Consideration of Time Pressure in the Limited Time Edition Products

: The time pressure felt by consumers in a limited time situation has long been of interest. However, there have been no discussions in the existing literature regarding time pressure in long-term time constraints, which run from a few days to a few weeks for limited time edition products. In this research, a web survey was conducted on how the perceived quality of limited edition products with time constraints changed with the strength of time constraints in limited edition products. Results showed that limited edition products with a time constraint of 1 week were assessed to be of higher quality than those that had a time constraint of 1 month, with consumers feeling stronger time pressure.


Introduction
In reviewing extant research on time pressure, Suzuki (2004) defined a time constraint as a situation in which a time limit is set on consumers by companies, and others. In practical application, time constraints are imposed on products that are sold for a limited time. Products that are sold in this manner are called "limited edition products with time constraints." Being sold domestically and internationally, limited edition products with time constraints include candies, digital cameras, sneakers, sports products, headphones, alcohol, and many others. However, there does not appear to be a great deal of research on limited edition products, let alone limited edition products with time constraints (Suzuki, 2017). In addition, extant research on time constraints and time pressure does not discuss time pressure for products such as limited edition products with long-term time constraints lasting from several days to several weeks (Mitomi, 2017). Hence, there is a need to study whether consumers feel time pressure in the case of limited edition products with long-term time constraints.
For this paper, a web survey was conducted to discover whether perceived quality of products is impacted by the strength of time constraints for limited edition products with time constraints and if so, whether consumers feel time pressure.

Influence of Limited Edition Products
The limited edition products with time constraints referred to in this paper are a form of limited edition product. Limited edition products are defined as "products sold in a state that makes them difficult to obtain because of companies limiting their availability to a certain period, quantity, region, or channel" (Suzuki, 2008, p. 204). 1 In addition, limited edition products with time constraints are defined as those with a limited sales period (Suzuki, 2008, p. 203).
Existing studies have discussed primarily the impact of limited edition products on consumers. For example, Nunoi, Nakazima, and Yoshikawa (2013) showed that products become more attractive if they have a "limited edition" label on them. Aggarwal and Vaidyanathan (2003) studied limited edition products with time constraints and found that 1) promotions for limited edition products with time constraints accelerate consumer purchases and that 2) a time limit increases consumers' desire to purchase. Nonetheless, there is still little research on limited edition products, including limited edition products with time constraints (Suzuki, 2017).

Prior Research on Time Pressure and Time Constraint
In this section, we confirm existing research on time pressure and time constraints. Time constraints are defined as "the setting of a limit on time for consumers by a certain entity" (Suzuki, 2004, p. 67). Time pressure is defined as "the type of mental stress that occurs when consumers must make purchasing decisions within a limited time" (Suzuki, 2004, p. 67).
Some existing studies have been conducted on the impact of time pressure on consumer behavior. Ben Zur and Breznitz (1981) indicated that consumers focus on negative information when they feel strong time pressures. Nowlis (1995) noted that the chances of a consumer selecting a high-quality brand over a low-quality brand increases when the consumer feels time pressure. Dhar and Nowlis (1999) identified that consumers tend to make decisions on the basis of unique features in situations where they feel time pressure in comparison with situations where they feel no such pressure. They also showed that in such cases, uncompensated decisions become easier to make and that decisions to postpone accordingly decrease. Suri and Monroe (2003) identified the inverse U-shaped relationship between time pressure and perceived quality when information processing motivations and product prices are both low.
In addition, they also identified the U-shaped (3) Consumers were then asked to assess the quality of Beer B and Beer C in comparison with Beer A.
2 Images of the beers were purchased from PIXTA.

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(4) Consumers were asked to answer questions regarding whether they felt time pressure.
For perceived quality, the wording of three questionnaire items used by Suri and Monroe (2003) was modified. We measured it with eight scales and analyzed it by summing up the total of the three questionnaire items. With regard to time pressure, the wording of the questionnaire items used by Ando (2007) was modified for use in this survey. Details regarding each of the questionnaire items can be found in the Appendix. Table 1

Discussion
As noted by Mitomi (2017), existing research has studied time pressure felt by consumers with time constraints in the range of several seconds to several minutes, and thus, no attention has been paid to the impact of time pressure on consumers when time constraints are longer-from several days to several weeks. Through the results of this paper, it was found that consumers assess quality to be higher as time constraints become stronger, even with long-term time constraints, which is just as found in existing studies. It is possible that this is due to the feeling of premium-ness that comes with a limited edition product with time constraints, where the difficulty in obtaining a product makes it more attractive (Suzuki, 2008) although the results of this paper's survey showed that consumers feel stronger time pressure. In limited edition products with time constraints, however, it is a fact that "time pressure" and "difficulty in obtaining a product" are both perceived by the consumer. It will be critical to identify the relationship between the two, using some means of measurement in the future.
Moreover, it will be essential to consider consumer characteristics. For example, Ichikohji and Katsumata (2014) showed that there is a difference in the relationship between innovation activities by a consumer and consumer behavior, depending on the level of involvement in music. In addition, Akiike and Katsumata (2016) indicated that consumers with a high level of product knowledge regarding mobile phones use mobile phones in light of their own behavior, thereby leveraging their insight into product features. Moreover, Suzuki (2008) noted the impact of consumers' desire for novelty on the purchase of limited edition products with time constraints. There is very likely an influence of consumer characteristics, including involvement, knowledge, and