The price is Heavy: How the haptic sensation of weight influences preference for partitioned versus combined pricing

This research makes a novel proposition that the haptic sensation of weight can moderate the effect of price framing on consumer decisions. Participants who experienced heaviness (lightness) preferred a target product presented in terms of combined (partitioned) versus partitioned (combined) pricing frames. This effect was further mediated by ease of processing. Four studies (three laboratory and one field experiment) were conducted to test the key hypotheses and provide evidence for causality and external validity. Across the four studies, the haptic sensation of weight was manipulated through semantics (Studies 1, 3), embodied experience (Study 2), and part of the product experience (Study 4). In studies 1, 2 and 3, the haptic experience of weight was independent of the target product evaluation, whereas in the fourth study, the weight experience was part of the target product evaluation itself. The findings across the studies are consistent, robust, and have theoretical and managerial implications.