2012- Reprints: Marketing
Idealistic advice and pragmatic choice: A psychological distance account, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102(6), 1105-1117, 2012
S. Danziger, R. Montal and R. Barkan
DOI: 10.1037/a0027013
(Reprint No. 217)
In 6 studies, we found that advice is more idealistic than choice in decisions that trade off idealistic and pragmatic considerations. We propose that because advisers are more psychologically distant from the choosers’ decision problem, they construe the dilemma at a higher construal level than do choosers (Trope & Liberman, 2003, 2010). Consequently, advisers are more influenced by idealistic considerations that are salient at a high-level construal, whereas choosers are more influenced by pragmatic considerations that are salient at a low-level construal. Consistent with this view, Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that compared with choosers, advisers weigh idealistic considerations more heavily and pragmatic considerations less heavily, place greater emphasis on ends (why) than on means to achieve the end (how), and generate more reasons (pros) in favor of acting idealistically. Studies 3 and 4 provide converging support for our account by demonstrating that making advisers focus on a lower construal level results in more pragmatic recommendations. In Study 3, we manufactured more pragmatic recommendations by priming a low-level implementation mind-set in a purportedly unrelated task, whereas in Study 4 we did so by reducing advisers’ psychological distance from the dilemma by asking them to consider what they would choose in the situation. The results of Study 4 suggest advisers do not spontaneously consider self-choice. Finally, in Studies 5 and 6, we demonstrate the choice–advice difference in consequential real-life decisions.
Delaying information search, Judgment and Decision Making, 7(6), 750-760, 2012.
Y. Shani, N. van de Ven and M. Zeelenberg
(Reprint No. 221)
In three studies, we examined factors that may temporarily attenuate information search. People are generally curious and dislike uncertainty, which typically encourages them to look for relevant information. Despite these strong forces that promote information search, people sometimes deliberately delay obtaining valuable information. We find they may do so when they are concerned that the information might interfere with future pleasurable activities. Interestingly, the decision to search or to postpone searching for information is influenced not only by the value and importance of the information itself but also by well-being maintenance goals related to possible detrimental effects that negative knowledge may have on unrelated future plans.
When blemishing leads to blossoming: The positive effect of negative information, Journal of Consumer Research, 38(5), 846-859, 2012.
D. Ein-Gar, B. Shiv and Z. Tormala
(Reprint No. 222)
This research uncovers a counterintuitive effect of negative information, showing that under specifiable conditions people will be more favorably disposed to a product when a small dose of negative information is added to an otherwise positive description. This effect is moderated by processing effort and presentation order, such that the enhanced positive disposition toward the product following negative information emerges when the information is processed effortlessly rather than effortfully and when the negative information follows rather than precedes positive information. Four studies demonstrate this blemishing effect in both lab and field settings and explore the proposed mechanism and boundary conditions.
The role of consumers’ self-control in the consumption of virtue products, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 29(2), 123-133, 2012.
D. Ein-Gar, J. Goldenberg and L. Sagiv
(Reprint No. 223)
Virtue products (such as sunscreen lotion and dental floss) promise future benefits and, at the same time, carry immediate and ongoing usage costs. Although consumers acknowledge the benefits of virtue products, they find it difficult to consume them on a daily basis. This research focuses on a key problem in the consumption of virtue products – ongoing use – and identifies ways to help consumers maintain ongoing consumption. We propose and show that products' attributes (in terms of future versus present benefits) and consumers' dispositional self-control interact to shape the consumption of virtue products. In two field experiments that use different product categories – dental floss and sunscreen lotion – we show that low self-control participants consume a virtue product whose product description highlights a present benefit more than they consume a virtue product whose description highlights a future benefit. Among high self-control participants the reverse effect was observed. In a third study we show the same pattern of results when willingness to pay is measured.
The “sprinter effect”: When self-control and involvement stand in the way of sequential performance, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 21, 240-255, 2011.
D. Ein-Gar and Y. Steinhart
(Reprint No. 225)
This research examines the joint effect of dispositional self-control and situational involvement on performance in two successive resource-demanding tasks. We demonstrate that being highly involved and having high self-control facilitates high performance in the first task but, contrary to intuition, may jeopardize performance in a second, unexpected task. We term this the “sprinter effect” and demonstrate it in both lab and field settings. We further explore how a “marathon” mindset can debias this effect.
