Thinking or delegating? The role of epistemic motivation and goal congruence in consumer responses to uncertainty marketing

Purpose In today’s digital world, uncertainty marketing tactics are gaining popularity, from well-known brands to emerging ones to invoke customers’ interest and attention. The purpose of this research is to investigate how epistemic motivations – need for cognition and need for cognitive closure interact with an Individual goal orientation (learning vs outsourcing) to influence responses toward uncertainty marketing practices. Design/methodology/approach Across six studies, this research demonstrates that motivational congruence elevates purchase intentions, trust and perceived self-efficacy. Findings Perceived self-efficacy mediates the relationship between need-goal congruence and behavioral outcomes, stating its role as a key psychological mechanism in navigating uncertain offerings. Research limitations/implications Findings contribute to the existing knowledge on uncertainty marketing by identifying need-goal alignment as a critical predictor of its success, while integrating epistemic motivation into consumer decision-making process. Practical implications The findings reveal that goal-congruent messaging will be critical for marketers in the uncertainty marketing practices. Originality/value Results offer actionable guidance for designing segmentation strategies and goal-congruent messaging to increase consumer engagement in contexts involving ambiguity and information concealment.