Journal of Consumer Research
September 18, 2012
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Journal of Consumer Research
Current Issue Highlights


How Happiness Affects Choice

Cassie Mogilner
Jennifer Aaker
Sepandar D. Kamvar

Consumers want to be happy, and marketers are increasingly trying to appeal to consumers' pursuit of happiness. However, the results of six studies reveal that what happiness means varies, and consumers' choices reflect those differences. In some cases, happiness is defined as feeling excited, and in other cases, happiness is defined as feeling calm. The type of happiness pursued is determined by one's temporal focus, such that individuals tend to choose more exciting options when focused on the future, and more calming options when focused on the present moment. These results suggest that the definition of happiness, and consumers' resulting choices, are dynamic and malleable.

Volume 39, Number 2, August 2012
DOI: 10.1086/663774

 

Selected Media Mentions

  

Psychology Today 


What does 'happiness' mean to consumers? Does age matter?
EurekAlert!  
 
 


When Opposites Detract: Categorical Reasoning and Subtractive Valuations of Product Combinations

Aaron R. Brough
Alexander Chernev

Can pairing items from different price tiers decrease consumers' perceptions of monetary value? Prior research suggests that adding an item with positive utility to an offering can only increase the offering's overall value. In contrast, we show that combining expensive and inexpensive items can lead to subtractive rather than additive judgments, such that consumers are willing to pay less for the combination than for the expensive item alone. The authors attribute this subtraction effect to the categorical nature of consumers' processing of numeric information when evaluating combinations of items classified into opposing categories. Five empirical studies lend converging support to the proposition that categorical reasoning can lead to subtractive judgments.

 

Volume 39, Number 2, August 2012
DOI:10.1086/663773   

Selected Media Mentions

 

Customers Will Pay More for Less
Harvard Business Review


Why would consumers pay more for separate than bundled products?
Phys.Org


EurekAlert!


Consumer Response to Versioning: How Brands' Production Methods Affect Perceptions of Unfairness

Andrew D. Gershoff
Ran Kivetz
Anat Keinan

Marketers often extend product lines by offering limited-capability models that are created by removing or degrading features in existing models. This production method, called versioning, has been lauded because of its ability to increase both consumer and firm welfare. According to rational utility models, consumers weigh benefits relative to their costs in evaluating a product. So the production method should not be relevant. Anecdotal evidence suggests otherwise. Six studies show how the production method of versioning may be perceived as unfair and unethical and lead to decreased purchase intentions for the brand. Building on prior work in fairness, the studies show that this effect is driven by violations of norms and the perceived similarity between the inferior, degraded version of a product and the full-featured model offered by the brand.

 

Volume 39, Number 2, August 2012
DOI: 10.1086/663777

  

Selected Media Mentions

  

 

Crippleware: How do consumers react when companies disable product features?

EurekAlert! 


Self-Affirmation through the Choice of Highly Aesthetic Products

Claudia Townsend
Sanjay Sood

Just as good looks bestow an unconscious "beauty premium" on people, high aesthetics bestows an unrecognized benefit on consumer goods. Specifically, choosing a product with good design affirms the consumer's sense of self. Choice of a highly aesthetic product was compared with choice of products superior on other attributes including function, brand, and hedonics to show that only aesthetics influences a consumer's personal values. In study 1 a prior self-affirming task leads to a decrease in choice share of a highly aesthetic option. Studies 2 and 3 mimic prior research on self-affirmation with, however, choice of a highly aesthetic product replacing a traditional self-affirmation manipulation. Choosing a product with good design resulted in increased openness to counter-attitudinal arguments and reduced propensity to escalate commitment toward a failing course of action. There are numerous implications of this form of self-affirmation, from public policy to retail therapy.

Volume 39, Number 2, August 2012
DOI: 10.1086/663775

 

Selected Media Mentions

 

EurekAlert!

All "Ahead of Print" Articles



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