Ahead of Print Highlights
March 17, 2015

February Issue           
Stephen X. He
Samuel D. Bond 

The widespread availability of online word of mouth (WOM) enables modern consumers to assess not only the opinions of others about products and services, but also the extent to which those opinions are consistent or dispersive. Despite longstanding calls for greater understanding of mixed opinions, existing evidence is inconclusive regarding effects of WOM dispersion, and theoretical accounts have relied primarily on the notion of reference dependence. This research proposes an attribution-based account, in which consumer interpretation of WOM dispersion depends on the extent to which tastes in a product domain are perceived to be dissimilar, so that dispersion can be attributed to inconsistency in reviewer preferences rather than the product itself. Consumers presented with online rating distributions were more tolerant of dispersion in taste-dissimilar product domains than taste-similar product domains, and the difference was driven by underlying attributions. Together, these findings expand current understanding of WOM, social distributions, and risk perception, by revealing distinct pathways through which consumers respond to differences of opinion. In addition, they suggest the opportunity to proactively influence the manner in which dispersion is perceived, highlighting its positive connotations while diminishing its association with risk.


DOI: 10.1086/680667
Published Online February 19, 2015
 
Daniel M. Bartels
Oleg Urminsky

 

Reducing spending in the present requires the combination of being both motivated to provide for one's future self (valuing the future) and actively considering long-term implications of one's choices (awareness of the future). Feeling more connected to the future self -- thinking that the important psychological properties that define your current self are preserved in the person you will be in the future -- helps motivate consumers to make far-sighted choices by changing their valuation of future outcomes. However, this change only reduces spending when opportunity costs are considered. Correspondingly, cues that highlight opportunity costs reduce spending primarily when people discount the future less or are more connected to their future selves. Implications for the efficacy of behavioral interventions and for research on time discounting are discussed.

  

DOI: 10.1086/680670
Published Online February 18, 2015
 
Luca Cian
Aradhna Krishna
Ryan S. Elder

Features of static visuals can lead to perceived movement (via dynamic imagery) and prepare the observer for action. The authors operationalize their research within the context of warning sign icons and show how subtle differences in iconography can affect human behavioral response. Five studies incorporating multiple methodologies and technologies (click-data heat maps, driving simulations, surveys, reaction time, and eye tracking) show that warning sign icons that evoke more (vs. less) perceived movement lead to a quicker propensity to act because they suggest greater risk to oneself or others and increase attentional vigilance. Icons used in the studies include children crossing signs near schools, wet floor signs in store settings, and shopping cart crossings near malls. The findings highlight the importance of incorporating dynamic elements into icon design to promote imagery and thereby elicit desired and responsible consumer behavior.


DOI: 10.1086/680673
Published Online February 17, 2015
 
Jiewen Hong
Hannah H. Chang 


 An accessible independent self-construal promotes a greater reliance on feelings in making judgments and decisions, whereas an accessible interdependent self-construal promotes a greater reliance on reasons. Specifically, compared to an interdependent self-construal, an independent self-construal increases the relative preference for affectively superior options as opposed to cognitively superior options and strengthens the effects of incidental mood on evaluations. Further, valuations of the decision outcome increase when independent (interdependent) consumers adopt a feeling-based (reason-based) decision strategy. Finally, these effects are moderated by decision focus (whether the decision is made for oneself or for others) and need for justification during decision making. Theoretical implications and managerial implications are discussed.

  

DOI: 10.1086/680082
Published Online January 14, 2015
 
Pierre-Yann Dolbec
Eileen Fischer
 

The authors investigate the participation of engaged consumers in the fashion market through the lens of institutional theory. They develop theoretical insights on the unintended market-level changes that ensue when consumers who are avidly interested in a field connect to share ideas with one another. Consumers take on some of the institutional work previously done primarily by paid actors and introduce new forms of institutional work supportive of the field. Engaged consumers can precipitate the formation of new categories of actors in the field and the contestation of boundaries between established and emergent actor categories. Further, new consumer-focused institutional logics gain momentum, even while consumers support and promote preexisting logics through their practices. The authors compare cases where discontented market actors have brought about market changes with their investigation of one where contented consumers unintentionally precipitated market-level dynamics, and show that the accumulation of consumers' micro-level practices can have pervasive and profound impacts.

 

DOI: 10.1086/680671
Published Online February 26, 2015
  

Products as Signals

(Winter 2014/2015)

Curator: Page Moreau

Meaningful Choice

(Autumn 2014)

Curator: Jennifer Aaker

Morality and the Marketplace

(Summer 2014)

Curator: Kent Grayson

Decisions at a Distance

(Spring 2014)

Curator: Rebecca Hamilton

      
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