Why do Millennials Regret Shopping?

A Study of Post-Purchase Dissonance Factors in Millennials

Section: Research Paper

Why do Millennials Regret Shopping? A Study of Post-

Purchase Dissonance Factors in Millennials
Aman Arya 1, Dr. Mohd Yaseen Khan 2
1
Research Scholar, School of Business Management, Noida International University,
Gr. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
2
Associate Professor, School of Business Management, Noida International University,
Gr. Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India
Email: aman.arya@gmail.com, 2 drmykhan76@gmail.com
1

Abstract
Post-purchase cognitive dissonance presents a new challenge for marketers since consumer
durable brands rely heavily on repeat customers for their revenue. In fact, even for one-time
purchase items like car or laptop, brands depend on customers’ positive experience and word
of mouth to get more customers and therefore more revenues for them. The present research
adds to the existing body of research on consumer behaviour. We investigated the direct and
indirect effects (mediated via the one’s impulsive buying tendency) of demographics, e.g.,
gender, age, educational qualification, and family income on participants’ experience of
cognitive dissonance. It was found that all four demographics that were recorded, e.g., age,
gender, educational qualification, and participants’ family income, have a significant effect
on their experience of post-purchase dissonance. However, gender was found to have no
direct impact while age did not have an indirect impact on their cognitive dissonance
experience.
Keywords: Cognitive dissonance, millennials, post-purchase dissonance, impulse purchase
behaviour, customer satisfaction.
1. Introduction
It is common for all consumers to experience cognitive dissonance about the value of their
purchase at least at some point in their life. Cognitive dissonance is a state of mental conflict,
and it occurs when there are two conflicting beliefs or when one’s actions are at contradiction
with their beliefs (McGrath, 2017). The term was first coined by Leon Festinger in 1957 to
explain the phenomenon of mental discomfort in the course of an action-belief conflict. One
could, for instance, believe that soft drinks are bad for health and still drink it in which case
arises a conflict between the action of the person (consuming soft drinks) and their belief
(that soft drinks are bad for health). Festinger (1957) proposed that when faced with cognitive
dissonance, people attempt to reduce it in either of the four ways. In our example, the best
approach to reduce discomfort would be if the person stops consuming soft drinks which will
end the conflict between his or her actions and beliefs for once and for all.
However, changing the conflicting behaviour isn’t the only approach to dissonance reduction
and certainly not the most popular one. So, instead of changing the conflicting behaviour, one
could also try to reduce dissonance by (i) modifying the conflicting cognition, e.g., the person

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Why do Millennials Regret Shopping? A Study of Post-Purchase Dissonance Factors in Millennials
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in our example could convince themself that consuming soft drinks once in a while would not
affect their health significantly; (ii) adding new behaviour or cognition, for instance, the
person in our example could commit to daily 30-minutes gym to minimize the bad effects of
consuming soft drinks, or; (iii) by ignoring or denying the information that conflicts with
existing beliefs, the person in our example, for instance, may switch to the so called ‘less-
sugar’ soft drinks to convince themself that the soft drink they take is not as bad for health.
In the case of retail, customers tend to experience post-purchase dissonance in one of three
scenarios: (i) when the buyer feels unsure about the utility of the purchase; (ii) when the
purchased product fails to meet the expectations of the buyer, and; (iii) when the buyer is
doubtful of their purchasing decision (Powers & Jack, 2015). Scholars have also suggested
that consumers experience cognitive dissonance in the pre-purchase stage as well. It happens
so that a myriad of choices within a product category confuses the consumer and makes the
decision-making process inefficient (Koller & Salzberger, 2007).
The present research intends to investigate the impact of consumers’ demographics, e.g., sex,
age, and family income, on their experience of post-purchase cognitive dissonance. We also
investigate whether a consumer’s tendency to buy impulsively mediates the influence of
demographics on their experience of post-purchase dissonance.
2. Theoretical Framework & Research Hypotheses
Post-purchase dissonance
In the case of retail, customers tend to experience post-purchase dissonance in one of three
scenarios: (i) when the buyer feels unsure about the utility of the purchase; (ii) when the
purchased product fails to meet the expectations of the buyer, and; (iii) when the buyer is
doubtful of their purchasing decision (Powers & Jack, 2015). Unplanned and impulsive
purchasing is likely to lead to post-purchase dissonance as described in the first scenario.
Imam (2013) points out that impulsive buyers are likely to experience post-purchase
dissonance more frequently and more intensely than non-impulsive buyers.
Coming to the second scenario, it illustrates the classic case of too much promised too little
delivered. And, finally, the third scenario, for instance, is likely to occur when the buyer
couldn’t make out between two or more choices when buying the product. For example, a
person, after months of research, may have shortlisted two laptop models that fit their need
and budget. Of course, the buyer can buy only one of these models. Regardless of whichever
laptop model the person buys at the end, it is likely for many to doubt their decision long
after their purchase. In their research on cognitive dissonance among consumers buying
smartphones, Jamwal & Pandey (2016) had found that costly purchase was associated with
higher level of dissonance. In other words, people are more likely to experience dissonance
when the value of the purchase is high, such as in the case of a smartphone, laptop, car, or
house. The costly the purchase, the more likely is it that the buyer would experience post-
purchase dissonance.
Scholars have suggested that consumers experience cognitive dissonance in the pre-purchase
stage as well. It happens so that a myriad of choices within a product category confuses the
consumer and makes the decision-making process inefficient (Koller & Salzberger, 2007).
Millennial consumers

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Millennials constitute the most attractive market segment for marketers since, as of 2020’s,
they comprise the young working-age population in their 20s and 30s (born between 1980-
2000; Rainer & Rainer, 2011, p. 14). This means that millennials are in their peak earning-
spending age. They are also three times in size of that of Generation X and are largest in size
of all generations that has ever existed in the history of human civilization (Valentine &
Powers, 2013). As of 2015, India is home to the maximum number of millennials with 209
million Indians born between 1980 to 2000. China comes close with 193 million millennials
and US, at third, with 43 million millennials as of 2015 (Euromonitor International, 2015).
Millennial consumers are also the most educated and aware lot of all. They expect businesses
to be responsible about the environmental and social impact of their operations and demand
companies to change the way they do their business (Ndubisi, 2003). Numerous certifications
have come about in the past decade that incentivises good and responsible business conducts.
B-Corp, for example, is certification of social and environmental performance issued to for-
profit companies. It did not exist before 2007. Why? Because that’s how the new consumers,
millennials, expect business to conduct their operations. These certifications make it easy for
millennial consumers to identify businesses that align with their own values and beliefs.
The internet is one of the defining characteristics of millennials. Millennials born in the
1990’s grew up with the internet and those born in the ‘80s too adapted the internet in their
school or college years. For the most part, millennials consume media for upwards of 18
hours a day, and they do so in a variety of ways. These shapes represent a radical departure
from the ones preferred by the previous generation. Millennials, on average, check their
smartphones 43 times a day and spend 5.4 hours on social media sites. Sports and movies are
still popular, but they account for only 14% of total media consumption (Pew Research,
2009).
Millennials also tend to prefer mobile phone to connect to the internet. In a worldwide
survey, 80% of those under 35 said they logon to the internet on their smartphone as often as
they do so on their laptop/desktop (Hallam, “Ecommerce and Millennials”). As of May 2021,
there are more than 780 million internet users in India with smartphone being the preferred
device to log on to the internet. Smartphones are more popular in developing countries like
India where computers are still out of reach for many. The Indian e-commerce is a key
beneficiary of an increased internet access. Despite depressed consumer spending, economic
slowdown and uncertainty created due to Covid-19, e-commerce players are expecting strong
sales growth in 2021.
Between 2019-24, the Indian e-commerce is expected to grow at 27% year-on-year. The total
sales volume is estimated to grow to US $99 billion by 2024 (IBEF, Indian E-commerce
Industry Analysis). Clothes and apparels, electronics, and home decor are the most bought
categories in the Indian e-retail space, according to Grabon findings. Jewellery, beauty and
personal care products, and online grocery are catching up as well. Like the traditional brick
and mortar stores, various retail attributes such as visual appeal, price, delivery time, word of
mouth, and brand loyalty influence consumer behaviour in the online space too.

Influence of demographics on post-purchase dissonance

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Researchers have found some major differences in the consumer behaviour and experience of
male v. female consumers. Women consumers showed greater price consciousness than their
male counterparts (Valentine & Powers, 2013), and were more risk averse and expressed less
trust for internet content (Sanchez-Franco et al., 2009). Men trusted e-retail and shopped
online more frequently than women consumers (McMahan et al., 2009). Compared to male
consumers, women also showed a slightly greater impulsive buying tendency (Gallup, 2014)
but were found to be comparatively less prone to post-purchase dissonance (Jamwal &
Pandey, 2016).
Jamwal & Pandey (2016) had also found that younger consumers were more prone to
experience higher levels of post-purchase dissonance than elder consumers. Gallup (2014)
found some interesting inter-generational consumer behaviour differences. According to his
findings, millennials were more prone to impulsive buying than Generation X. In a survey of
230 adults, Simcock et al. (2006) found that risk perception and satisfaction in consumer
decision making were different for consumers of different age groups.
Marketers have also used demographics, including income and educational background, for
market segmentation and selective targeting of campaigns (Dolnicar et al., 2018). At the same
time, we found few research studying the influence of demographics on customers’
experience of cognitive dissonance. Based on these findings and the abovementioned
research gap, we formulate the following hypotheses for the present research.
H11: Age has no effect on experience of cognitive dissonance.
H12: Male millennials show greater level of cognitive dissonance.
H13: Low-income millennials show greater level of cognitive dissonance.
H14: Consumers’ experience of cognitive dissonance differs based on their education.
Effect of impulsive buying on post-purchase dissonance
Impulsive buying behaviour was described by Stern (1962) as any purchase made by the
buyer without prior planning. According to Stern, impulse buying can be divided into four
major categories, such as "pure," "reminder," "suggestive," and "planned." Consumers
interrupt their typical buying patterns to make a novelty purchase instantly when they engage
in pure impulse buying. Reminder impulsive buying necessitates recalling earlier product
experience or knowledge, which necessitates mental effort. When a customer sees a new
product, they may feel compelled to buy it on the spur of the moment. It's possible that
suggestion impulse buying is less of an emotional reaction than pure impulse buying. In the
context of planned impulse buying, it refers to when customers are willing to make purchases
outside of their original budget and are on the lookout for special offers.
Impulse purchase is more common in e-retail, according to several studies. According to Hu
et al. (2016), consumers' impulse behaviour may be influenced by their interactions with
others on social media platforms. A study by Blazevic et al. (2013) found that social media
has increased the power of other customers to influence one's purchasing habits, particularly
impulse purchases. Although they did not clearly distinguish between messages from
marketers and consumers, Chung & Austria (2012) was one of the earliest researchers to find
that attitudes about product messages on social media can influence impulse shopping
behaviour.

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Verhagen & Dolen (2011) identified a link between browsing an online store and the desire
of customers to make an impulsive purchase online. According to previous studies,
consumers browse for a variety of reasons, including information gathering as well as
entertainment (Floh & Madlberger, 2013). This leads us to conclude that people's browsing
behaviour is heavily influenced by both utilitarian and hedonic factors (Poyry et al., 2013).
Utilitarian browsers are interested in learning as much as possible about a product before
making a purchase. On the other hand, hedonic browsers don't just acquire data to help them
make better future purchases; they do it for fun as well. So, while researchers have studied
impulsive buying tendency in various consumer studies, the same has not been studied in the
context of buyers’ experience of cognitive dissonance. Do impulsive buyers tend to
experience greater and more frequent dissonance? Or is it the other way around? We attempt
to answer these questions in the present research. As such, we have formulated the following
hypothesis to test in this research.
H15: Consumers’ impulsive buying tendency has a significant impact on the level of
post-purchase dissonance they experience.
H16: Consumers’ impulsive buying tendency mediates the link between
demographics and post-purchase dissonance.
3. Methodology
Variables
We intend to measure the impact of four demographics (independent variables), e.g., sex,
age, and educational and income background of consumers on their experience of post-
purchase dissonance (dependent variable; Grace, 2005). We also intend to measure the
direct and indirect impact of a consumer’s impulsive buying tendency (mediating variable;
Weun et al., 1998) on their post-purchase dissonance experience.
Sample Size
The present research investigates the post-purchase dissonance experience of Indian
millennial consumers. As of 2015, the population of Indian millennials was estimated to be
over 209 million (Euromonitor International, 2015). For the sake of convenience, we take the
size of population as infinite and compute the sample size as follows (Mabiru, 2020).

where,
S is the sample size of an infinite population,
Z is Z-score (= 1.96 for a 95% confidence interval),
p refers to the population proportion (assumed to be 0.5), and
M is the margin of error (taken as 0.05).
Plugging the respective values in the above equation, we get

Data collection and analysis

We shared the survey URL in WhatsApp groups and internet forums, and after a month, we
had 405 responses following which we closed the survey. In other words, we collected the

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data via convenient sampling method. Convenient sampling is a non-probability sampling

technique where the researcher approaches eligible candidates using convenient channels
such as internet forums and local contacts on a messenger app like WhatsApp. Convenient
samples are not representative of their population which violates a core assumption of
parametric tests such as correlation and regression. But, as Gignac (2019) explains, we
employ these tests anyway.
Out of 405 participants, 261 (64.4%) were men and 144 (35.6%) were women. 180 (44.4%)
participants were between the age of 20 to 25 years. Out of the rest, 117 (28.9%) and 108
(26.7%) were between 26-35 and 36-40 years old respectively. Most participants (351 or
86.7%) held a bachelor’s degree or above. Only 54 (13.3%) participants were high school
graduates only. As of the economic background of participants, Table 2 shows the family
income distribution of participants. 60% of them had a family income of less than 4 LPA.
Table 1. Income distribution of participants
Income group Frequency Percent (%) Cumulative %
<2 LPA 126 31.1 31.1
2-4 LPA 117 28.9 60.0
4-10 LPA 99 24.4 84.4
>10 LPA 63 15.6 100.0
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) is a widely used application for statistical
analysis by academicians in the field of social science. Analysis of a Moment Structure
(AMOS) is a structure equation modelling tool again widely used by social scientists and
academicians. Both applications are owned by IBM corporations. We followed the two-step
procedure suggested by Hair et al. (1998) in the analysis: the measurement model and the
structural model. We used SPSS v. 26 + AMOS v. 23 to carry out the analysis.
Results & Discussion
Reliability and assumption testing
To validate the reliability of the scales we used in the survey, we measured the scales for
Cronbach’s alpha. A Cronbach’s alpha value of 0.7 or above is considered acceptable for a
sample size of >300 (Ponterotto & Charter, 2009). In the first test with 5 items in each of the
two scales (refer to Table 1), we got a Cronbach’s alpha value of less than 0.7. Upon closer
inspection, it was found that the items IBT5 and CDS1 had an item-total correlation of less
than 0.3 and the results indicated that deleting these two items would bump up the
Cronbach’s alpha. So, once again, a reliability test was carried out after deleting the
abovementioned two items and the Cronbach’s alpha was close 0.697 for both scales (Table
3). Table 4 lists the item-total correlations for each of the four items in the first and the
second scale.
Table 2. Reliability Test
Scale No. of items Cronbach’s α

Impulsive Buying Tendency 4 0.697

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Customer Disposition towards Satisfaction 4 0.697

Table 3. Item-total Correlations

Item Item-total Correlation

IBT1 0.514

IBT2 0.520

IBT3 0.446

IBT4 0.450

CDS1 0.473

CDS2 0.504

CDS3 0.519

CDS4 0.432
Hypothesis testing and SEM
We followed the following steps to further prepare our data for the analysis.
i. Linear regression only supports continuous scale for dependent variable and
continuous scale or dichotomous for independent variables. So, we transformed our
variables ‘age’ and ‘family income’ into dichotomous variables. ‘Education’ had
only dichotomous response between ‘Std. X/XII’ or ‘Bachelor’s or above’, so we
left it as it was.
ii. A mean was taken for the items in the dependent and the mediating variable. Only
four items in each variable were considered when computing the means.
iii. We tested the assumption of linearity between IBT and CDS. Figure 1 illustrates
the linear relation between the two variables on a scatterplot.
iv. In our regression, we took female participants as our reference point in the
regression to estimate the effect of gender on CDS. Similarly, we took the
“between 36-40 years” and the “more than 10 LPA” as the age and income
reference groups, which is to say that any estimate for other groups is in reference
to these two groups.

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Figure 1. Test of Linearity (IBT-CDS)

Table 4. Estimates
Estimate S.E. C.R. P
IBT <--- Education .763 .110 6.932 ***
IBT <--- Lessthan2 .378 .081 4.675 ***
IBT <--- B2to4 .177 .083 2.150 .032
IBT <--- B4to10 .389 .087 4.464 ***
IBT <--- Gender .284 .078 3.634 ***
IBT <--- Lessthan25 .066 .075 .874 .382
IBT <--- B26to35 .015 .083 .178 .859
CDS <--- Education -.105 .104 -1.012 .311
CDS <--- Lessthan2 .550 .074 7.444 ***
CDS <--- B2to4 .039 .074 .524 .600
CDS <--- B4to10 .093 .079 1.166 .244
CDS <--- Gender .159 .071 2.249 .024
CDS <--- Lessthan25 -.222 .067 -3.316 ***
CDS <--- B26to35 .126 .073 1.712 .087
CDS <--- IBT .151 .044 3.413 ***
We make the following observations from Table 5.

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 Age has a direct effect on post-purchase dissonance. With the 36-40 years group as
the reference point, participants in the 26-35 years group experienced a slightly more
dissonance while those between 20-25 years old experienced less dissonance. We
therefore reject the null hypothesis H01.
 Male millennials tend to experience post-purchase dissonance slightly more than
female millennial consumers (estimate = 0.159 and p<0.05). Gender thus has a direct
(though small) effect on CDS. We thus reject the null hypothesis H02.
 With reference to the income group “more than 10 LPA”, only those earning less than
2 LPA had a significant difference in experience of post-purchase dissonance. Income
therefore has a direct effect on CDS, and we reject the null hypothesis H03.
 A participants’ educational qualification has no direct effect on one’s experience of
post-purchase dissonance and we thus failed to reject the null hypothesis H04.
 A millennial consumer’s tendency to buy impulsively has a direct effect on their
experience of post-purchase dissonance (CDS). We reject the null hypothesis H05.
 IBT also mediates the effect of gender, education, and income on CDS. It does not
mediate the effect of age on CDS, however. We thus reject the null hypothesis H06.
Tables 6. 7 and 8 illustrate the direct, indirect (mediated via IBT), and total effects of
demography, e.g., gender, educational qualification, age and income, on a participant’s
experience of CDS (post-purchase dissonance). Education has no direct effect on CDS while
age has no indirect effect (mediated through IBT) on CDS. The total effect of each of the
independent variables are listed in Table 8. Please note that the estimates for age and income
groups are in reference to the age and income groups of 36-40 years and >10 LPA. Figure 2
indicates the standardized β indicated in a structure equation model (SEM).
Table 5. Direct Effects of Gender, Age, and Income on CDS
Gender Educ. Age Age Income Income Income
(male) (UG+) (20-25) (26-35) (<2L) (2-4L) (4-10L)
CDS .159 * -0.212 * .550 * *
*p>0.05
Table 6. Indirect Effects of Gender, Education, and Income on CDS
Gender Educ. Age Age Income Income Income
(male) (UG+) (20-25) (26-35) (<2L) (2-4L) (4-10L)

CDS .043 .115 * * .057 .027 .059

*p>0.05
Table 7. Total Effects of Gender, Age, Education and Income on CDS
Gender Educ. Age Age Income Income Income
(male) (UG+) (20-25) (26-35) (<2L) (2-4L) (4-10L)

CDS .202 .115 -0.212 * .607 .027 .059

*p>0.05

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Figure 2. SEM
4. Conclusion
Post-purchase cognitive dissonance presents a new challenge for marketers since consumer
durable brands rely heavily on repeat customers for their revenue. In fact, even for one-time
purchase items like car or laptop, brands depend on customers’ positive experience and word
of mouth to get more customers and therefore more revenues for them. Past consumer
behaviour studies have found a significant effect of demographics such as age, gender and
socio-economic background of a consumer on their purchase behaviour, such as their
tendency to purchase on impulse, and their experience of post-purchase cognitive dissonance.
In light of such literature, the present research adds to the existing body of research on
consumer behaviour. We investigated the direct and indirect effects of demographics, e.g.,
gender, age, educational qualification, and family income on participants’ experience of
cognitive dissonance. We measured the indirect effects mediated via their impulsive buying
tendency (IBT). Over 400 Indian millennials were surveyed for the research.
It was found that all four demographics that were recorded, e.g., age, gender, educational
qualification, and participants’ family income, have a significant effect on their experience of
post-purchase dissonance. However, gender was found to have no direct impact while age did
not have an indirect impact on their cognitive dissonance experience.
The total effect difference recorded for male millennials and participants with a bachelor’s
degree or above was small (refer to Table 8). With the 36-40 years group as reference, young
millennials (20-25 years) experienced slightly (less) dissonance. With the higher income
group (>10 LPA) as our reference point, those with an income between 2-10 LPA

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experienced negligibly higher dissonance. It is, however, participants with a family income of
less than 2 LPA who experienced a much higher dissonance than any of the other income
groups.
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