Distant or Proximal? The Impact of Temporal Cues in Historical Lowest Price Claims on Consumer Purchase Behavior

This research examines the impact of temporal cues in historical lowest price claims on consumer purchase behavior, the underlying mechanisms, and boundary conditions. Through five studies, including secondary data analysis and controlled experiments, we show that distant (vs. proximal) historical price cues reduce consumers’ purchase behavior. This effect is driven by retrieval disfluency when processing distant temporal cues, which in turn lowers the believability of price offers. Additionally, we identify a boundary condition: the effect is attenuated among consumers with high persuasion knowledge. These findings not only provide insights into how temporal historical price cues, as a novel promotional strategy, influence price believability and consumer decision‐making but also offer practical guidance for marketers seeking to enhance promotional effectiveness in online retailing.