Current Issue Highlights
January 27, 2015
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Fangyuan Chen Jaideep Sengupta
This research examines the vitality produced by vices -- products that offer immediate gratification at the cost of long-term adversity. While vices are intrinsically enjoyable, they also induce guilt. The conceptualization incorporates these opposing forces to argue that vice consumption is unique in that lowering the consumer sense of autonomy actually results in higher vitality -- in contrast to the positive relationship between autonomy and vitality that has been robustly documented in the literature. An examination of the vitality construct further suggests that low-autonomy vice consumption should consequently result in improved creativity as well as self-regulation. Four studies provide support for these and related implications. The obtained findings advance knowledge regarding vitality and its consequences, while they also provide insights into when and why vice consumption might actually be beneficial.
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The Effects of Heightened Physiological Needs on Perception of Psychological Connectedness
Xiuping Li Meng Zhang
The authors propose and find a cognitive shift caused by heightened physiological states such as sexual desire and hunger. In particular, exposure to images of sexy women decreases male consumer perception of being connected to others. A similar effect was demonstrated when consumers were feeling hungry. Such an effect of physiological need on social perception is profound, irrespective of whether the target "other" is an acquaintance, a best friend, an unknown person, or even the future self. The authors also test the downstream behavioral consequences of this reduced psychological connectedness (less resource allocation and less helping). Volume 41, Number 4, December 2014
DOI: 10.1086/678051
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Theodore J. Noseworthy Fabrizio Di Muro Kyle B. Murray
New products are often incongruent with consumer expectations. Consumers prefer moderately incongruent products, while being adverse to extremely incongruent products. This phenomenon is highly influenced by consumer state of arousal. Specifically, low arousal decreases preference for moderate incongruity while increasing preference for extreme incongruity, whereas high arousal decreases preference for any form of incongruity. Underlying these effects are discrete emotional states brought on by a physiological response to incongruity. Varying arousal subsequently varies the severity of the emotion, be it negative (anxiety) or positive (curiosity), which in turn varies evaluations for the product. This suggests that creating excitement around a product launch may be good for incremental innovation, but it may not be a good idea for something truly innovative.
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An Evaluation Mode Account
Tobias Kr�ger Andr� Mata Max Ihmels
Evaluation mode influences the assessment of product bundles. Consumer preferences for product bundles are more pronounced in a joint evaluation mode, where the bundle is directly contrasted to its single counterpart (the bundle without its add-on), than in a separate evaluation mode, where the bundle is evaluated in isolation. An attentional explanation is suggested: consumers pay more attention to the unique features of a product bundle (the add-on) and, therefore, prefer the bundle more strongly in joint rather than in separate evaluation. This account bears relevance for Weaver, Garcia, and Schwarz's presenter's paradox, according to which presenters (people deciding what to offer to others) prefer bundle options, whereas evaluators (people deciding what to get for themselves) prefer single options. In the original research, presenters and evaluators provided judgments in joint and separate evaluation, respectively. Disentangling role (presenter vs. evaluator) and evaluation mode, the results show that, independent of role, consumers prefer bundle over single options in joint evaluations and are largely indifferent in separate evaluations. Thus, a substantial part of the original findings is attributable to evaluation mode. The presenter's paradox is revised in light of the current account.
Volume 41, Number 4, December 2014 DOI: 10.1086/678393
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Optimal Visualization Aids and Temporal Framing for New Products
Min Zhao Darren W. Dahl Steve Hoeffler
Conventional wisdom suggests that more concrete and detailed information is helpful in evaluating new products. The current research, however, demonstrates that when consumers use visualization to evaluate new products, the value of concrete versus abstract visualization is dependent on the temporal perspective taken by the consumer. Specifically, concrete information is beneficial when product visualization is retrospective in nature (focused on the past), whereas abstract information is found to be more helpful when product visualization is anticipatory in nature (geared toward the future). This occurs because the match between visualization aids and consumer temporal construal facilitates the extent of imagery processing realized, which, in turn, enhances new product evaluation. When the new product is very difficult to visualize, this pattern of effects is attenuated. Further, the effect is reversed when the product is highly familiar (not a new product), as preexisting memories are shown to hinder imagery processing. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
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New York
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