Journal of Consumer Research Highlights from Two Years Ago
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Fact or Fiction: An Investigation of Empathy Differences in Response to Emotional Melodramatic Entertainment
Jennifer J. Argo Rui (Juliet) Zhu Darren W. Dahl
How does
the influence of empathy and the level of
fictionality of short stories affect consumer evaluations of emotional
melodramatic entertainment? High empathizer evaluations
are more favorable when the story is real. In contrast, low empathizer
(often male) evaluations do not differ,
regardless of the level of fictionality, except when provided with an
excuse to become involved in the
story; in this case a story that is make-believe as
opposed to true is evaluated more favorably. Finally,
transportation (absorption into a narrative) with the story is
found to both moderate and mediate the effects.
Volume 34, Number 5, February 2008, DOI: 10.1086/521907
Selected Media Mentions
The New York Times High Empathy (Mostly Women), Low Empathy (Mostly Men) and the Movies
The Economic Times Men too enjoy chick flicks
Business Week When it's all right for guys to cry
Science Daily True Story? Men Prefer 'Chick Flicks' When They Are Explicitly Fictionalized
EurekAlert! True story? Men prefer 'chick flicks' when they are explicitly fictionalized
PhysOrg.com True story? Men prefer 'chick flicks' when they are explicitly fictionalized
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The Cultural Construction of Risk Understandings through Illness Narratives
Nancy Wong Tracey King
A study of
breast cancer screening and treatment decisions suggests
that risk understandings are influenced by the dominant illness
narrative of restitution within Anglo-Western cultures. Restitution
stories reflect the cultural values of personal responsibility and
control in combating disease and returning to a life of normalcy. In
the context of breast cancer, individuals seek restitution by following
the dictums of biomedicine, which promotes early detection as
prevention, aggressive treatment as cure, and reconstructive surgery as
concealment. Findings suggest that these risk understandings
contribute to the consumption of health-care interventions that exceeds
medical guidelines in this country.
Volume 34, Number 5, February 2008, DOI: 10.1086/520078
Selected Media Mentions
EurekAlert! American women are more likely to choose overly aggressive treatments for breast cancer
Science Daily American Women Are More Likely To Choose Overly Aggressive Treatments For Breast Cancer
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Consumer Wait Management Strategies for Negative Service Events: A Coping Approach
Elizabeth Gelfand Miller Barbara E. Kahn Mary Frances Luce
In negative
service environments, waiting time can serve to facilitate
consumer coping. Consequently, the very wait management strategies
(such as providing duration information or shortening the wait) that
mitigate wait-based stress for nonnegative services may interfere with
consumer efforts to cope with an upcoming negative event. The
effectiveness of wait management strategies is moderated by
event valence and, further, by the individual's coping orientation.
Shortened wait times lead to increased stress for those using
approach-oriented strategies (compared to avoidance), and duration
information leads to increased stress for those using
avoidance-oriented strategies.
Volume 34, Number 5, February 2008, DOI: 10.1086/521899
Selected Media Mentions
Science Daily When Shorter Waits Increase Stress
PhysOrg.com When Shorter Waits Increase Stress
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Mood and Comparative Judgment: Does Mood Influence Everything and Finally Nothing?
Cheng Qiu Catherine W. M. Yeung
Research
indicates that mood can influence evaluation of a product when
considered in isolation. However, little is known about its influence
on comparisons among several alternatives. When evaluating each option
individually
upon encountering it, happy participants reported greater preferences
for the first encountered option than unhappy participants. When
withholding evaluations until having seen all options, however, happy
participants reported greater preferences for the last encountered
option than unhappy participants. Which comparison strategy was
employed, and consequently the impact of mood on preferences, depended
on the similarity of choice alternatives in terms of appearance versus
descriptive features.
Volume 34, Number 5, February 2008, DOI: 10.1086/522096
Selected Media Mentions
EurekAlert Does mood matter?
Science Daily Does Mood Matter? What About The Order Of Choices?
PhysOrg.com Does mood matter? How you feel influences what you'll buy, says study
Thaindian News How our mood influences what we buy
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Be Fit and Be Strong: Mastering Self-Regulation through Regulatory Fit
Jiewen Hong Angela Y. Lee
What is the
effect of regulatory fit on self-regulation? Consumers experience
regulatory fit when their strategy of goal pursuit
fits (vs. conflicts) with their regulatory focus. Regulatory fit
improves whereas
regulatory nonfit impairs self-regulatory performance. These results
were obtained across multiple self-regulatory tasks that included a
handgrip exercise to test physical endurance, a choice
between a healthy and a decadent snack to test willpower in the face of
temptation, and a health-related compliance
decision to demonstrate self-regulation. Intensified
motivation seems to be the mechanism underlying the regulatory fit
effect.
Volume 34, Number 5, February 2008, DOI: 10.1086/521902
Selected Media Mentions
Science Daily Your Personality Type Influences How Much Self-Control You Have
PhysOrg.com Your personality type influences how much self-control you have
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Order of Entry and the Moderating Role of Comparison Brands in Brand Extension Evaluation
James L. Oakley Adam Duhachek Subramanian Balachander S. Sriram
Extant
research proposes that order of entry moderates the impact
of fit on brand extension evaluation. The authors conceptualize a model
in which
new brands enter the market dynamically, driving consumers to engage in
differential processing as a function of pioneer and follower
evaluation scenarios. Consumers rely on singular
evaluative processing in pioneer contexts and comparative evaluation in
follower contexts, producing unique moderating effects based on the
existence of comparison brands. Experimental results indicate that
follower brands can actually benefit from comparison with pioneering
brands that have a relatively lower fit with the extension category.
Volume 34, Number 5, February 2008, DOI: 10.1086/521905
Selected Media Mentions
EurekAlert! Trailblazers don't always come out ahead
Science Daily Trailblazers don't always come out ahead
PhysOrg.com Trailblazers don't always come out ahead
Thaindian News Pioneer products may not always be the best
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Procedural Priming and Consumer Judgments: Effects on the Impact of Positively and Negatively Valenced Information
Hao Shen Robert S. Wyer Jr.
The
cognitive procedure consumers use to search for information about
a product is influenced by the ease with which it comes to mind.
Unrelated experiences can activate a search process that governs the
order in which favorable and unfavorable product descriptions are
identified and the evaluations made on the basis of them. The
effects of priming a search strategy on the attention to positively or
negatively valenced information are diametrically opposite to the
effects of the semantic (for example, attribute) concepts that are
called to
mind in the course of activating this strategy.
Volume 34, Number 5, February 2008, DOI: 10.1086/523292
Selected Media Mentions
EurkAlert! Study: How much you're willing to pay depends on what you were just doing
Science Daily How Much You're Willing To Pay Depends On What You Were Just Doing
PhysOrg.com How Much You're Willing To Pay Depends On What You Were Just Doing
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