Seize the Day and Enjoy Every Moment: The Influence of Temporal Perspective on Individual Consumption Decisions
Prof. Yaoqi LI
Professor, School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University
Date: 20 November 2025 (Thursday)
Time: 11:00-12:30
Venue: E22-1030
Medium: Chinese(中文)
Host: Prof. Biqiang LIU, Assistant Professor in Integrated Resort and Tourism Management
Abstract
Stimulating consumption and expanding domestic demand have been identified as top priorities in China’s economic agenda. How to effectively boost national consumption through behavioral nudges has become a key concern for both academia and policymakers. However, existing explicit policies that rely on material incentives, such as issuing consumption vouchers or lowering interest rates, have limitations in terms of long-term impact. Therefore, it is crucial to explore psychological, implicit nudging strategies to achieve sustained consumption growth. This study adopts a temporal psychology perspective and employs a mixed-methods approach, including secondary data analysis, laboratory experiments, large-scale surveys, and field experiments, to systematically examine how temporal perspective influences individuals’ consumption tendencies by stimulating experiential consumption needs. Key findings include: Compared to a cyclical temporal perspective (which emphasizes the repetitive nature of time), a linear temporal perspective (which highlights the irreversible passage of time) more effectively promotes consumption tendencies. Experiential consumption needs mediate this relationship. Temporal: framing moderates the above effects. A limited temporal frame strengthens both the direct and indirect influence of temporal perspective on consumption tendencies, while an open-ended temporal frame weakens these effects. By incorporating temporal perspective nudges into the context of expanding domestic demand, this study extends the boundaries of framing effect research. The findings provide empirical support and practical guidance for China’s current efforts to boost national consumption and offer valuable insights for achieving long-term consumption growth.
Speaker
Dr. Li is a Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at the School of Tourism Management, Sun Yat-sen University. He currently serves as the Director of the Cultural and Tourism Consumption Research Center at Sun Yat-sen University, Strategic Expert for the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Tourism Homestay Assessment Expert for Guangdong Province, and Vice President of the Guangzhou Homestay Association. Dr. Li has led four national grants funded by the National Natural/Social Science Foundation of China. He has published over 100 articles in leading management and tourism journals, including the Journal of Management, Annals of Tourism Research, Tourism Management, Journal of Travel Research, International Journal of Information Management, Journal of Business Research. His work has been cited more than 1,000 times in both Chinese and English journals, placing him among the Top 1% of Highly Cited Scholars on CNKI. His research findings have been featured in prominent media outlets such as the Chicago Tribune, Yahoo Finance, The Conversation, and Economic Daily, and were notably cited in the UK Parliament policy document LEV0060—Reimagining where we live: Cultural placemaking and levelling up, published by the UK Parliament Select Committee.
All are welcome!
