Rating an Experience Makes People Notice How It Is Changing: Consequences for Hedonic Adaptation and Consumer Enjoyment

Clicks: 69
ID: 330696
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #27 of 204 articles by views in journal of consumer research

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 204 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Repeated measurement is common in both marketing research and practice. For example, experimenters often ask participants to evaluate multiple similar products, and service providers regularly check in to see how customers are doing. Such practices rest on the assumption that collecting more data simply reveals consumers’ experiences and preferences as they evolve over time. We find that repeated measurement also shapes them. Specifically, repeatedly probing consumers about an experience draws attention to how it is changing, prompting consumers to notice incremental differences more than if they were probed less or simply left alone. This process has important consequences for hedonic adaptation and enjoyment. In contexts of negative change, repeated ratings exacerbate adaptation by making incremental declines more salient, accelerating boredom and disengagement. In contexts of positive change, repeated ratings enhance experiences by making incremental improvements more salient. Sixteen studies (N = 16,311), spanning diverse hedonic stimuli (including games, foods, songs, videos, and artwork) and methodological approaches (including mediation and moderation), highlight this core idea that change is amplified when ratings draw attention to it. We discuss how repeated measurement may thereby distort understandings of hedonic decline and consumer preferences, and how to harness these insights to promote longer-lasting consumer enjoyment.
Reference Key
openalex_W7214937598 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Stephanie Hong, Ed O'Brien
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal journal of consumer research
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jcr/ucag038
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucag038
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.