A regret theory approach to assessing consumer satisfaction

Because consumer satisfaction is an important determinant of brand loyalty and word-of-mouth communications, it has been widely studied in the marketing literature. Much of this literature follows the expectancy-disconfirmation paradigm, which posits satisfaction to be a function of the positive or negative disconfirmation of one's expectations about the chosen brand. This article proposes a richer model of consumer satisfaction that incorporates effects of expectations about the options not ultimately chosen from the consideration set. Specifically, we posit that the expectations about the unchosen alternatives affect satisfaction with one's choice when that choice does not meet the expectations but will have little effect when the choice meets expectations. A series of experimental studies provide support for this approach.