How does Anticipated Regret influence Consumer Decision Making?

Sometimes in life, people come to metaphorical crossroads where the decision they make will set the course for their future, but what happens when that decision becomes overwhelming - when fears and worries cause consumers to experience indecision or avoid deciding at all? Anticipated regret (AR) is regret that is felt before the decision is made (Zeelenberg, 1999) and can influence consumer decision-making. The influence of AR on consumer decision-making is under-researched in marketing, particularly in relation to complex, high-involvement decisions pertaining to transformative services. The research question being examined is: How and why does AR impact the decision to consume transformative services? The objectives of the research are to identify services consumers perceive as having transformative value (RO1), explore how AR influences consumers’ decision-making process (RO2), and develop and test a model of the influence of AR on consumers’ decision to consume a transformative service (RO3). This research will provide insights into how consumers navigate AR of use to marketing academics and practitioners.