Shih‐Chun (Daniel) Chin, TzuShuo Ryan Wang, Cony Ming‐Shen Ho
{"title":"Gifts that give twice are not twice as nice: Consumers avoid socially responsible gifts for picky recipients","authors":"Shih‐Chun (Daniel) Chin, TzuShuo Ryan Wang, Cony Ming‐Shen Ho","doi":"10.1002/mar.22027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22027","url":null,"abstract":"Gift decisions are challenging. Consumers need to gauge their recipients' preferences—a task that could be especially tough when the recipients are picky. In addition, gift decisions involve consideration of many gift attributes, such as whether the gifts also support worthy causes (i.e., socially responsible gifts). In this research, we examine how givers' decision to give socially responsible gifts is impacted by how picky the recipients are. Five studies provide convergent evidence that gift‐givers are less likely to choose socially responsible gifts for picky recipients because they are perceived as lower in interpersonal warmth. Supporting our theory, the effect attenuates for gift‐givers attend less to interpersonal warmth (i.e., high in social dominance orientation) and when cues indicating recipient warmth are salient. We conclude by discussing the contributions to the gift‐giving and consumer pickiness literature and the practical implications for marketers promoting socially responsible gifts.","PeriodicalId":188459,"journal":{"name":"Psychology & Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141118606","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Aaminah Zaman Malik, Francisco Guzmán, Khue (Kylie) Vo
{"title":"The tip of the tongue: Language‐based chronic social exclusion and tipping as a refocusing strategy","authors":"Aaminah Zaman Malik, Francisco Guzmán, Khue (Kylie) Vo","doi":"10.1002/mar.22032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22032","url":null,"abstract":"Language is crucial for successful service exchange, yet it can also become a source of chronic social exclusion for nonnative speakers in the host country. This research examines how language‐based chronic social exclusion affects nonnative consumers' experiences and consequently, their tipping behavior. The results from a survey with 355 nonnative speakers in the USA and 355 nonnative speakers in the UK, along with a field study, reveal that these customers feel threatened in terms of their relational and efficacy needs, influencing their desire to restore their self‐image. This, in turn, positively influences their tipping behavior. This study is the first to empirically explore language‐based chronic social exclusion and its psychological and behavioral effects from the speakers' (nonnative customers') perspective in a service exchange setting. It highlights the importance of inclusive practices and policies to support socially excluded customers based on their language.","PeriodicalId":188459,"journal":{"name":"Psychology & Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141115033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Lara Stocchi, Steve Bellman, Naser Pourazad, N. Michaelidou, Malcolm Wright
{"title":"The mirror effect in online survey data: Evidence and implications for marketing theory and strategy","authors":"Lara Stocchi, Steve Bellman, Naser Pourazad, N. Michaelidou, Malcolm Wright","doi":"10.1002/mar.22023","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22023","url":null,"abstract":"This research reveals the presence, in online survey data, of a key pattern documented in psychology lab research: the Mirror Effect. The Mirror Effect occurs when unfamiliar stimuli are unexpectedly recognized as accurately as familiar stimuli, or more accurately. Using a set of familiar and unfamiliar words (as determined by lexical frequency), we first report that we can robustly replicate psychology lab research in an online survey, detecting the Mirror Effect. We then apply the same analytical approach to surveying consumer recognition of everyday brands (supermarkets, banks and car brands). We find that unfamiliar brands can be recognized with the same level of accuracy as familiar brands, and this effect is stronger than age and gender memory biases present in the data. However, we detect a boundary condition for branded apps, which are extremely unfamiliar brands competing in highly fragmented marketplaces, so very few get downloaded or used. For these digital brands, we find a Concordant Effect, as most respondents find it difficult to recognize highly unfamiliar branded apps (i.e., those with fewer than 5000 downloads). The Mirror Effect re‐emerges for highly experienced app users. These results demonstrate the implications of a generalizable empirical pattern from cognitive psychology for branding and advertising theory. The outcomes of this research also translate into practical guidelines for brand performance measurement via online surveys, mitigating recognition memory bias for the development of marketing strategies based on more accurate interpretation of empirical evidence.","PeriodicalId":188459,"journal":{"name":"Psychology & Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140972881","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The association between consumers' chronic concerns about infectious disease and anthropomorphism","authors":"Jodie Whelan, Sean T. Hingston","doi":"10.1002/mar.22030","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22030","url":null,"abstract":"Assigning human characteristics to products and brands (i.e., anthropomorphism) is a tactic commonly adopted by marketers. However, researchers have recently highlighted the importance of better understanding which consumers will be more (or less) responsive to these cues. Drawing on the behavioral immune system and anthropomorphism literatures, we hypothesize that consumers who are chronically concerned about their susceptibility to infectious disease will have a greater tendency to anthropomorphize nonhuman entities (e.g., nature, technology, and consumer products) because doing so creates relatively pathogen‐free sources of social connection. Importantly, we also predict that this tendency will be muted when consumers are highly germ averse. To test these predictions, we examined the relationships between perceived infectability and germ aversion, the two subscales of the established Perceived Vulnerability to Disease scale, and three different measures of consumers' tendency to anthropomorphize nonhuman entities. The results of four studies, including a preregistered, high‐powered replication, support our hypotheses and offer the first evidence of a context wherein perceived infectability and germ aversion interact.","PeriodicalId":188459,"journal":{"name":"Psychology & Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140976626","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The effect of green influencer message characteristics: Framing, construal, and timing","authors":"Sarah König, Erik Maier","doi":"10.1002/mar.22021","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22021","url":null,"abstract":"This research explores the characteristics of green influencer messages on follower engagement by examining the interplay between message framing (gain vs. loss), construal level (high vs. low), and post timing (weekdays vs. weekends). Green influencers (also: greenfluencers or sustainable influencers) are considered a key agent for a change to more sustainable consumption. A pilot field study of 1000 green influencers, however, indicates that the current communication practices of green influencers (which strongly focus on gain frames, low construal, and posts during the week) are not ideal for maximizing engagement and sustainable behavioral intentions. Two experiments replicate this finding and establish the process through which green influencer posts affect engagement: gain frames increase fluency, which increases engagement; low construal levels decrease psychological distance, which increases engagement. Timing moderates these processes in that weekend posts increase the engagement with gain frames and week posts increase the engagement with low‐construal frames. These findings highlight that there is no silver bullet in green influencer messages, but that green influencers need to adapt the framing and construal of their messages to the posts' timing to increase their contribution to more sustainable lifestyles and the greater good.","PeriodicalId":188459,"journal":{"name":"Psychology & Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140979066","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Micael Dahlen, J. Colliander, Vladan Gajic, Olivia Kim, Helge Thorbjørnsen
{"title":"How do advertised prices affect consumers' financial well‐being and happiness?","authors":"Micael Dahlen, J. Colliander, Vladan Gajic, Olivia Kim, Helge Thorbjørnsen","doi":"10.1002/mar.22026","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22026","url":null,"abstract":"Commercial advertisements are intended to persuade consumers to purchase products, but their influence can often extend unintentionally and uninvitedly to noncommercial domains. Researchers have uncovered many such unintended ad effects—from lowered self‐esteem to increased empathy. This paper adds to the research on unintended ad effects by examining the variable of price in advertisements, and its influence on people's perceived (1) financial well‐being, (2) happiness, (3) time–money evaluations (4) proneness to prosocial behavior, and (5) calculative mindset. The first study was conducted on Swedish nationals through the Swedish national survey company, Nepa. The participants were exposed to advertisements with high versus low levels of prices. We find that those exposed to lower‐priced ads feel better off financially, and consequently happier, place relatively higher value on time over money, and are more likely to help a friend in need than those exposed to higher‐priced ads. The second study was conducted on a US sample using Prolific and further investigated the mechanism behind the effects found in the first study. In this study, we again find an effect of advertised prices on happiness, but not on the other dependent variables. The study results shed new light on the role of advertising and prices on consumer's appraisal of their own financial‐ and psychological well‐being.","PeriodicalId":188459,"journal":{"name":"Psychology & Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140981456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“Yes, I'm worth it!”: How romantic breakups influence self‐gifting propensity","authors":"A. Z. Malik, Khue (Kylie) Vo","doi":"10.1002/mar.22022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22022","url":null,"abstract":"When do consumers indulge in self‐gifting? While extant research predominantly explores self‐gifting as a coping mechanism in postchallenging phases, this research suggests an additional dimension: self‐gifting as a form of self‐reward. Drawing from the idea of stress‐related growth, this paper focuses on consumer behavior following a romantic breakup, investigating self‐gifting as a reward mechanism. Results from five studies consistently demonstrate that the severity of a breakup significant influences consumers' self‐gifting propensity in both intrinsic‐ and extrinsic‐rewarding consumption, driven by their heightened perceived deservingness. These effects are attenuated when individuals engage in ruminative thoughts about their tumultuous (vs. harmonious) breakups. These findings explain the nuances of self‐gifting behavior following a romantic breakup by establishing a theoretical link between personal failures (e.g., romantic breakups) and a sense of deservingness, which influences consumer's self‐gifting propensity as a self‐reward.","PeriodicalId":188459,"journal":{"name":"Psychology & Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140984682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Two days before Friday versus 2 days from today: How future (vs. present) anchors in deadlines increase goal achievement","authors":"Ga Young Lim, Aekyoung Kim","doi":"10.1002/mar.22017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22017","url":null,"abstract":"While deadlines are routinely used as a strategy to achieve goals, the way these deadlines are described has been relatively overlooked in terms of their influence on decision‐making. We examined the unique effect of future (vs. present) anchors in deadlines on ones' goal achievement. A field study shows that a deadline with a future anchor encourages people to complete a task more effectively within the deadline than a deadline with a present anchor (Study 1). In Study 2, we further demonstrated the positive effect of future (vs. present) anchors on individuals' goal achievement in a more controlled lab setting. Study 3 provided support for our mechanism by examining individuals' perceived time availability until the deadline underlies this effect. Studies 4 and 5 delved deeper, investigating our mechanism by examining individuals' dispositional time value as an important moderator. This research enriches our understanding of time perception and decision‐making, and offers valuable insights on how to strategically deal with deadlines to enhance one's goal achievement.","PeriodicalId":188459,"journal":{"name":"Psychology & Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140987191","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Self‐gifting and temporal selves: Insights from first‐time older motherhood","authors":"Chihling Liu, K. Karanika, Margaret K. Hogg","doi":"10.1002/mar.22020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22020","url":null,"abstract":"Prior literature has long established self‐gifts as a form of symbolic self‐communication that can be particularly meaningful and impactful for individuals to enhance self‐concept clarity and self‐definition during life transitions. However, little is known about how life transitions may bring about changes in the practices and meanings of self‐gifting. Drawing on individual interviews with 22 first‐time older mothers, this research uses temporal self‐appraisal theory as the theoretical lens and temporal landmarks as a sensitizing framework to explore how people's past, present, and future selves may unfold and interact in influencing their self‐gifting practices and meanings. Our findings contribute to a fuller understanding of the temporal nature of self‐gifting by highlighting the varying self‐gifting orientations that emerge from the interaction, reflecting changes in temporal self‐appraisals and how they enable a sense of self‐(dis)continuity for psychological well‐being. The temporal perspective of self‐gifts offers a theoretical framework for understanding how self‐gifts, a form of symbolic self‐communication, express, manage, or facilitate perceived self‐changes and the need for self‐continuity. The marketing implications and applications of the theoretical framework are also discussed.","PeriodicalId":188459,"journal":{"name":"Psychology & Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140999774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The bold decision to go “all in”: Understanding the reasons behind consumers' willingness to migrate to the metaverse","authors":"Aman Kumar, Amit Shankar","doi":"10.1002/mar.22009","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22009","url":null,"abstract":"The study explores the reasons that drive and hinder consumers' willingness to migrate to the metaverse. To determine them, a mixed‐methods approach is used: phase 1 (qualitative) involves conceptual development of a model based on in‐depth consumer interviews, and in phase 2, the conceptual model is empirically tested via structural equation modeling. Results show that social presence is a crucial enabler, while realistic and symbolic threats are significant inhibitors of the willingness to migrate. Preusage cognitive dissonance significantly mediates the relationships between social escapism, social pressure, realistic threat, symbolic threat, and willingness to migrate. Specifically, the mediating influence between empowerment and willingness to migrate is higher for individuals with low metaverse anxiety. Results of the artificial neural network technique indicate that social presence is the most significant antecedent of willingness to migrate, and results of the fuzzy‐set qualitative comparative analysis highlight the presence of six distinct configurations that indicate a high willingness to migrate. This study enriches the behavioral reasoning theory by examining the interplay of the reasons influencing the willingness to migrate. Further, it contributes to the intergroup threat theory by investigating the potential link between willingness to migrate and the presence of realistic and symbolic threats.","PeriodicalId":188459,"journal":{"name":"Psychology & Marketing","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-05-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140998458","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}