A new study conducted by Tuck School of Business professors has found that consumers who believe in karma have higher expectations when purchasing a new product because they are less inclined to seek out the momentary gratification associated with the purchase, according to a University of Chicago press release. The study, "Consumer Expectations and Culture: The Effect of Belief in Karma in India," which was directed by Tuck professors Praveen Kopalle and John Farley and Columbia professor Donald Lehmann, a visiting scholar at Tuck, will appear in the August issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.
While some consumers lower their expectations to avoid disappointment in a new product, people who believe in karma tend not to do so because they are more focused on long-term satisfaction, according to the press release.
"The doctrine of karma links current conduct to future consequences either in this life or the next," the authors wrote in the study, according to the press release. "Thus, a belief in karma entails, among other things, a focus on long-run consequences."
Karma consists of three main beliefs, according to the authors of the study. First is the belief in rebirth and the belief that current actions affect either this life or the next. The second belief is that all actions can be categorized as either appropriate or inappropriate. The third is that appropriate actions in the present result in benefits in the future.
"Individuals with a long-term orientation are likely to be less inclined to lower expectations in the hope of temporarily feeling better," the authors wrote in the study, according to the release. "With a long-term orientation, even those individuals who are most unhappy when a product fails to live up to their expectations of it have a limited incentive to artificially lower their expectations and hence have higher (and more accurate/realistic) expectations."
The authors compared results from China and India and found that 64 percent of Indians believe in karma, while only 10.5 percent of Chinese consumers do, according to the release.
The results should encourage businesses to consider cultural differences in consumers' habits when marketing products in a global marketplace, the authors said.
"Perhaps most importantly, the findings are also encouraging concerning the feasibility of explicitly measuring cultural factors and assessing their impact on consumer behavior," the authors wrote, according to the press release.
Kopalle is currently in China and could not be reached for comment. Neither Farley nor Lehmann returned a request for comment.
