The impact of product return policy on curation subscription

Purpose This study aims to consider how subscription motivations and perceived enjoyment affect dissonance, return intention and subscription intention in fashion-apparel curation subscription services. It further investigates the moderating role of return policy leniency (restrictive vs lenient), extending cognitive dissonance theory to subscription services characterized by delegated choice and structural uncertainty. Design/methodology/approach A between-subjects design was used with two return policy conditions (restrictive vs lenient). Partial least squares (PLS) method and PLS multigroup analysis were applied to survey data gathered from 438 Taiwanese consumers (219 per return policy). Findings Relaxation shopping motivation enhances perceived enjoyment and subscription intention across both return policies. Idea (subscription) and role shopping motivations also positively influence subscription intention, whereas subscription motivations have limited influence on dissonance. Perceived enjoyment increases subscription intention but does not reduce dissonance or return intention, indicating affective experience alone does not prevent corrective behavior. Product dissonance consistently drives return intention, whereas emotional dissonance displays a less consistent effect. Return intention does not influence subscription intention, suggesting corrective action does not drive subscription. Originality/value This study extends cognitive dissonance theory to curation-based subscription services by proposing a motivation–dissonance framework that distinguishes between hedonic, motivational and cognitive evaluation processes. The findings demonstrate that return policy functions as a boundary condition that affects dissonance activation rather than subscription commitment, advancing new insights into consumer behavior under uncertainty and contributing to subscription commerce and postpurchase evaluation literature.