Two experiments examined the effects of just missing warranty coverage on consumers’ affective reactions to product breakdowns. The research was guided by Kahneman and Tversky’s (1982) theorizing about conditions leading people to imagine superior outcomes to those actually experienced (counterf actuals). Students read scenarios describing a product needing repairs and the warranty coverage on the product. Just missing having repairs covered by a warranty led to more extreme affective reactions than when the breakdown occurred long after expiration, particularly for affects tied to the alternative action. The results are consistent with theorizing about counterfactuals.
