본 연구는 소비자 만족 판단이 제품성과에 대한 비교판단의 산물일 뿐 아니라 비교판단과정에서 유발된 감정에 의해 영향을 받는다는 점에 토대를 두고 있다. 본 연구는 선택한 제품과 선택하지 않은 제품 간 비교평가 즉, 대안 불일치가 만족에 미치는 효과는 제품성과와 기대 간 비교평가 즉, 기대 불일치의 효과에 비해 독립적이라는 것을 제안하는 기존연구를 확장하여, 기대 불일치와 대안 불일치에 따라 유발되는 감정의 매개역할을 탐구하고 있다. 본 연구에서는 기대 불일치가 만족에 미치는 효과는 실망이라는 감정경험에 의해 매개되는 반면, 대안 불일치가 만족에 미치는 효과는 후회라는 감정경험에 의해 매개된다는 것을 주장하고 있다. 가설검증을 위해 연구 1에서는 대학생들을 대상으로 수강과목에 대한 만족 판단과정에 대한 설문조사를 실시하였고 연구 2에서는 대학생들을 대상으로 볼펜 사용 후 만족 판단과정에 대한 실험을 수행하였다. 연구 1의 분석결과, 기대 불일치가 만족에 미치는 효과는 실망에 의해 부분적으로 매개되었으며 대안 불일치가 만족에 미치는 효과는 후회에 의해 부분적으로 매개되는 것으로 나타났다. 연구 2에서 각 변수에 대한 수준을 조작한 실험을 수행한 결과, 기대 불일치와 대안 불일치가 만족에 미치는 효과는 각각 실망과 후회에 의해 완전 매개되는 것으로 나타났다.
Expectancy-Discrepancy model of consumer satisfaction argues that satisfaction is determined by the discrepancy between expectancy and perceived performance, implying that satisfaction judgment is an outcome of comparison process for the perceived performance with a comparison standard. The literature suggests alternative comparison standards such as mere expectancy, predictive expectations, desires, equity-expectations, and brand- or product-based norms. Among these alternative comparison standards, equity-expectations and norms reflect consumers` reliance on the performance of other alternatives, which are not chosen or purchased, in their satisfaction judgment. The present study is in line with the past research suggesting that consumers pay attention to the forgone alternative and experience counterfactual thinking and that their satisfaction judgment is influenced by the expected performance or the estimated performance of the forgone alternative (Carmon and Ariely 2000; Inman, Dyer, and Jia 1997; Taylor 1997). The study suggests that expectancy-discrepancy evaluation, which refers to the evaluation of the discrepancy between perceived performance and expectancy, results in the experience of disappointment whereas forgone-discrepancy evaluation, which refers to the evaluation of the discrepancy between the perceived performance of chosen product and that of forgone alternative, results in the experience of regret. The study further suggests that disappointment and regret determine satisfaction judgment, implying the mediating role of disappointment for the effect of expectancy discrepancy on satisfaction and the mediating role of regret for the effect of forgone discrepancy on satisfaction. The distinction between disappointment and regret is based on the literature suggesting that disappointment is distinctive from regret in a sense that the former is an emotional response to the chosen alternative whereas the latter is an emotional response to the counterfactual thinking that the better result could have happened (Landman 1993; Zeelenberg et al. 2000). Specifically, the present study replicates the past study, suggesting that forgone-discrepancy evaluation has a positive effect on the satisfaction judgment, being independent of the positive effect of expectancy discrepancy. The following hypotheses are developed: H1a: (Negative) Expectancy-discrepancy evaluation has a negative effect on satisfaction judgment. H1b: The effect of expectancy-discrepancy evaluation on the satisfaction judgment is mediated by disappointment. H2a: (Negative)Forgone-discrepancy evaluation has a negative effect on satisfaction judgment. H2b: The effect of forgone-discrepancy evaluation on the satisfaction judgment is mediated by regret. In study one, the hypotheses were tested for 74 college students in the context of course evaluation. It was found that forgone-discrepancy had a positive effect on satisfaction and that the effect was independent of the effect of expectancy-discrepancy; the effect of expectancy-discrepancy on satisfaction was partially mediated by disappointment; and the effect of forgone-discrepancy on satisfaction was partially mediated by regret. Thus all the three hypotheses were supported. However, it was also found that forgone discrepancy was related to disappointment, which mediated in part the effect forgone discrepancy on satisfaction. In study two, an experiment was conducted for 232 college students in the context of ball-point pen. The level of forgone-discrepancy was manipulated to be either positive or negative, independently of the level of expectancy-discrepancy, resulting in the 2*2 factorial design (Positive vs. Negative Expectancy Discrepancy * Positive vs. Negative Forgone Discrepancy). It was found that the effect of forgone-discrepancy on satisfaction judgment was independent of the effect of expectancy-discrepancy, replicating the results of study one. It was also found that the effect of forgone-discrepancy on satisfaction was mediated by regret and that the effect of expectancy-discrepancy on satisfaction was mediated by disappointment. The satisfaction score of the positive expectancy-discrepancy/negative forgone-discrepancy group was greater than the score of the negative expectancy-discrepancy/positive forgone-discrepancy group. This result indicates that the effect of expectancy-discrepancy on the satisfaction judgment is greater than the effect of forgone-discrepancy. The interaction effect of expectancy-discrepancy and forgone-discrepancy was not significant, implying that the effect of expectancy-discrepancy did not vary across the levels of forgone-discrepancy and vice versa. A further analysis showed that regret had the stronger effect on repurchase intention than disappointment and that, when the effect of satisfaction was partialled out, regret had an additive effect on repurchase intention whereas disappointment did not. In sum, both study one and study two give supports for the hypotheses. However, the two studies differ in the strength of the mediating effects of regret and disappointment. In study one, which was conducted in the context of course evaluation by a field survey, the effect of expectancy-discrepancy and the effect of forgone-discrepancy on satisfaction were mediated only in part by disappointment and regret, respectively. However, in study two, which was conducted in the context of ball-point pen in an experiment, the results showed stronger mediating effects of disappointment and regret such that the effects of expectancy-discrepancy and forgone-discrepancy vanished when the effects of disappointment and regret were partialled out respectively. The results of the present study are in line with the past research suggesting the additive effect of forgone-discrepancy on satisfaction and the role of emotional experiences of disappointment as well as regret in the judgment of satisfaction (Landman 1993; Zeelenberg, van Dijk, Manstead, and van der Pligt 2000; Taylor 1997). The present study, however, clarifies the mediating role of regret for the effect of forgone-discrepancy on satisfaction to be distinguished from the mediating role of disappointment for the effect of expectancy-discrepancy on satisfaction.