Promoting and Countering Consumer Misconceptions of Random Events: The Case of Perceived Control and State-Sponsored Lotteries
Article
Miyazaki, AD, Brumbaugh, AM, Sprott, DE. (2001). Promoting and Countering Consumer Misconceptions of Random Events: The Case of Perceived Control and State-Sponsored Lotteries
. JOURNAL OF PUBLIC POLICY & MARKETING, 20(2), 254-267. 10.1509/jppm.20.2.254
Miyazaki, AD, Brumbaugh, AM, Sprott, DE. (2001). Promoting and Countering Consumer Misconceptions of Random Events: The Case of Perceived Control and State-Sponsored Lotteries
. JOURNAL OF PUBLIC POLICY & MARKETING, 20(2), 254-267. 10.1509/jppm.20.2.254
An understanding of random events and probabilistic outcomes is integral to buyer decision making for many products, such as insurance policies, service contracts, casino games, sweepstakes, and lotteries. Buyers, however, often hold misconceptions that bias their valuations of such marketplace offerings. The authors examine a common consumer misconception regarding the degree of control over independent random events associated with U.S. state-sponsored lotteries. In two studies, the authors demonstrate that countervailing information (in the form of an informational warning label) can affect perceptions and behavioral intentions based on control-related misconceptions, even when such misconceptions are enhanced by promotional information. The authors also find that level of prior lottery play interacts with these variables, which suggests that usage-based segmentation can influence the effectiveness of both promotional cues and informational warnings. The authors discuss implications of the findings as they pertain to public policy and marketing practice.
