Variety Amnesia: Recalling Past Variety Can Accelerate Recovery from Satiation

Abstract

Consumers frequently consume items to the point where they no longer enjoy them. In three experiments spanning three distinct classes of stimuli, we find that people can recover from this satiation by simply recalling the variety of alternative items they have also consumed in the past. Rather than a fixed physiological process, it appears that satiation is at least partially constructed in the moment. We discuss some of the theoretical implications of these findings and provide some prescriptive measures for both marketers and consumers.

Keywords: Satiation, Consumer Behavior, Memory, Recovery