The Influence of Assortment Structure on Perceived Variety and Consumption
Quantities: Increasing the actual variety of an assortment has been shown previously
to in- crease the quantity consumed. We show, however, that consumption quantities
are also influenced by the perceived variety of an assortment. In combination, six lab
and field studies show that the structure of an assortment (e.g., organization and
symmetry or entropy) moderates the effect of actual variety on perceived variety. We
further show that it is perceived variety that in turn influences consumption quantities
through anticipated consumption utility. Making salient other consumption rules, such as
size of the assortment, moderates this effect. These findings are of immediate relevance
to interdisciplinary researchers and to consumers and health practitioners who wish to
better control food consumption.
Dogs on the Street, Pumas on Your Feet: How Cues in the Environment Influence
Product Evaluation and Choice: Little empirical research has examined the implicit
effects of environmental cues on consumer behavior. Across six studies using a
combination of field and laboratory methods, the authors find that products are more
accessible, evaluated more favorably, and chosen more frequently when the surrounding
environment contains more perceptually or conceptually related cues. The findings
highlight the impact of frequent—in addition to recent—priming in shaping product
evaluation and choice: More frequent exposure to perceptually or conceptually related
cues increases product accessibility and makes the product easier to process. In turn,
this increased accessibility influences product evaluation and choice, which are found to
vary directly with the frequency of exposure to conceptually related cues. These results
support the hypothesis that conceptual priming effects can have a strong impact on real-
world consumer judgments.
The “Shaken Self”: Product Choices as a Means of Restoring Self-View
Confidence: The present research shows that when a confidently held self-view (e.g., “I
am an exciting person”) is temporarily cast in doubt, individuals are motivated to choose
products that bolster their original self-view (e.g., choosing brands with exciting brand
personalities). The findings across three studies suggest that subtle manipulations can
temporarily “shake” one’s self-view confidence, resulting in an in- creased propensity of
choosing self-view-bolstering products in a subsequent choice task. The consequences
of the “shaken self” for product choices are examined in different self-domains. The
findings also suggest that the effects of the shaken self are attenuated when individuals
have the opportunity to restore their self-view confidence prior to the final choice task.
Mass-Communicated Prediction Requests: Practical Application and a Cognitive
Dissonance Explanation for Self-Prophecy: Marketers often promote socially
beneficial actions or discourage antisocial behaviors to the benefit of their firms, target
markets, and society as a whole. One means by which marketers accomplish such
influence is a technique referred to as the “self-prophecy effect,” or the behavioral
influence of a person making a self-prediction. Researchers have yet to establish the
efficacy of self-prophecy in influencing large target markets. In addition, the theoretical
mechanism underlying the effect remains in question. The authors report two field
studies that demonstrate successful application of self-prophecy through mass-
communicated prediction requests. Furthermore, in three laboratory experiments, the
authors provide theoretical support for a dissonance-based explanation for self-
prophecy, and they discuss practical implications for marketers interested in influencing
socially normative behavior.
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