-purchase timing link. The corresponding hypotheses are therefore proposed. To test the hypotheses, we employed convenience sampling to collect data from a sample of smartphone users in China, and finally the valid sample size was 470. We analyzed the data collected in China for hypothesis testing. Based on the analysis of the data, our findings highlight the main contribution of this research, demonstrating that recency has a significant effect on the timing of consumers’ purchasing smartphones and this effect is moderated by consumers’ need for uniqueness and anticipated regret.

Keywords

• recency
• purchase timing
• need for uniqueness
• education level
• anticipated regret
• moderation