When a sale occurs at the beginning of the next month it feels further away, so consumers are willing to spend more money and are more responsive to marketing focused on how the product makes them feel, finds new research from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School.
The researchers analysed over 4 million tweets between 2009-2020 mentioning Cyber Monday in the 30 days before the sale. They chose Cyber Monday as it either falls in the last week of November or the first week of December, offering a natural opportunity to observe the effects of a calendar boundary.
Experiments were also conducted to uncover what aspects individuals consider most important in a laptop when a sale was at the end of the same month, compared to the beginning of the next month.
The researchers found that, even if a sale is happening “one week away”, it feels more psychologically distant if that week crosses into a new month. The shift in perceived distance changes what shoppers want: they lean toward big-picture, aspirational messages or product features rather than practical, safety-focused messages.
When a sale occurs within the same month without crossing a calendar boundary, the event feels closer and consumers are more cautious, focused on how a product works, and prioritise saving money.
“A consumer might catch themselves reasoning very differently about ‘buy it before the sale ends this month’ versus ‘the sale runs into next month,’ even if the actual deadline is the same distance away. Interestingly, consumers were generally less price sensitive when the sale ‘runs into next month.’ Recognising this can help people notice when their own judgment is being nudged by an arbitrary date rather than real urgency or need,” says David DeFranza, researcher and Assistant Professor of Marketing at UCD Smurfit School.
The results suggest that the timing of a promotion or sale relative should consider the presence of a calendar boundary and change messaging accordingly.
Importantly, more expensive products may benefit from promotion farther away from purchase, particularly when falling across a calendar boundary. Knowing that the presence of a border influences such perceptions could help manage the timing and effectiveness of messages, especially those that feature particularly sensitive attributes.
With Cyber Monday 2026 approaching, and landing on 30th November, advertising and marketing should focus on cost-saving, discounts, and the technical and functional aspects of products, rather than how the product will make consumers feel.
These findings were first published in the journal Psychology & Marketing titled “When a Week Is Not A Week: How Temporal Boundaries Shift Regulatory Focus and Consumer Preference”.
Authors included David DeFranza from UCD Smurfit School alongside Promothesh Chatterjee from David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah.
UCD Smurfit School is part of University College Dublin, endorsed with triple accreditation from AACSB, EQUIS, and AMBA. The school holds a mission centred around creating transformation change for a better world, reflected in their academic research.
