Price-Framing Effects on the Purchase of Hedonic and Utilitarian Bundles

Marketers are increasingly offering bundles that combine cross-category, seemingly unrelated items. This article examines the conditions under which framing a discount as savings on certain items of cross-category bundles is more effective for increasing bundle purchase. Three experiments show that the purchase of a cross-category bundle is more likely when the discount is framed as savings on the relatively hedonic component rather than as savings on the utilitarian component or on the total bundle. The authors explain the findings based on the notion that a discount provides a justification that increases the likelihood of hedonic purchases but has little impact on utilitarian consumption. The article concludes with a discussion of managerial implications of the findings.