Name reminders and customization preferences: The role of perceived control☆

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Highlights

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    In many service situations, customers are reminded of their names.

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    We test if name reminders increase preference for customization to regain perceived control.

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    Three behavioral experiments were conducted to test the thinking.

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    Findings support mechanism of perceived control via both mediation and moderation.

Abstract

In many hospitality situations, customers are reminded of their names. At the same time, these customers may be given the opportunity to customize product and service offerings. It is currently unknown how name reminders affect this likelihood of customization on consumers’ part. We propose, in the current research, that name reminders might increase hospitality customers’ likelihood of customizing product and service offerings, likely because reminding them of their names reduces their perceived control. Indeed, across three studies in a variety of contexts, we find that name reminders increase customization, and lower perceived control explains why. Indeed, we find that customers’ perceived control mediates the effect, while manipulating perceived control moderates the effect of name reminders on customization. Together, the present results offer a better understanding of how name reminders shape decision-making. Although we examine the effects on customization, we believe that our finding that name reminders decrease perceived control has other implications for other hospitality as well as tourism and service settings more broadly.

Section snippets

Name reminders and customization likelihood: the role of perceived control

Customers are often reminded of their names in hospitality as well as tourism settings. For example, baristas at coffee shops ask for customers’ names and write them down on the paper cups for the morning coffee, while front-desk staff at hotels will often greet and welcome guests y their names at check-in. In many cases, service providers use customers’ names to induce positive affect and to personalize the experience (Hwang et al., 2021; Kaufmann, 2016; Wolf and Zhang, 2016). Now, in many of

The psychology of names

Names were mostly descriptive historically (Reaney, 1967). Before the 14th century, most people in the Western world only had a single name. As the population increased, there was a need to more precisely identify individuals lead to the use of surnames that identified patriarchal linearship (patronymics; e.g., “Peterson” as “son of Peter”), the location where the person is from (e.g., “Hill,” “Wood,” and “Lake”), the person’s occupation (e.g., “Gardener”), or even their traits (e.g., “Small”

The current research

In this research, we propose that reminding customers of their names should decrease perceived control, which then increases their likelihood to customize product and service offerings. To explain, we note that people often do not have control over their names. Rather, it is their parents who name them when they are born. Indeed, though people might choose short forms of names to identify oneself to others (e.g., “Dave” instead of “David”), they generally do not change their names (e.g., to

Study 1

The purpose of Study 1 is to test in a field setting if reminding customers of their names increases preference for product customization in the marketplace. Therefore, we only test the overall effect of name reminders on customization preferences. In two later studies, we will explore the mediating role of perceived control. Also, we note Study 1 is a field study, thereby offering greater external validity. But, we recognize there are internal validity issues and confounds. The limitations are

Study 2

In Study 2, we use a controlled laboratory setting to test our hypotheses, especially that concerning the predicted mechanism of perceived control. Thus, we measure perceived control, expecting that it would mediate the impact of name reminders on customization.

We also measure various other potential variables that could serve as confounds. We already ruled out price and gender in the previous study. However, potentially, name reminders might also make people think of themselves as “unique” and

Study 3

In Study 3, we manipulate perceived control to see if doing so moderates the effect of name reminders on customization. The rationale is as follows: If perceived control were the “true” mediator (which mediation analyses only suggest but can not confirm directly), then manipulating it should also moderate the effect of name reminders on customization. Namely, in one condition, we manipulate high perceived control, after our name reminders manipulation. If name reminders truly reduce perceived

General discussion

Across three studies, we find evidence supporting our hypothesis that name reminders influence customer decisions in hospitality, service, and broader settings. Specifically, we demonstrate that reminding customers of their names can encourage them to customize their products. This is likely because people do not choose their names—perhaps the most integral part of the self. Thus, name reminders lead to a feeling that people do not have control over their own lives or other self-relevant

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