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

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.