The influence of specific emotions on consumer judgment and behavioural intention with respect to innovations

How might specific emotions differentially influence consumer judgments and behavioural intentions with respect to innovations? The purpose of this dissertation is two sided. First, it examines the relationship between emotions and evaluation/behavioural intentions with respect to innovations and second it studies some moderators and mediators influencing this relationship. In contemporary emotion research, cognitive and motivational dimensions of specific emotions are recognized as central in the decision making process (Zeelenberg & Pieters, 2006). Consequently, the claim of our dissertation is that understanding and investigating the cognitive and motivational dimensions of specific emotions can be useful to predict their influence on judgments and behavioural intentions with respect to innovations. Our Study 1 investigated how specific emotions arise and explored their influence on product's evaluation and usage intention. This study addressed the concept of user experience through bottom-up (product's characteristics) and top-down (affective expectations) processes. Eighty eight (88) participants from various socio professional categories were recruited to participate to this study. Two different version of an e-book (medium quality experience versus low quality experience) were selected. The affective expectations (positive, negative, control) were manipulated through an oral presentation of the product. Our results suggested that the user's emotional experience do not only depend on the product's intrinsic characteristic but also depend on his/her prior expectations. In addition, findings confirmed the role of specific emotions on product's evaluation. Our Study 2 sought to explain how specific emotions influence products' desirability. One hundred and eighty nine (189) undergraduates volunteered to participate to this study. Depending on the experimental condition, participants were induced to feel anger, fear or amusement through an autobiographical recall method. Then, they were asked to evaluate either a hedonic product or a less hedonic product. First, results demonstrate that the nature of product moderates the relationship between incidental emotions and desirability. Second, our findings highlight the motivational implication of emotions on product desirability. Our Studies 3 & 4 examined the hypothesis that emotion-specific short-term goals (motivational dimension) might explain the impact of specific emotions on product's desirability. We addressed two specific positive emotions – amusement and satisfaction-, and used two type of product (welfare versus recreational). In study 3, ninety seven (97) undergraduate participants were induced to feel either amusement or satisfaction through scenarios. Findings show that amusement enhances the desirability of recreational product and that satisfaction enhances the desirability of welfare product. Consistent with the proposed hypothesis, results demonstrate that emotion specific-goal mediates the influence of specific positive emotions on product desirability. Study 4, conducted on one hundred and twelve (112) undergraduates, allows replicating findings of study 3 using different methods to induce emotions- autographical recall-, and to measure emotion-specific goals. Thus, on the one hand, this dissertation reveals that specific emotions come into play prior to use, when the users form expectations. On the other hand, it demonstrates that the study of the motivational functions of emotions can be helpful to predict the influence of specific emotions on consumer judgment. This dissertation offers new contributions in the research of emotion from a theoretical perspective and in product design from an applicative perspective.