「購後失調」意指消費者購買後實際產品與期望不符，對決策感到失望不滿的情緒，會減少再購意願和引發負面口碑評論，影響業者的形象和名譽。本研究探討不同決策風格的消費者對購後失調的行為反應差異，一般常見的消費者為「理性型決策」和「依賴型決策」，不同決策風格會因為控制點而影響他們對結果的看法，本研究認為理性型決策者傾向內部控制，所以在購後失調情況下，理性決策者會避免否定自己決策能力或付出的努力而啟動自我調節，減緩產品負面態度或尋找支持性訊息降低失調的負面感受；依賴型決策者傾向外部控制，所以購後失調的情況下，依賴型決策者會將結果歸咎於他人，認為購後失調與自己決策能力無關，故不會啟動自我調節能力來減緩購後失調的負面感受，為了發洩情緒可能有較高的負面口碑意圖，因此研究推測消費者決策風格會影響購後失調的產品態度和負面口碑意圖。結果表明，購後失調情況下理性型決策者比依賴型決策者有較高的產品態度，而負面口碑意圖則無顯著差異。雖然決策風格不會影響購後失調的負面口碑意圖，但本實驗結果證實決策風格確實會影響購後失調的產品態度，故建議業者提供較多的產品比較線索，引導消費者進行理性型決策，以減少購後失調的負面影響。
" Post-purchase dissonance" refers to the emotional state of disappointment and dissatisfaction experienced by consumers when the actual product does not meet their expectations after purchase. This can result in reduced willingness to repurchase and may lead to negative word-of-mouth reviews, affecting the image and reputation of the business. This study investigates the behavioral differences in response to post-purchase dissonance among consumers with different decision-making styles, namely, the rational decision-making style and the dependent decision-making style. Different decision-making styles can influence their perceptions of outcome through the locus of control. The study suggests that consumers with a rational decision-making style tend to have an internal locus of control. Therefore, when experiencing post-purchase dissonance, rational decision-makers would avoid negating their own decision-making ability or efforts. Instead, they would engage in self-regulation to generate attitude changes or seek favorable information to evaluate the product and alleviate the negative feelings of dissonance. On the other hand, consumers with a dependent decision-making style tend to have an external locus of control. Therefore, when facing post-purchase dissonance, dependent decision-makers would attribute the outcome to others and believe that the dissonance is unrelated to their decision-making ability. Consequently, they would not activate self-regulation abilities to seek ways to alleviate the negative feelings of dissonance, leading to a higher intention of negative word-of-mouth. Thus, the study guesses that consumer decision-making styles can influence product attitudes and intentions of negative word-of-mouth after post-purchase dissonance. The results indicate that rational decision-makers have a higher product attitude than dependent decision-makers in the context of post-purchase dissonance, but there is no significant difference in negative word-of-mouth intentions. While decision-making styles may not directly impact the intention of negative word-of-mouth in post-purchase dissonance, the experimental results confirm that decision-making styles can influence product attitudes. Therefore, it is recommended that businesses guide consumers towards rational decision-making to reduce the negative impact of post-purchase dissonance.
