Journal of Consumer Research
January 17, 2012

 

 

 

 

 

Featured Media Mentions


Journal of Consumer Research
Ahead of Print Highlights

A Mouth-Watering Prospect: Salivation to Material Reward

David Gal

The term "hunger" and terms referring to its physiological correlates, notably "salivation," are used to refer to desire for material rewards across languages and cultures. Is such usage is "merely metaphorical," or can exposure to material reward cues evoke a salivary response? Results of an experiment show that individuals salivate to money when induced to experience a low power state but not when induced to experience a high power state. A second experiment shows that men salivate to sports cars when primed with a mating goal but not in a control condition. These findings suggest that salivary secretion is stimulated by material rewards in the presence of a highly active goal to obtain the rewards and that the motivation to acquire material rewards might more closely resemble physiological hunger than previously assumed. Implications for material addictions and decision making and directions for future research are discussed.

 

DOI: 10.1086/661766
Electronically published July 25, 2011

Selected Media Mentions    
 
Study of the Day: Why Apple's New iPhone Might Make You Drool

The Atlantic
 
Drooling Over That Car? It's Not Just A Metaphor
Smithsonian (blog)
 
Confirmed: Men Drool Over Sports Cars
Forbes
 
Why Do Cars Make Us Drool?
Wired
 
Mouth-Watering Consumer Goods
Wall Street Journal
 
When do products (and money) literally make your mouth water?
EurekAlert! 

From Physical Weight to Psychological Significance: The Contribution of Semantic Activations

Meng Zhang
Xiuping Li

Past research has shown that a physical experience can influence metaphorically linked psychological judgment. However, the underlying mechanisms have not been formally tested. This article examines the role of semantic activations underlying such influences, focusing on the effects of a ubiquitous physical experience-"carrying weight"-on consumers' judgment of importance. Five experiments provide converging evidence that semantic activation is the primary underlying process for the effect. Specifically, physically carrying a load is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for processing the concept of importance. The effect is fully mediated by semantic activation of related weight concepts. Moreover, processing the concept of importance does not necessarily influence the physical experience of carrying weight. An affective state such as mental stress (psychological load), however, does have a reciprocal effect on the physical experience of carrying weight, indicating that there might be different pathways between weight experience and its metaphorically linked concepts.

 


Do Payment Mechanisms Change the Way Consumers Perceive Products?

Promothesh Chatterjee
Randall L. Rose


Do payment mechanisms change the way consumers perceive products? The authors argue that consumers for whom credit cards (cash) have been primed focus more on benefits (costs) when evaluating a product. In study 1, credit card (cash) primed participants made more (fewer) recall errors regarding cost attributes. In a word recognition task (study 2), participants primed with credit card (cash) identified more words related to benefits (costs) than those in the cash (credit card) condition. In study 3, participants in the credit card (cash) condition responded faster to benefits (costs) than to costs (benefits). This differential focus led credit card primed consumers to express higher reservation prices (studies 1-3) and also affected their product choices (study 4) relative to those primed with cash.

 

DOI: 10.1086/661730
Electronically published August 11, 2011

Influence via Comparison-Driven Self-Evaluation and Restoration: The Case of the Low-Status Influencer

Edith Shalev
Vicki G. Morwitz

Ample research shows that consumers accept influence from a source they identify with and reject influence from a source they wish to dissociate from. The current article moves beyond the well-established identification principle and delineates a new influence process. Influence via comparison-driven self-evaluation and restoration (CDSER) takes place when one observes a counterstereotypical product user and, as a result, questions one's relative standing on the trait that the product symbolizes. In response to this threatening self-evaluation, the observer becomes more interested in the target product. To clearly distinguish CDSER from identification influence, the current investigation focuses on product users with a low socioeconomic status (SES). In contrast to the predictions of the identification principle, this article demonstrates that low-SES users can in some circumstances positively influence observers and increase their purchase intentions. The "low-status user effect" and the CDSER mechanism are demonstrated across multiple product categories in four studies.

 

DOI: 10.1086/661551
Electronically published July 25, 2011


Are White Lies as Innocuous as We Think?

Jennifer J. Argo
Baba Shiv

This research examines the implications of telling an "innocent" white lie after a negative interpersonal encounter. The authors propose that if a white lie falls outside an acceptable range of dishonesty, cognitive dissonance will arise and produce negative affect. Deceivers will then be motivated to reduce the dissonance and will do so by engaging in behaviors that favor the wrongdoer with potentially negative consequences for the self. The authors test the conceptualization across three studies. In study 1, the authors explore the impact of one factor that determines whether a white lie falls outside the acceptable range of dishonesty-the salience of the norm of honesty. In studies 2 and 3, the authors examine the role of two factors, affect certainty and source certainty, that are predicted to moderate the impact of the negative affect on deceiver's downstream judgments and behaviors toward the target of the white lie.

 

DOI: 10.1086/661640
Electronically published July 22, 2011

Selected Media Mentions

Telling White Lies Comes with a Price
Psychology Today 
 
The cost of consumer fibbing: Can it hurt to tell a little white lie?
Eureka! Science News 
 
The cost of consumer fibbing: Can it hurt to tell a little white lie?

EurekAlert!

What to Say When: Influencing Consumer Choice by Delaying the Presentation of Favorable Information

Xin Ge
Gerald H�ubl
Terry Elrod


Delaying the presentation of some favorable information about an alternative (e.g., a product, service, brand, store, or cause) until after consumers have completed their pre-choice screening can increase that alternative's choice share. While such a delay reduces the alternative's chance of surviving the screening, it can actually increase its probability of ultimately being chosen. Evidence from five experiments demonstrates this preference-enhancing effect of the delayed presentation of favorable information, and it illustrates the underlying preference dynamics across decision stages associated with such a delay. The findings also indicate that this preference-enhancing effect is driven by a combination of two mental mechanisms-a shift in the decision weights of attribute dimensions (rendering dimensions on which a delay occurs more influential across all alternatives) and an overall preference boost for the alternative about which information is delayed.

 

DOI: 10.1086/661937
Electronically published August 15, 2011

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