Given the increase in marketers’ use of pre-ordering strategies in which product sales precede the product’s delivery, this research presents a systematic set of four studies exploring how increasing positive anticipatory utility impacts consumers’ pre-order evaluations. The authors propose that compared to price discounts, non-monetary promotions that enhance positive anticipation will be more effective in reducing consumers’ negative responses to longer temporal delays for pre-orders. Findings show that affect-laden marketing tools (e.g., free products, products positioned as hedonically superior, creating anticipatory buzz) attenuate the negative effects due to pre-order temporal delays. Findings also indicate positive anticipatory utility is the underlying mechanism for the observed effects. The research provides guidance regarding the strategic presentation of pre-order promotions; when the time for product delivery is longer, marketers should use various tools that increase positive anticipation to reduce the negative effects of temporal delays.

鉴于营销人员越来越多地使用产品销售先于产品交付的预购策略，本研究提出了一套系统的四项研究，探讨增加积极预期效用如何影响消费者的预购评估。作者提出，与价格折扣相比，增强积极预期的非货币促销将更有效地减少消费者对较长时间的预订延迟的负面反应。调查结果表明，充满情感的营销工具（例如，免费产品、定位为享乐优越的产品、创造预期的嗡嗡声）减弱了由于预订时间延迟造成的负面影响。调查结果还表明，积极的预期效用是观察到的效果的潜在机制。该研究为预购促销的战略展示提供了指导；当产品交付时间较长时，营销人员应使用各种增加积极预期的工具，以减少时间延迟的负面影响。