This research examines how the salience of scarcity influences choices of individual items from a product class. The authors propose that overall perception of scarcity versus overall perception of ...abundance increases choice share of the most-preferred item from a product class. They argue that this phenomenon occurs because scarcity induces arousal and the heightened arousal polarizes the evaluations of individual items contained in the choice set. The results from five experiments show that scarcity versus abundance broadens the discrepancy between the liking of the favorite and nonfavorite items and leads to a greater choice share of the favorite item. The findings provide support for the arousal-based explanation, showing that the effect of scarcity salience on choices is mediated by consumers' reported arousal level and moderated by an experimentally induced arousal state.
Memories as assets Zauberman, Gal; Ratner, Rebecca K; Kim, B. Kyu
The Journal of consumer research,
02/2009, Letnik:
35, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
We present five studies supporting ourstrategic memory protectiontheory. When people make decisions about experiences to consume over time, they treat their memories of previous experiences as assets ...to be protected. The first two studies demonstrate that people tend to avoid situations that they believe will threaten their ability to retrieve special (rather than merely pleasant) memories. The next three studies demonstrate that people seek to obtain memory pointers to help them cue special memories at a later time when they anticipate interference from subsequent events. These preferences are driven by people’s lay theories about the importance and difficulty of obtaining and retrieving special memories.
Inhibited from Bowling Alone RATNER, REBECCA K.; HAMILTON, REBECCA W.
The Journal of consumer research,
08/2015, Letnik:
42, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
The present research demonstrates that consumers often feel inhibited from engaging in hedonic activities alone, especially when these activities are observable by others. When considering whether to ...engage in a hedonic and public activity such as going to a movie alone, individuals anticipate negative inferences from others about their social connectedness that reduce their interest in engaging in the activity. Notably, consumers seem to overestimate how much their enjoyment of these activities depends on whether they are accompanied by a companion. Cues that attenuate consumers’ anticipation of negative inferences by making an activity seem more utilitarian or by reducing the anticipated number of observers systematically increases interest in engaging in unaccompanied public activities.
For many domains of basic and applied science, a key set of scientific facts is well established and there is a need for public action in light of those facts. However, individual citizens do not ...consistently follow science-based recommendations, even when they accept the veracity of the advice. To address this challenge, science communicators need to develop a guideline that individuals can commit to memory easily and act on straightforwardly at moments of decision. We draw on research from psychology to discuss several characteristics that will enhance a guideline’s memorability and actionability and illustrate using a case study from the US Department of Agriculture’s communications based on nutrition science. We conclude by discussing the importance of careful research to test whether any given guideline is memorable and actionable by the intended target audience.
Three experiments demonstrate that people incorporate more variety into their consumption decisions when their behavior is subject to public scrutiny. Studies 1 and 2 indicate that consumers expect ...others to evaluate their decision more favorably if they choose variety and that this sometimes leads individuals to incorporate more variety into their public than private decisions. Results of study 2 confirm predictions that a relevant individual difference variable (self‐monitoring) moderates the effects of expected evaluation on variety seeking. The final study demonstrates that pressure to choose variety in public is eliminated when a social cue signals the appropriateness of consuming one’s favorites.
Consumers frequently engage in activities with others, such as visiting an art gallery with a friend or going to a sports match with a family member, and they tend to assume that sharing experiences ...with another person will make these activities more enjoyable. However, navigating a shared experience—making decisions about pacing, sequencing, and interacting with another person as the experience unfolds—can take consumers’ attention away from the activity, potentially reducing their enjoyment. In a series of studies in which consumers engage in real consumption experiences, the authors show that lack of clarity about a partner’s interests can distract consumers, making it difficult for them to focus on the shared activity and reducing their enjoyment of shared experiences relative to solo experiences. Notably, simple interventions can increase clarity of a partner’s interests and consumers’ enjoyment of shared activities, providing tools for service providers who want to retain customers and benefit from positive word of mouth.
Consumers often have a variety of products that they may use to help them pursue their goals. These products constitute a set of means toward consumers’ goal attainment. This article investigates (1) ...how the amount of variety (high vs. low) among a set of means affects motivation to pursue the associated goal and (2) how this relationship changes over the course of goal pursuit as progress is made toward goal attainment. Five studies demonstrate that when progress toward goal attainment is low, having more variety within a set of means to goal attainment increases motivation to pursue the goal. However, when progress toward goal attainment is high, having less variety within a set of means to goal attainment increases motivation to pursue the goal. These findings suggest perceived variety among means is an important determinant of motivation in goal pursuit.
This article explores nonconscious effects on consumers' tendency to seek consistency versus variety in sequential choices. We propose that activation of concepts related to a positive frame of ...repetition (e.g., “loyalty”) triggers a preference-based construal of consumption that encourages consistency seeking. In contrast, activation of concepts related to a negative frame of repetition (e.g., “boredom”) triggers a satiation-based construal of consumption that encourages variety seeking. Four studies demonstrate that which construal of consumption consumers adopt can be activated outside of awareness, impacts consumers' experienced satiation, and determines in turn the amount of variety they incorporate into their choices.
Why do affective forecasting errors persist in the face of repeated disconfirming evidence? Five studies demonstrate that people misremember their forecasts as consistent with their experience and ...thus fail to perceive the extent of their forecasting error. As a result, people do not learn from past forecasting errors and fail to adjust subsequent forecasts. In the context of a Super Bowl loss (Study 1), a presidential election (Studies 2 and 3), an important purchase (Study 4), and the consumption of candies (Study 5), individuals mispredicted their affective reactions to these experiences and subsequently misremembered their predictions as more accurate than they actually had been. The findings indicate that this recall error results from people's tendency to anchor on their current affective state when trying to recall their affective forecasts. Further, those who showed larger recall errors were less likely to learn to adjust their subsequent forecasts and reminding people of their actual forecasts enhanced learning. These results suggest that a failure to accurately recall one's past predictions contributes to the perpetuation of forecasting errors. (Contains 5 figures and 7 footnotes.)
Compatibility between the degree of similarity among means to goal attainment and
the anticipated timing of goal pursuit increases goal-directed motivation. Six
studies demonstrate that consumers are ...more motivated and willing to pay for
means to goal attainment in the near term when they plan to use a set of
different (vs. similar) means. In contrast, consumers are more motivated and
willing to pay for means to goal attainment in the long term when they plan to
use similar (vs. different) means. For example, consumers paid more for a
personal training session when told it would include exercises for different
(similar) muscle groups and would take place this week (next month). These
effects are driven by the ease of processing differences (similarities) when
considering the near (far) future. Similar results were obtained across various
domains, including health and fitness, saving money, and academic
performance.
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