Abstract: Out-of-stock new products are often labeled as “stockout” or “soldout” in manufacturers’ announcement. Both of the labels mean that the products are not available for the time being, but they have different effects on consumer’s information processing and price judgement. However, few of the existing researches probe into this issue. Based on Information Processing Theory (IPT) and Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), this paper constructs a moderated dual-mediator model to explore whether, how and when the announcement of out-of-stock new products has an impact on consumers’ price judgement, and the findings are empirically tested using lab-experimental method and survey method. It is concluded that (1) the announcement of out-of-stock new products indeed influences consumers’ price judgement and “soldout” announcement is more likely to make consumers expect a price rise than “stockout” announcement; (2) perceived scarcity and perceived tactics jointly mediate the effect of out-of-stock announcement on consumers’ price judgement; (3) consumers’ persuasion knowledge would moderate the joint mediating effect of perceived scarcity and perceived tactics. Specifically, low persuasion knowledge is more likely to make perceived scarcity play a dominant mediating effect and high persuasion knowledge is more likely to make perceived tactics play a dominant mediating effect. The above conclusions not only extend and enrich the theories regarding out-of-stock new product, protection motivation and persuasion knowledge, but also provide an important practical guide for manufacturers to set prices, for consumers to make rational decisions and for regulators to fine-tune regulatory governance.

Key words: announcement of out-of-stock new products, perceived scarcity, perceived tactics, persuasion knowledge, consumers’ price judgement