bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Things Still To Be Done on the Still‐Face Effect
Authors: Tronick E. Z.
Published: January 2004

Adamson and Frick (2003/this issue) have written a fine and challenging review of the research on the still‐face. Of special value is their placement of the face‐to‐face still‐face (FFSF) paradigm in a historical framework, which permits us to see how much about the still‐face effect and infant functioning we have learned in the past 30 years. Their review led me to think about several issues. First was the issue of whether or not to standardize the FFSF paradigm. Second, Adamson and Frick argue the still‐face put the “infant's reaction in a new interpretive frame,” but it is a reaction that still challenges our “understanding of young infants' social, emotional, and cognitive capacities.” Thus, I would like to discuss explanations of the still‐face effect. Last, I discuss some suggestions for further research. For an elaborated version of this article, additional archival material is located at http:www.infancyarchives.com.
One Still Face, Many Visions
Authors: Frick Janet E. , Adamson Lauren B.
Published: January 2004

Tronick, Cohn, and Muir and Lee have strengthened and extended our history of the still‐face procedure by reflecting on important theoretical and methodological issues in the current literature, and by looking to the future of how the still face can inform and guide further investigations. These commentaries provide a wonderful illustration of how the use of a shared, if not fully standardized, paradigm can continue to inspire ever more sharing of ideas.
Parent and Nonparent Perception of the Multimodal Infant Cry
Authors: Irwin Julia R.
Published: January 2004

This study examined whether perceivers can detect infant distress in the visual and acoustic signals within the cry. Parent and nonparent perceivers rated distress in 3‐, 6‐, 8‐, and 12‐month‐old infants' cries that were manipulated to separate facial, vocal, and bodily action. Mean perceiver ratings differed for high‐ and low‐distress cries at each infant age on the basis of facial and vocal action, but not bodily movement. Perceivers rated the cry sound as more distressed and the cry face as less distressed with increasing infant age. Parents rated the cries as less distressed overall than did nonparents. The results suggest that information about distress is available for perceivers in the crying infant's face and voice.
The Impact of Maternal Characteristics and Sensitivity on the Concordance Between Maternal Reports and Laboratory Observations of Infant Negative Emotionality
Authors: Leerkes Esther M. , Crockenberg Susan C.
Published: January 2004

The moderating role of maternal characteristics and maternal sensitivity on the concordance between maternal reports and laboratory observations of negative emotionality was examined. Participants were 90 primiparous mothers and their infants. Mothers completed questionnaires about remembered care from their own parents and their depressive symptoms prenatally, infant temperament (distress to novelty and distress to limitations), and depressive symptoms postnatally. Mothers and infants participated in a laboratory assessment of infant temperament (distress to novelty and limitations) and maternal sensitivity at 6 months postpartum. Several factors that moderate the degree of concordance between maternal reports and behavioral observations were identified, as predicted. Novelty concordance was higher when mothers reported having their emotional needs met in childhood and low prenatal depressive symptoms. Limitations concordance was higher when mothers were less sensitive during the observational tasks. Methodological and theoretical implications are discussed.
Cross‐Task Stability in Infant Attention: New Perspectives Using the Still‐Face Procedure
Authors: Abelkop B. Shayle , Frick Janet E.
Published: January 2004

Infant visual attention has been studied extensively within cognitive paradigms using measures such as look duration and reaction time, but less work has examined how infant attention operates in social contexts. In addition, little is known about the stability of individual differences in attention across cognitive and social contexts. In this study, a cross‐sectional sample of 50 infants (4 and 6 months of age) were first tested in a look duration and reaction time task with static visual stimuli. Next, their mothers participated with the infants in the still‐face procedure, a mildly distressing social interaction paradigm that involves violation of expectancy. Individual differences in looking and emotion were stable across the phases of the still‐face task. Further, individual differences in looking measures from the visual attention task were related to the pattern of looking shown across the phases of the still‐face procedure. Results indicate that individual differences in attentional measures show moderate stability within cognitive and social contexts, and that the ability of infants to shift and disengage looks may affect their ability to regulate interaction in social contexts.
Newborn Behavior and Risk of Postnatal Depression in the Mother
Authors: Sutter‐Dallay A.‐L. , Murray L. , Glatigny‐Dallay E. , Verdoux H.
Published: January 2004

The aim of this study was to assess which behavioral characteristics of the newborn infant are associated with an increased risk of postnatal depression (PND) in the mother. A total of 497 mothers from a prospective cohort study were recruited during the last trimester of pregnancy. Infants were evaluated at 3 days with the Brazelton Neonatal Behavioral Scale. Maternal PND was assessed at 6 weeks postpartum with the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale. Behavioral characteristics of the infant predicted the occurrence of PND, independent of other risk factors for PND: The lower the infants' orientation performance, the higher the risk that the mother would present with PND 6 weeks after delivery. As orientation capacities play a key role in the interactional skills developed between mothers and their infants, an infant who is difficult to engage in interaction may contribute to the risk of PND.
Effects of Brand Local and Nonlocal Origin on Consumer Attitudes in Developing Countries
Authors: Batra Rajeev , Ramaswamy Venkatram , Alden Dana L. , Steenkamp Jan‐Benedict E.M. , Ramachander S.
Published: January 2004

This study tested whether, among consumers in developing countries, brands perceived as having a nonlocal country of origin, especially from the West, are attitudinally preferred to brands seen as local, for reasons not only of perceived quality but also of social status. We found that this perceived brand nonlocalness effect was greater for consumers who have a greater admiration for lifestyles in economically developed countries, which is consistent with findings from the cultural anthropology literature. The effect was also found to be stronger for consumers who were high in susceptibility to normative influence and for product categories high in social signaling value. This effect was also moderated by product category familiarity, but not by consumer ethnocentrism. The results, thus, suggest that in developing countries, a brand's country of origin not only serves as a “quality halo” or summary of product quality (cf. Han, 1989), but also possesses a dimension of nonlocalness that, among some consumers and for some product categories, contributes to attitudinal liking for status‐enhancing reasons.
Cultural and Situational Contingencies and the Theory of Reasoned Action: Application to Fast Food Restaurant Consumption
Authors: Bagozzi Richard P. , Wong Nancy , Abe Shuzo , Bergami Massimo
Published: January 2004

This study investigated the usefulness of the theory of reasoned action for fast food restaurant patronage decisions. The theory of reasoned action was found to generalize across four samples drawn from the United States (N = 246), Italy (N= 123), The People's Republic of China (N = 264), and Japan (N=419). However, predictions under the theory of reasoned action were found to vary, depending on the social setting (eating alone or eating with friends) and cultural orientation (independent vs. interdependent). Among other results, subjective norms were found to influence decisions when eating with friends, but not when alone; the effects of attitudes, subjective norms, and past behavior on intentions were greater for Americans than Italians, Chinese, or Japanese; and in general, more explained variance occurred for Western (American, Italian) than Eastern (Chinese, Japanese) cultures.
Adapting Triandis's Model of Subjective Culture and Social Behavior Relations to Consumer Behavior
Authors: Lee Julie Anne
Published: January 2004

This article develops and tests a framework for the investigation of cultural influences on consumer purchasing behavior by examining the psychological processes that intervene. The model is empirically tested with a camera purchase decision survey in Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong, Australia, and the United States. The data analyzed at the pooled, cultural, and individual difference (i.e., idiocentrism and allocentrism) levels supports the etic nature of the model. In addition, the theory of individualism (idiocentrism) and collectivism (allocentrism) was applied to the model to derive and test specific cross‐cultural hypotheses, including the impact of referent past experience and referent expectations and affordability on purchase intentions. At the individual level, it was found that both referent influences and affordability had a stronger influence for the allocentric subsample than for the idiocentric subsample.
Nontarget Markets and Viewer Distinctiveness: The Impact of Target Marketing on Advertising Attitudes
Authors: Aaker Jennifer L. , Brumbaugh Anne M. , Grier Sonya A.
Published: January 2004

This research examines the effect of target marketing on members of the advertiser's intended audience as well as members not in the target market: the nontarget market. The results of 3 experiments show that unfavorable nontarget market effects are stronger for members of nondistinctive groups (e.g., Caucasian individuals, heterosexual individuals) and favorable target market effects are stronger for members of distinctive groups (e.g., African American individuals, homosexual individuals). The results of Experiment 2 demonstrate that the psychological processes by which target and nontarget market effects occur differ by viewer group: Felt similarity with sources in an advertisement drives target market effects for distinctive viewers, whereas felt targetedness drives target market effects for nondistinctive viewers. Finally, Experiment 3 shows that these consumer feelings of similarity or targetedness are associated with underlying processes of identification and internalization. Theoretical implications regarding the impact of distinctiveness theory in consumer persuasion effects and potential social effects of target marketing are discussed.
A Conceptual Overview of the Self‐Presentational Concerns and Response Tendencies of Focus Group Participants
Authors: Wooten David B. , Reed Americus
Published: January 2004

Focus group respondents are often requested to perform tasks that require them to convey information about themselves. However, despite the potential for respondents to have self‐presentational concerns, research on focus group productivity has virtually ignored extant scholarship on impression management. This shortcoming is addressed by presenting a conceptual overview of the effects of self‐presentational concerns on focus group participation. A product of this overview is a conceptual model that posits that the amount and nature of information that people convey about themselves to others is a function of their eagerness to make desired impressions and their subjective probabilities of doing so. According to the model, when focus group participants are highly motivated to make desired impressions, they may be reluctant to present unbiased images of themselves. However, they are not likely to deceive unless they are confident in their abilities to ascertain and enact desired images. Those who are motivated to make desired impressions but are doubtful of doing so are likely to protect themselves by concealing self‐relevant information or avoiding self‐relevant issues. Implications of this model for research and practice are discussed.
Explaining Context Effects on Choice Using a Model of Comparative Judgment
Authors: Bhargava Mukesh , Kim John , Srivastava Rajendra K.
Published: January 2004

Context effects refer to the shifts in shares when another alternative is introduced in the choice set. The alternative can be asymmetrically dominated, asymmetrically dominating, totally dominated, or totally dominating. We developed a theoretically derived model based on the shifts in attribute valuation as a potential explanation for all context effects. First, the model is tested using data from previously published studies. As predicted, the results showed a high correlation between shifts in valuation and changes in the choice shares. The model is also tested using 2 studies that extend the design of the choice sets to include better alternatives in a search context and the removal of an alternative. The strong relation justifies the case for comparative valuation as an underlying mechanism for context effects. Assuming this valuation, the article illustrates how the framework can be used to develop new product strategies taking into account the values of the unchosen alternatives.
Gifts in a Romantic Relationship: A Survival Analysis
Authors: Huang Ming‐Hui , Yu Shihti
Published: January 2004

Employing a survival analysis approach, this study synthesizes 3 aspects of gift literature and suggests their effects on the timing of dissolution for a romantic relationship. Products or services can be consumed for the purpose of enhancing self‐attractiveness (self‐gift), expressing love to partners (other‐gift), and announcing a relationship to the outer world (joint‐gift). Results indicate that the distribution of time until dissolution for young students’ romantic relationships is more likely to first fall and then rise. Gifts can delay the timing of dissolution, but not the probability of its final destination. For female students, self‐enhancing gifts are found to delay the timing; for male students, love‐expressive gifts speed up the timing; and for both male and female students, relationship‐announcing gifts delay the timing of dissolution. Consumers, thus, are advised to use gifts to make their relationships endure, but not to attempt to alter a poor relationship into a successful one.
Trying Hard or Hardly Trying: An Analysis of Context Effects in Choice
Authors: Dhar Ravi , Nowlis Stephen M. , Sherman Steven J.
Published: January 2004

Several studies have shown that consumer choice is often influenced by the context or the set of alternatives under consideration. Context effects have largely been explained in terms of constructive preferences that are consistent with 2 theoretical accounts—effort minimization and perceptual contrast—that emphasize different underlying motivations. We propose that the effect of time pressure on context effects can be used as a moderating variable to determine which of the 2 motives is supported. Specifically, if context effects bias preferences due to effort minimization, time pressure should increase the magnitude of such effects. In contrast, if context effects arise due to an excessive focus on the relational characteristics of the alternatives provided, time pressure should reduce the magnitude of such effects. We examine this proposition in relation to the compromise effect and a choice between an extreme and an all‐average option. We find that the compromise effect and the preference for an all‐average alternative are both reduced under time pressure. A study using Mouselab provides additional support for the underlying decision mechanisms. We discuss the theoretical implications of this research and explore its consequences for marketers.
Comparative Versus Noncomparative Advertising: The Moderating Impact of Prepurchase Attribute Verifiability
Authors: Pratap Jain Shailendra , Buchanan Bruce , Maheswaran Durairaj
Published: January 2004

We employed an attributional framework to test the differences between comparative and noncomparative ads when different attribute types were featured. Our experimental findings suggest that noncomparative ads might be more believable than comparative ads for experience attribute claims; however, for search attribute claims, the 2 might elicit similar levels of believability. We also find some support for the attributional underpinnings of lower believability associated with comparative‐experience claims.
Independent and Interactive Effects of Exposure Sequence, Pioneership Awareness, and Product Trial on Consumer Evaluation of a Pioneer Brand
Authors: Kamins Michael A. , Alpert Frank H. , Elliott Michael T.
Published: January 2004

Prior theoretical research has established 3 sources of pioneer brand advantage: exposure sequence, product trial, and pioneer status. Researchers have studied only 1 source at a time and have not differentiated among the sources. Therefore, the question as to whether these sources contribute additively or nonadditively to the pioneer brand advantage is still an unanswered question. Moreover, this question increases in importance in proportion to the degree to which consumers are able to identify which brand is the pioneer in a given product class.

This research presents the results of 2 studies using an experimental design and survey research approach, respectively, to examine the issues just discussed. The main finding of the 1 st study is a moderating effect of exposure sequence and trial on the impact of pioneership labeling in terms of sales expectations. Providing pioneer awareness positively affects sales expectations when a pioneer brand receives 2nd exposure to consumers as opposed to 1 st exposure. However, when both products have been tried, the trial experience tends to dominate the benefit of the pioneer label cue. The main finding of the 2nd study is that consumers are typically unaware of which brand is the pioneer in a given product class.

These findings suggest managers of pioneer brands should consider including the brand's pioneer status in marketing communications, particularly under the rather common occurrence when consumers have already been exposed to other brands and might be unaware of the pioneer's true status.
Processing Product Unique Features: Alignability and Involvement in Preference Construction
Authors: Zhang Shi , Markman Arthur B.
Published: January 2004

Consumers often form preferences based on the presented attributes of choice options. Previous research has suggested that consumers tend to form their preferences using the attributes that are related to common aspects between the options (i.e., alignable differences) and ignore attributes that are unique to individual options (i.e., nonalignable differences). We combine cognitive psychology and motivation research from social psychology and propose that consumers’ preference formation can be systematically affected by whether they focus more on alignable differences or more on nonalignable differences of the options as a function of consumers’ involvement with the task. The results of 3 experiments show that preference judgment favors alignable differences over nonalignable differences in a low‐motivation condition. In contrast, high motivation to process information enables consumers to increase their use of nonalignable differences in preference formation, which can result in a preference reversal relative to the low‐motivation condition. The results suggest that a preference reversal occurs when the nonalignable differences of the target option are superior to both the nonalignable differences and the alignable differences of the reference option. However, the reversal does not occur when the nonalignable differences of the target option are superior only to the nonalignable differences of the reference option. Theoretical and managerial implications relating to differentiation, positioning, and communication strategies for innovative brands are discussed.
When Arousal Influences Ad Evaluation and Valence Does Not (and Vice Versa)
Authors: Gorn Gerald , Tuan Pham Michel , Yatming Sin Leo
Published: January 2004

This research examines, across 2 studies, the interplay between the valence and arousal components of affective states and the affective tone of a target ad. In the first study, music was used to induce a pleasant or unpleasant mood, while controlling for arousal. Participants were subsequently exposed to an ad that either had a positive‐affective tone or was ambiguous in its affective tone. As predicted, the valence of the affective state colored the evaluation of the ad in a mood‐congruent direction, but this coloring effect occurred only when the ad had an ambiguous‐affective tone. In the second study, the target ad had a clear positive or negative affective tone, and the valence and arousal dimensions of the mood state were manipulated independently. As predicted, the arousal dimension, but not the valence dimension, influenced ad evaluation. Ad evaluations were more polarized in the direction of the ad's affective tone under high arousal than under low arousal. This effect was more pronounced for self‐referent evaluations (e.g., “I like the ad”) than for object‐referent evaluations (e.g., “The ad is good”), favoring an attributional explanation—the excitation transfer hypothesis—over an attention‐narrowing explanation—the dynamic complexity hypothesis. Taken together, the results of the 2 studies stress the important contingency of the affective tone of the ad, when examining the effects of the valence and arousal dimensions of a person's affective state on ad evaluation. The results also provide additional insights into how and when affect serves as information in judgment processes.
Promoting a Brand's Emotion Benefits: The Influence of Emotion Categorization Processes on Consumer Evaluations
Authors: Ruth Julie A.
Published: January 2004

Research in psychology has demonstrated that people have a shared knowledge of emotion categories. Building on this research and our understanding of categorization processes, this article proposes a mechanism by which consumers utilize information about a brand's “emotion benefits” in forming attitudes. The results of 2 experimental studies show that (a) consumers’ processing of a brand's emotion benefit information is consistent with categorization processes such that emotion category congruity effects are large in basic—versus subordinate—level conditions, (b) associating a brand with certain emotions can influence brand and ad attitudes without necessarily eliciting emotions during exposure to advertising, (c) emotion category congruity “works” through attitude‐toward‐the‐ad and emotion benefit beliefs in influencing brand attitudes, and (d) subjective product category knowledge moderates the strength of these effects. Taken together, these results explicate the process by which a knowledge‐based consideration of a brand's emotional benefits can influence consumers’ beliefs about the brand and brand attitudes.
The Role of Abstract and Specific Knowledge in the Formation of Product Judgments: An Analogical Learning Perspective
Authors: Gregan‐Paxton Jennifer
Published: January 2004

Prior research has assumed that existing knowledge exerts its influence on consumer judgments primarily through abstract knowledge structures. Consequently, little attention has been given to the possibility that judgments may, under certain circumstances, be influenced by knowledge associated with more specific knowledge structures. This article examines the factors responsible for determining the impact of abstract versus specific knowledge on consumer judgments. Based on the Consumer Learning by Analogy model (CLA model; Gregan‐Paxton & John, 1997), it is argued that the relative influence of abstract and specific knowledge is a function of (a) the relation between the new product and existing knowledge and (b) the nature of consumer's knowledge. These ideas were tested in a series of experiments in which participants were required to judge a new product that varied in its relation to an existing product or brand. In this context, the influence of specific knowledge was most evident when participants were able to construct an attribute mapping, but not a relational mapping, to link the novel product to a familiar brand exemplar. When it was possible to construct a relational mapping, a more abstract knowledge structure, such as a schema, was retrieved and used as the basis of product judgments.
Down the Garden Path: The Role of Conditional Inference Processes in Self‐Persuasion
Authors: Kardes Frank R. , Cronley Maria L. , Pontes Manuel C. , Houghton David C.
Published: January 2004

Three experiments investigated the effects of conditional inference processes on belief system structure and persuasion. Experiment 1 applied functional measurement procedures to show that Wyer's (1974) subjective probability model of cognitive organization generalizes to belief systems using realistic product stimuli. Experiment 2 demonstrated that belief systems about products become more internally consistent when beliefs within these systems are reported repeatedly (the Socratic effect), especially when brand familiarity is low. Experiment 3 investigated the effects of horizontal versus vertical argument structures in advertising on persuasion. The results show that a persuasion‐induced change in 1 belief can alter other related but unmentioned beliefs, and that resistance to persuasion is greater for horizontal than for vertical argument structures. Theoretical and applied implications of these results are discussed.
Suspense and Advertising Responses
Authors: Alwitt Linda F.
Published: January 2004

Suspense is a cognitive and emotional reaction that is evoked by time‐dependent structural characteristics of an unfolding dramatic narrative. Suspense within narratives is defined and its structural antecedents, based on characteristics of suspense that have been studied within the context of film and fiction, are identified. Results of three studies offer evidence that suspenseful commercials can be identified and discriminated from other types of commercials. As they watch, viewers of suspenseful commercials show a combination of hope and fear emotional responses. A parameter of online hope and fear responses is positively correlated with attitude toward the ad for suspenseful, but not for nonsuspenseful, commercials. Perceptions of suspense‐related characteristics predict attitude toward the ad for suspenseful commercials, but are 1 of several predictors for nonsuspenseful commercials. A negative aspect of suspenseful commercials is that there is less brand–content integration.
Misrepresentation in the Consumer Context
Authors: Sengupta Jaideep , Dahl Darren W. , Gorn Gerald J.
Published: January 2004

Research in social psychology suggests that motives such as self‐bolstering and impression management can lead people to engage in deliberate misrepresentations during interpersonal communications. This article extends our understanding of such behavior to a new domain; that of consumer communications. Drawing on research on lying behavior and symbolic consumption, we suggest that misrepresentation about products and possessions is particularly likely to occur when these products or possessions are used to create a positive self‐image in the context of social interaction. Experiments 1 and 2 simulate a social interaction wherein misrepresentation about the purchase price of a product helps participants to manage impressions. A third experiment extends these findings by testing for wealth‐related misrepresentation in the context of an interaction wherein participants actually communicate their family's wealth to a recipient. Consistent with predictions derived from existing research on symbolic consumption, all 3 experiments provide support for the critical importance of recipient status on the likelihood of misrepresentation. The first 2 experiments additionally examine the role of individual differences and brand differences. Results on these dimensions are also supportive of our underlying theoretical premise regarding the antecedents of lying behavior.
Perceived Source Variability Versus Familiarity: Testing Competing Explanations for the Truth Effect
Authors: Roggeveen Anne L. , Johar Gita Venkataramani
Published: January 2004

This article tests 2 competing explanations for the truth effect, the finding that repeated statements are believed more than new statements. Previous research has put forth 2 explanations for this effect—subjective familiarity and perceived source variability. The subjective familiarity explanation holds that repeated statements feel more familiar and are therefore believed more than new statements. This explanation has received strong support in the literature. The source variability explanation holds that people attribute repeated statements to different sources; this belief, that multiple sources endorse the statement, increases belief in repeated statements relative to new statements attributed to a single source. However, previous studies testing this explanation have confounded source variability with source credibility. This research aims to tease apart the effects of subjective familiarity and source variability while holding source credibility constant across conditions. Results of the first 2 experiments manipulating number of sources and measuring recognition implicate subjective familiarity rather than perceived source variability as the mechanism underlying the truth effect. However, the third study demonstrates that source variability does enhance belief in repeated statements that are initially perceived as low in plausibility. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
All Dressed Up With Something to Say: Effects of Typeface Semantic Associations on Brand Perceptions and Consumer Memory
Authors: Childers Terry L. , Jass Jeffrey
Published: January 2004

In this research, a conceptual framework is developed that addresses the impact of typeface semantic cues within a marketing context. Visual properties of typefaces are conceptualized as communicating unique semantic associations to individuals distinct from the content of the written words they clothe. Typeface associations are investigated across varying levels of involvement in terms of their effect upon brand perceptions. These associations also influenced the memorability of advertised benefit claims. Memorability was enhanced as the degree of consistency among typeface semantic cues, advertisement visual cues, and advertisement copy claims increased. Extensions of this framework focus on obtaining a more complete understanding concerning the semantic pathways through which typefaces convey meaning.
How Self‐Regulation Creates Distinct Values: The Case of Promotion and Prevention Decision Making
Authors: Higgins E. Tory
Published: January 2004

I propose that different relations among basic components of self‐regulation produce distinct types of decision value: (a) Outcome value is produced when the consequences of a decision are relevant to the regulatory orientation of the decision maker, (b) value from fit is produced when goal pursuit means suit the regulatory orientation of the decision maker, and (c) value from proper means is produced when goal pursuit means are in agreement with established rules and normative principles. I use the regulatory focus distinction between promotion focus concerns with aspirations and accomplishments and prevention focus concerns with safety and responsibilities (Higgins, 1997, 1998) to illustrate outcome value and value from fit. Justification of a decision is used to illustrate value from proper means. I propose that decision makers are unlikely to distinguish among their experiences of these 3 types of value, and thus value from fit and value from proper means can be transferred to outcome value. I present evidence of such value transfer and consider its implications for value to the customer. I also reconsider sunk costs and the endowment effect in light of there being value beyond outcome value.
Partitioned Presentation of Multicomponent Bundle Prices: Evaluation, Choice and Underlying Processing Effects
Authors: Chakravarti Dipankar , Krish Rajan , Paul Pallab , Srivastava Joydeep
Published: January 2004

Firms may choose to present the price of a multicomponent product bundle in partitioned (separate price for each mandatory component) or consolidated (single, equivalent price) fashion. In this article, we report on 2 experiments that examined the effects of such presentations on evaluations and choices as well as the underlying processing effects. In Experiment 1, consistent with a mental accounting analysis, a multicomponent product bundle was evaluated more favorably and chosen more often when its components were presented with partitioned (vs. consolidated) prices. The effects were, however, moderated by the component partitioned. In particular, it appeared that partitioning prices altered attention paid to the components partitioned and related product features. In Experiment 2, we found that different splits of the bundle price influenced evaluations and choices depending on how the focal product price related to that of a comparison option. These price‐split effects were also moderated by the component partitioned, suggesting attention effects similar to Experiment 1. The findings show that although the effects of price partitioning were consistent with mental accounting principles, they were moderated by information processing effects related to the partitioned component.
The Values and Lifestyles of Idiocentrics and Allocentrics in an Individualist Culture: A Descriptive Approach
Authors: Dutta‐Bergman Mohan J. , Wells William D.
Published: January 2004

A considerable degree of research in cross‐cultural consumer psychology has focused on the effects of individualism–collectivism on consumer preference for advertising appeals. Recently, psychologists have demonstrated a growing interest in the individual‐level manifestations of individualism–collectivism. Idiocentrism refers to person‐level individualism, whereas allocentrism refers to person‐level collectivism. Drawing on individualism–collectivism theory, in this article we look at the lifestyle of idiocentrics and allocentrics. Our findings suggest a convergence between the etic‐ and emic‐level approaches, thus strengthening individualism–collectivism theory. The emic‐level findings of this study also suggest additional questions to be explored at the etic level. Finally, we make suggestions for applications in consumer communication.
The Role of Consumption Emotions in the Satisfaction Response
Authors: Phillips Diane M. , Baumgartner Hans
Published: January 2004

We report 2 studies that served to clarify the role of consumption emotions in the satisfaction response. In the 1st study, we examined the role of consumption emotions within the expectancy‐disconfirmation model of consumer satisfaction and investigated whether consumption emotions are a result of product performance or disconfirmation. The findings show that both positive and negative emotions are primarily a function of product performance and influence satisfaction even when the effects of expectations, performance, and disconfirmation are controlled. In the 2nd study, we proposed and tested an alternative framework for understanding the role of consumption emotions in the satisfaction response for situations in which consumers use more of an experiential perspective to anticipate and experience consumption. According to this model, consumers form affective expectations about how consumption of the product will make them feel, experience positive or negative emotions as a result of these expectations and product consumption, and evaluate the discrepancy between experienced and anticipated emotions. All 3 variables, then, impact satisfaction. The results empirically support many of the relations in the new model of the experiential satisfaction response but also raise several interesting avenues for future research.
Debiasing Using Decomposition: The Case of Memory‐Based Credit Card Expense Estimates
Authors: Srivastava Joydeep , Raghubir Priya
Published: January 2004

This article develops a conceptual framework to examine how consumers incorporate memory‐based and context‐based cues in estimating past and future credit card expenses. Focusing on memory‐based information, in this framework we suggest that past credit card expenses may be recalled as holistic totals or episodic individual expenses depending on the accessibility of each form of expense. We tested the conceptual framework with 3 studies. Study 1 showed that the recency of past expenses and frequency of credit card usage moderated the extent to which past expenses were used in estimating future expenses. Study 1 also showed that self‐awareness of estimation bias affected consumers’ estimates of future expenses. Study 2 showed that a decomposition strategy (unbundling a total into subcategories), which serves to make episodic individual expenses more accessible, was effective in reducing sampling‐based bias. Study 3 provided a validity check and showed that decomposition cues reduced estimation errors and affected estimates of future expense. In this article, we demonstrate the manner in which memory‐based information is used to make estimates, and we also demonstrate the effectiveness of decomposition as a debiasing technique for past and future estimates.
Effects of Interruptions on Consumer Online Decision Processes
Authors: Xia Lan , Sudharshan D.
Published: January 2004

The growth of e‐commerce and its attendant new technology features has increased interactivity in consumer information processing and decision‐making processes. The pull and push of information can be both more personalized and more commonly used. The ease of pushing information may lead to interruptions in consumer information processing that are more pronounced than those experienced in non‐Internet environments. Our study investigated the impact of interruption frequency, timing, and content and the moderating effects of consumer knowledge, control, and goal type on time spent on the decision task as well as satisfaction with the decision process and the choice. Our results show that the right configuration of interruptions may lead to increased online viewing time, whereas ill‐designed interruptions may be detrimental.
Early‐Entrant Advantage, Word‐of‐Mouth Communication, Brand Similarity, and the Consumer Decision‐Making Process
Authors: Grewal Rajdeep , Cline Thomas W. , Davies Anthony
Published: January 2004

To better understand the competitive dynamics between an early and a later entrant, in this study we examined the extent to which word of mouth (WOM) regarding the later entrant and the later entrant's similarity to the early entrant influences the consumer decision process. We hypothesized that the influence of WOM and similarity depends on the nature of the decision‐making task, which is theorized as either a stimuli‐based or memory‐based task. A 3‐stage, sequential‐logit model with 2 focal brands (the early and later entrants) was developed to test the influence of independent measures on the likelihood of (a) retrieval; (b) consideration, given retrieval; and (c) choice, given consideration for both the early entrant and the focal follower. Data from 2 experiments provides support for the multistage conceptualization of the consumer decision process and demonstrates that the effects of WOM communication and similarity depend on the nature of the decision‐making task.
Hearing Voices: The Impact of Announcer Speech Characteristics on Consumer Response to Broadcast Advertising
Authors: Chattopadhyay Amitava , Dahl Darren W. , Ritchie Robin J.B. , Shahin Kimary N.
Published: January 2004

Virtually every broadcast advertisement uses the voice of an announcer, but due to lack of guidance from the marketing literature, managers must rely on gut feel when choosing a voice. Drawing on research from psycholinguistics, we identify 3 important voice characteristics —syllable speed, interphrase pausation, and pitch — and link these characteristics to key advertising response variables. By considering these 3 variables simultaneously, we test competing explanations previously offered to explain the process by which speech rate affects consumer response to advertising. Specifically, we assess whether an increase in speech rate enhances or reduces processing of the advertisement and whether this effect is driven primarily by syllable speed or interphrase pausation. Consideration of these 2 aspects of speech rate independently helps identify whether the changes in processing stem from changes in the opportunity to process and/or the motivation to process. Our results show that a voice with faster‐than‐normal syllable speed and low pitch produces less negative advertisement‐directed cognitive responses and more favorable ad attitudes, as well as more favorable brand attitudes, lending support to a motivational process explanation. No significant effects were found for interphrase pausation, suggesting that the results cannot be accounted for by the reduced opportunity to process in the compressed conditions.
Gender Typed Advertisements and Impression Formation: The Role of Chronic and Temporary Accessibility
Authors: Johar Gita Venkataramani , Moreau Page , Schwarz Norbert
Published: January 2004

In this research, we tested the effects of chronic and temporary sources of accessibility on impression formation. Although some research suggests that chronicity amplifies temporary effects because of greater susceptibility to external primes, other research suggests that chronicity masks temporary effects because of redundance. We demonstrate in a thought listing study that in the domain of gender stereotypes, trait stereotypes may be routinely applied by those with a medium or high tendency to stereotype women, making external primes redundant. Based on this redundancy, we proposed that gender stereotypical primes will have little influence on subsequent judgments of those with a medium or high tendency to gender stereotype. In contrast, gender stereotypical primes will result in the classic assimilation effect for those with a low tendency to gender stereotype. We tested these propositions in the domain of female role portrayals in advertising and examined the effect of advertisements that feature women as homemakers (vs. do not feature women) on trait judgments of a target woman whose behaviors are ambiguously described. Results from 2 experiments show that, as predicted by the redundancy hypothesis, judgments of medium and high tendency to stereotype participants are not affected by advertisements portraying homemakers. Also as expected, judgments of low tendency to stereotype participants are assimilated to the homemaker prime. These results hold across tendency to trait stereotype (Experiment 1) and tendency to role stereotype (Experiment 2) and for trait judgments as well as gift choice. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.
Activating Culture Through Persuasion Appeals: An Examination of the Bicultural Consumer
Authors: Lau‐Gesk Loraine G.
Published: January 2004

In this research, I examined how biculturals, or individuals who have been equally influenced by an East Asian and Western cultural orientation, respond to various types of persuasion appeals that promote values unique to a particular culture. In the first experiment, I found that biculturals, relative to monoculturals, tend to react favorably toward both individually and interpersonally focused appeals due to their having 2 equally developed and accessible cultural dispositions. In the second experiment, I identified boundary conditions under which having relatively equal access to both cultural dispositions leads to favorable responses. Results indicate that biculturals who tend to compartmentalize each culture react less favorably toward appeals that are both individually and interpersonally focused than biculturals who tend to integrate the 2 cultures. In other words, the former type of bicultural prefers appeals that activate one cultural disposition, whereas the latter type of bicultural favors appeals that activate both cultural dispositions. These findings are discussed in light of the growing trend toward multiculturalism and the increasing need for researchers to understand the impact of this trend on various consumer behavior issues.
When Is Honesty the Best Policy? The Effect of Stated Company Intent on Consumer Skepticism
Authors: Foreh Mark R. , Grier Sonya
Published: January 2004

Prior research suggests that consumers evaluate firms more negatively if they attribute the firm's business practices to firm‐serving motivations rather than to motivations that serve the public good. We propose an alternative hypothesis: Firm‐serving attributions lower evaluation of the firm only when they are inconsistent with the firm's expressed motive. As such, the negative effect of consumer skepticism regarding a firm's motives can be inhibited by public acknowledgment of the strategic benefits to the firm. The power of this inhibition procedure was demonstrated in an experiment in which we manipulated the salience of firm‐serving benefits and the firm's publicly stated motive. Consumer evaluation of the sponsoring firm was lowest in conditions when firm‐serving benefits were salient and the firm outwardly stated purely public‐serving motives. This experiment also revealed that the potential negative effects of skepticism were the most pronounced when individuals engaged in causal attribution prior to company evaluation. Finally, in this study we measured the different effects on attribution and evaluation of 2 distinct forms of skepticism: situational skepticism, which is a momentary state of distrust of an actor's motivations, and dispositional skepticism, which is an individual's ongoing tendency to be suspicious of other people's motives.
How Do Consumers Transfer Existing Knowledge? A Comparison of Analogy and Categorization Effects
Authors: Gregan‐Paxton Jennifer , Moreau Page
Published: January 2004

The trend in recent consumer research has been to emphasize the similarities between analogy and categorization. In this investigation, we merge the literature on analogy, categorization, and structure mapping theory to reach a better understanding of their differences. In 3 experiments, we compare consumers’ responses to analogy and categorization cues and find that analogy places much greater constraints on knowledge transfer than categorization by focusing consumers on relational similarities. Illustrating this, the analogy group in Study 1 was just as likely as the categorization group to generate relational inferences, but much less likely to generate attribute inferences. Likewise, the results of Study 2 indicate that the analogy group restricted their processing of features lying outside the common relational system, leading to inferior recall relative to the categorization group. Building on these findings, Study 3 demonstrates that, under certain circumstances, analogy and categorization work together syn‐ergistically to enhance consumer memory.
When Small Means Comfortable: Relations Between Product Attributes in Two‐Sided Advertising
Authors: Bohner Gerd , Einwiller Sabine , Erb Hans‐Peter , Siebler Frank
Published: January 2004

The processes that mediate the effectiveness of 2‐sided advertising were studied. We predicted that (a) 2‐sided (vs. 1‐sided) advertisements increase perceived source credibility and that (b) the logical relation between the negative and positive product attributes mentioned in the 2‐sided ad (e.g., little space, implying a cozy atmosphere) facilitates favorable inferences about the positive attributes, especially when recipients have sufficient time to process the message content. Results supported these predictions. However, the effects of message type and processing time on attitudes were mediated by inferences about positive attributes but not by perceived source credibility. Implications of these findings for consumer judgment and decision making are discussed.