Journal of Consumer Psychology最新文献

{"title":"Three strategies for claiming research progress","authors":"David Gal,&nbsp;Bobby Calder,&nbsp;Brian Sternthal","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.70033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.70033","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Researchers are increasingly challenged by this question: On what basis can they claim their work contributes to research progress? We propose that contemporary consumer research relies on three broad strategies for warranting such claims. An establishing-an-effect strategy claims progress based on confidence that a focal relationship between variables X and Y reliably replicates. A theory-of-the-effect strategy claims progress based on confidence that a local mechanistic account specifies when and how a particular effect occurs. A theoretical framework strategy instead claims progress based on confidence in an explanation that transcends any single effect paradigm. We (a) clarify how these strategies differ in their core logic, methodological emphases, and vulnerabilities; (b) document via a coding of recent articles in leading consumer research journals that the field relies overwhelmingly on the theory-of-the-effect strategy and rarely advances theoretical frameworks; and (c) develop actionable guidance for progressing from theories of effects to frameworks. We argue that recognizing the merits and vulnerabilities of each strategy—and deliberately leveraging the strategies in combination—provides a stronger basis for claiming research progress.</p>","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":"36 4","pages":"482-499"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148974928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Commentaries on “Generative grounded theory (GGT): Inductive theory building in the age of generative AI”","authors":"Geoff Tomaino,&nbsp;David A. Schweidel,&nbsp;Pierre-Yann Dolbec,&nbsp;Eileen Fischer,&nbsp;Andrew N. Smith,&nbsp;Stefano Puntoni,&nbsp;Niels Schillewaert,&nbsp;Joel Huber,&nbsp;Martin Reimann","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.70037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.70037","url":null,"abstract":"<p>The rapid growth of generative AI has generated excitement about its potential and concern about its effects on psychological research. Schmitt, Hao, Pham, and Hofstetter (2026) offer Generative Grounded Theory (GGT) as a seven-step framework for incorporating generative artificial intelligence into inductive theory building. It uses AI to support corpus formation, data structuring, coding, conceptual clustering, abstraction, theoretical integration, and the assessment of saturation, while reserving interpretive authority and theoretical responsibility for the researcher. These Commentaries of this Methods Dialogue respond to the accepted, revised version of the lead article by Schmitt et al. (2026), which incorporated feedback from open, collaborative reviews by established researchers. Following acceptance, the review teams provided four independent assessments of the value of GGT. Tomaino proposes that GGT is particularly suited for experimental researchers who are generating rich conversational data through AI-mediated studies, as GGT can possibly reveal mechanisms, generate new research questions, and unearth competing explanations. Schweidel emphasizes the researcher's indispensable role as a “cognitive operator.” He acknowledges that GGT's traceability facilitates replication, digital-twin exploration, and coordination across qualitative–quantitative researchers, but only if researchers resist sycophancy, cognitive offloading, and the temptation to delegate the entire process to an autonomous agent. Dolbec, Fischer, and Smith expand the focus on the responsibility of the GGT researcher, arguing that the ease of AI-assisted analysis may create a “fallacy of facility” in which plausible output is mistaken for expertise. They propose that methodological simulacrums can produce polished but weakly grounded research unless investigators actively harness substantial qualitative method expertise to control AI's distorting capability. Finally, Puntoni and Schillewaert shift attention upstream from analysis to data collection. They argue that using AI moderation may relax the long-standing separation between qualitative depth interviews and standardized variable assessment. If so, AI-adaptive interviews could integrate sampling and analysis by offering a “living” grounded theory, while raising new questions about saturation and reproducibility. Together, these commentaries acknowledge that GGT could extend the reach of inductive inquiry and facilitate automated theorizing, but it is a method that demands critical judgment, transparent record-keeping, and human control.</p>","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":"36 4","pages":"521-529"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148974931","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The continuity heuristic: Temporal extrapolation in consumer judgment","authors":"Matthew Fisher,&nbsp;Adam H. Smiley","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.70032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.70032","url":null,"abstract":"<p>From choosing an established brand over a newcomer to deciding when to replace a product or commit to a subscription, consumers routinely make judgments about how much longer things will last. Across 24 studies (<i>N</i> = 9718), this research introduces and tests the <i>continuity heuristic</i>, an intuitive forecasting strategy in which consumers use how long something has lasted as a basis for predicting how long it will continue. This temporal extrapolation shapes judgments across a diverse set of consumer domains, including brand heritage, product obsolescence, subscription retention, and trend forecasting. Even when quality is held constant, and age is not explicitly mentioned, past duration predicts future longevity expectations. We propose a question-substitution account, where consumers faced with the difficult question “How long will it last?” often rely on the easier and more accessible “How long has it lasted?” This substitution explains why the effect weakens for technology products, where clear lifespan norms provide direct answers to the target question, and for expert consumers, who can draw on domain knowledge to estimate longevity without relying on past duration. This research contributes to the psychology of temporal judgment and provides marketers with a tool for predicting preference, loyalty, and perceived durability.</p>","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":"36 4","pages":"451-469"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jcpy.70032","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148974967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Titles framed as questions reduce reader engagement","authors":"David Fang,&nbsp;S. Christian Wheeler","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.70031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.70031","url":null,"abstract":"<p>People typically read the titles of content (e.g., an article or post) before deciding whether to consume it. Titles can be composed as a statement (e.g., “Green Tea Has Health Benefits”) or a question (e.g., “Does Green Tea Have Health Benefits?”). Question titles are common and are believed by journalists to increase engagement. The present research examines whether this is the case. Four studies—including archival analyses of Reddit posts (<i>N</i> = 53,030) and academic articles (<i>N</i> = 3,078,791), online news headline experiments (<i>N</i> = 22,743 A/B experiments), and a pre-registered lab study (<i>N</i> = 400)—indicate that question-framed titles reduce reader engagement because they are viewed as less informative. These findings suggest that those wishing to maximize engagement with written content should avoid using questions in their titles.</p>","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":"36 4","pages":"470-481"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148974939","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Generative grounded theory (GGT): Inductive theory building in the age of generative AI","authors":"Bernd Schmitt,&nbsp;Shuyi Hao,&nbsp;Michel Tuan Pham,&nbsp;Reto Hofstetter","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.70036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.70036","url":null,"abstract":"<p>This paper introduces generative grounded theory (GGT), an AI-enhanced method for inductive theory building that adapts grounded theory—and qualitative research procedures more broadly—to contemporary digital and algorithmic research conditions. GGT integrates generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) into grounded-theory analysis while preserving human interpretive authority and theoretical responsibility. The method specifies a step-by-step process that supports systematic comparison and structured engagement with qualitative data. We demonstrate the method by outlining two new consumer-psychology studies and reanalyzing two established grounded-theory studies. We also address concerns surrounding GenAI use and outline future developments in the use of GenAI for qualitative analyses. GGT enables greater scale and efficiency in working with qualitative data, which are increasingly heterogeneous and multimodal, while supporting rigorous and precise theory construction and enhancing transparency and traceability. GGT can also be extended to other qualitative approaches that rely on similar analytic procedures.</p>","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":"36 4","pages":"500-520"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/jcpy.70036","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148974875","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Naturalness against environment-friendliness: The impact of shelf life on food perceptions and purchase decisions","authors":"Dan Liu,&nbsp;Yann Cornil,&nbsp;Xiaobing Xu","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.70034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.70034","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We study the impact of shelf-life information on consumers' expectations about food healthiness, naturalness, and environmental friendliness, as well as purchase decisions. Through seven studies (and four additional studies reported in the appendix), we demonstrate that shelf-life information produces divergent effects: foods with a longer shelf life are perceived as less wasteful and more environmentally friendly but also as less natural and less healthy. Accordingly, we demonstrate that emphasizing naturalness or healthiness (vs. waste reduction or environmental friendliness) increases consumers' preference for foods with a shorter (vs. longer) shelf life. This happens even when foods with different shelf lives have nearly identical ingredients and nutritional quality, or when the longer shelf life can objectively be attributed to better packaging rather than the food itself, unless consumers are explicitly prompted to elaborate on why the foods differ in shelf life. Theoretically, these findings contribute to the literature on shelf life as a determinant of food choice and deepen understanding of perceptions of naturalness and environmental friendliness. Practically, our research provides insights on how consumers' preference for naturalness can ultimately lead to more waste by increasing the appeal of foods with shorter shelf lives.</p>","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":"36 4","pages":"431-450"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148974995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How storytelling modality affects transportation and storyteller persuasion","authors":"Anne Hamby,&nbsp;Rebecca Krause-Galoni,&nbsp;Adam Duhachek,&nbsp;Derek Rucker","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.70029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.70029","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Stories persuade not only audiences, but their storytellers. For audiences, prior research documents modality matters: spoken stories are often more transporting and persuasive than written ones. For storytellers, we find a contrary result: storytellers are more transported and persuaded when they write rather than speak their stories. Although unpredicted by prior theory, we offer one explanation for this occurrence: structured thinking. We propose that, for storytellers, writing is better at promoting structured thinking, which facilitates storyteller transportation and persuasion. We further demonstrate that the effect of modality on the storyteller is moderated by story valence. The storyteller is persuaded in the direction of the story and thus exhibits more favorable evaluations after telling positive stories but more unfavorable evaluations after telling negative ones. These findings reveal that communication modality is an important factor in storyteller self-persuasion and open new directions for research on narratives, modality, and persuasion.</p>","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":"36 3","pages":"362-368"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148553339","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Gender identity, overconfidence, and risk attitudes","authors":"Edward R. Lawrence,&nbsp;Benedikt Wick","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.70022","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.70022","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We explore the relationship between gender identity, overconfidence, and investment risk-taking behaviors. We quantify overconfidence as a discrepancy between an individual's perceived and actual financial knowledge, and our empirical analysis reveals significant differences in overconfidence levels across gender identities. Consumers who identify as nonbinary exhibit significantly lower levels of financial overconfidence compared to individuals identifying as either male or female. The lower levels of overconfidence are attributed to a more modest self-assessment of financial knowledge rather than a difference in actual knowledge. Higher overconfidence is linked with a greater willingness to take on financial risks. Nonbinary individuals exhibit a considerably lower inclination to take risks in their investment decisions. While nonbinary individuals are more likely to experience mental health challenges, these do not explain the reduced levels of overconfidence and risk-taking. Moreover, the nonbinary pattern is not a generic minority effect.</p>","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":"36 3","pages":"369-379"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148553422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Human–AI partnerships: Living and working with AI Assistants, AI Agents, and AI Companions","authors":"Ripinka Koli Patil,&nbsp;Dan Hamilton Rice,&nbsp;Chris Janiszewski","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.70025","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.70025","url":null,"abstract":"<p>As the use of interactive artificial intelligence (AI) expands exponentially, it will permeate into many aspects of consumers' lives, including decision-making and consumption. As marketers, it is important to understand how consumers currently use interactive AI and how this usage will evolve. We propose that the increased functionality of interactive AI will encourage consumers to view many interactive AI products as long-term partners, instead of as static tools for finite tasks. Consequently, the future uses of interactive AI will be determined not only by the advancement of the underlying technology but also by consumer responses to repeated interactions with AI technology. We propose a taxonomy of human–AI partnerships (i.e., AI Assistants, AI Agents, AI Companions), provide a profile for each type of AI partner, anticipate how AI partnerships will evolve over time, and discuss how this evolution will influence AI usage. Finally, we provide an extensive agenda for future research.</p>","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":"36 3","pages":"399-426"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148553420","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Homelessness-based impact hiring and consumers' contagion concerns","authors":"Brandon J. Reich,&nbsp;Wanying Shi,&nbsp;Cindy Xin Wang","doi":"10.1002/jcpy.70010","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/jcpy.70010","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Prosocial company actions typically create favorable product evaluations. However, an emerging practice whereby companies employ individuals experiencing homelessness (i.e., “homelessness-based impact hiring [IH]”) represents a meaningful exception. Five experiments show that consumers hold unfavorable perceptions of products from companies implementing homelessness-based IH, despite moderately favorable moral judgments of the company, due to an unfavorable emotional response (i.e., disgust) activated by stigma-driven contagion concerns. Experiment 1 demonstrates this phenomenon using actual choice behavior. Experiment 2 shows that the effect is specific to homelessness (vs. stigmatized groups in general) and is mediated by disgust. Experiment 3 replicates these effects using a non-food product where contagion is relevant, while showing the effect attenuates when contagion is less relevant. Experiments 4 and 5 demonstrate how social proof may enhance the favorability of consumer response by targeting contagion concerns and therefore reducing disgust. Findings suggest that, despite consumer moral support, marketers cannot rely on halo effects from this emerging practice, while also providing theory-driven guidance on overcoming obstacles to its implementation.</p>","PeriodicalId":48365,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Consumer Psychology","volume":"36 3","pages":"295-313"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148553451","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}