Publicação
Comparing Digital Urgency and Scarcity Nudges: Effects on Purchase Intention and Emotional Response in Mobile Commerce: Consumer Behavior in Services and Retailing
| Resumo: | This thesis compares the influence of digital nudges urgency (time-limited) and scarcity (quantity-limited) on consumer purchase intention and emotional responses, within mobile commerce platforms. In the rapidly growing European mobile commerce landscape, where around 80% of individuals are used to make purchases online, digital nudges such as countdown timers and low-stock alerts play an increasingly critical role in shaping consumer behavior. Despite their widespread use in digital marketing and social media ecosystems, there is a lack of frameworks that compare both the psychological and behavioral effects of digital nudges. Utilizing a quantitative experimental design centred on a mobile flight-booking scenario, the research evaluates how these interface cues affect consumer behavior through the mediating roles of perceived value, enjoyment and anxiety, while considering consumer impulsivity as a critical moderator. Contrarily to traditional assumptions in commodity theory, the empirical results indicate no statistically significant difference between urgency and scarcity nudges in their direct impact on purchase intention. However, the study also reveals a nuanced Anxiety-Relief Pathway: where urgency nudges elicit higher levels of anxiety than scarcity. More, anxiety paradoxically functions as a navigational heuristic that drives conversion and increases purchase intent by resolving choice-uncertainty. Furthermore, the research identifies a significant moderated mediation effect regarding consumer impulsivity. While nudges boost perceived value for low-impulsivity consumers, they also trigger psychological reactance in highly impulsive individuals. In this impulsive segment, aggressive digital nudges end up backfiring and devaluing the product, which disenables purchase intention. These findings provide actionable insights for marketers to transition from one-sizefits-all pressure tactics toward personalized, utility-driven design strategies that prioritize consumer trust and reduce decision fatigue. |
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| Autores principais: | Gonçalves, Maria da Graça Nogueira da Silva |
| Assunto: | Digital Nudges Urgency Scarcity Purchase Intention Mobile Commerce |
| Ano: | 2026 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | dissertação de mestrado |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso embargado |
| Instituição associada: | Universidade Nova de Lisboa |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Repositório Institucional da UNL |
| Resumo: | This thesis compares the influence of digital nudges urgency (time-limited) and scarcity (quantity-limited) on consumer purchase intention and emotional responses, within mobile commerce platforms. In the rapidly growing European mobile commerce landscape, where around 80% of individuals are used to make purchases online, digital nudges such as countdown timers and low-stock alerts play an increasingly critical role in shaping consumer behavior. Despite their widespread use in digital marketing and social media ecosystems, there is a lack of frameworks that compare both the psychological and behavioral effects of digital nudges. Utilizing a quantitative experimental design centred on a mobile flight-booking scenario, the research evaluates how these interface cues affect consumer behavior through the mediating roles of perceived value, enjoyment and anxiety, while considering consumer impulsivity as a critical moderator. Contrarily to traditional assumptions in commodity theory, the empirical results indicate no statistically significant difference between urgency and scarcity nudges in their direct impact on purchase intention. However, the study also reveals a nuanced Anxiety-Relief Pathway: where urgency nudges elicit higher levels of anxiety than scarcity. More, anxiety paradoxically functions as a navigational heuristic that drives conversion and increases purchase intent by resolving choice-uncertainty. Furthermore, the research identifies a significant moderated mediation effect regarding consumer impulsivity. While nudges boost perceived value for low-impulsivity consumers, they also trigger psychological reactance in highly impulsive individuals. In this impulsive segment, aggressive digital nudges end up backfiring and devaluing the product, which disenables purchase intention. These findings provide actionable insights for marketers to transition from one-sizefits-all pressure tactics toward personalized, utility-driven design strategies that prioritize consumer trust and reduce decision fatigue. |
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