Journal of Consumer Research
Highlights from Two Years Ago
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When Thinking Beats Doing: The Role of Optimistic Expectations in Goal-Based Choice
Ying Zhang
Ayelet Fishbach
Ravi Dhar
We propose that, in the pursuit of ongoing goals, optimistic expectations of future goal pursuit have greater impact on immediate actions than do less optimistic considerations, such as retrospections on past goal pursuit or less optimistic expectations. Further, we propose that the direction of the impact is determined by the framing of goal pursuit: it motivates goal-congruent actions when goal pursuit is framed as commitment to the goal but motivates goal-incongruent actions when the pursuit is framed as progress toward the goal. Four studies provided consistent support for the proposed hypothesis.
Volume 34, Number 4, December 2007, DOI: 10.1086/520071
EurekAlert!
Optimism Isn't Always Healthy
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Consumer Responses to Performance Failures by High-Equity Brands
Michelle L. Roehm
Michael K. Brady
Two experiments explore conditions that mitigate negative customer reactions to high-equity brand failures. Results indicate that such brands fare best when responses are timed immediately after the failure and when the failure is severe or there is substantial distraction present in the environment. When any of these conditions are absent, high-equity brand evaluations appear to be adversely affected by a performance lapse. Implications, particularly for service brands, are discussed.
Volume 34, Number 4, December 2007, DOI: 10.1086/520075
EurekAlert!
A company's good reputation can be a bad thing
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Is There a Substitute for Direct Experience? Comparing Consumers' Preferences after Direct and Indirect Product Experiences
Rebecca W. Hamilton
Debora Viana Thompson
We show that direct product experiences (e.g., product trials) and indirect product experiences (e.g., reading a product description) result in different levels of mental construal and product preferences. Study 1 demonstrates that increasing experiential contact with a product triggers more concrete mental construal and increases preferences for products that are easy to use relative to those that are more desirable but difficult to use. Studies 2 and 3 show that the effect of product experience can be attenuated by encouraging consumers to think concretely prior to product exposure and by asking consumers to choose products for others instead of themselves.
Volume 34, Number 4, December 2007, DOI: 10.1086/520073
EurekAlert!
Test-drive: Using a product before buying it changes what you want
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The Effect of Mind-Sets on Consumer Decision Strategies
Alison Jing Xu
Robert S. Wyer Jr.
When consumers consider their preference for one of a set of products without having decided whether or not they want to buy something, they develop a "which-to-buy" mind-set that increases their likelihood of making a purchase both in the situation at hand and in subsequent unrelated situations. The effect of this mind-set is evident regardless of the commonality of the alternatives' features and regardless of whether or not the purchase decision is revocable. The mind-set that is induced by stating preferences in one situation influences the thoughts that people generate in response to other unrelated situations they encounter subsequently and consequently affects their actual purchase behavior in these situations.
Volume 34, Number 4, December 2007, DOI: 10.1086/519293
EurekAlert!
Holiday shopping: Choosing a favorite may increase the likelihood of purchase
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