Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Marketing
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Consumers may use superstitions when making purchase decisions, especially in contexts involving risk or uncertainty. For example, some people employ superstitions, such as using numbers from a fortune cookie, knocking on wood after making a significant decision, or entering a store with the left foot first, in the belief that these practices can increase the odds of success or a positive outcome (Rodriguez 2023). The psychology literature explores the topic of superstition in-depth, including how it develops and why people use it. Research in the marketing domain has explored the effects of superstition on brand preference and its impact on performance expectations. What has been substantially under-researched is how consumers utilize superstition in their decision-making processes in retail and service contexts, particularly when changes in the purchase process, such as agent type or agent behavior, influence buying patterns. The first phase of this research aims to understand the various manifestations of superstition among consumers and how they utilize these beliefs in their purchase decisions, thereby developing and validating a novel typology of superstition use. In the second phase, an empirical analysis examines how different agent types and behaviors affect superstitious consumers, exploring the impact of superstitions on consumer buying behavior.
Date
5-19-2025
Recommended Citation
Marti, Candice L., "Understanding the Superstitious Consumer: A Multi-Method Investigation of Consumer Superstition in Retail and Service Encounters" (2025). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6794.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6794
Committee Chair
Dan H. Rice