Consumer Behavior - Article Summary - Lili Koenicke (May 2024)
Week 1: The Psychological Core 2
Article 1: Stimulus Recognition and the mere exposure effect (Bornstein 1992) 2
Article 2: Shining in the Center: Central Gaze cascade effect on product choice (Atalay 2012) 2
Article 3: The mere association effect and brand evaluations (Dimofte, Claudiu & Richard 2011) 3
Article 4: An integrative review of sensory marketing: Engaging the senses to affect perception,
judgment and behavior (Krishna 2012) 4
Week 2: Consumer Rationality 4
Article 1: How consumers are affected by the framing of attribute information before and after
consuming the product (Levin & Gaeth, 1988) 4
Article 2: Preference reversals between joint and separate evaluations of options: a review and
theoretical analysis (Hsee, Loewenstein, Blount & Bazerman, 1999) 5
Article 3: Zero as a special price: The true value of free procuts (Shampanier, Mazar, Ariely, 2007)
5
Article 4: Price-framing effects on the purchase of hedonic and utilitarian bundles (Khan & Dhar,
2010) 6
Week 3: Affective and Emotional Consumer Reactions 6
Article 1: What makes online content viral? (Berger & Milkman, 2012) 6
Article 2: The effects of physiological arousal on information processing and persuasion
(Sanbonmatsu & Kardes 1988) 7
Article 3: The influence of ad-evoked feelings on brand evaluations: Empirical generalizations
from consumer responses to more than 1000 TV commercials (Pham, Geuens & De Pelsmacker,
2013) 7
Article 4: An arousal regulation explanation of mood effects on consumer choice (Di Muro &
Murray, 2012) 8
Week 4: Social Influences on Consumer Behavior 9
Article 1: I’ll have what she’s having: Effect of social influence and body type on the food choices
of others (McFerran, Brent, Dahl, Fitzsimons & Morales, 2010) 9
Article 2: Social Influence in the Retail context: A contemporary review of the literature (Argo &
Dahl, 2020) 10
Article 3: Broadcasting and narrowcasting: How audience size affects what people share (Barasch
& Berger, 2014) 11
Article 4: Word of mouth and interpersonal communication: A review and directions for future
research (Berger, 2014) 11
Article 1: Standards of beauty: The impact of mannequins in the retail context (Argo& Dahl, 2018)
12
Article 2: Signaling status with luxury goods: The role of brand prominence (Han, Jee, Nunes &
Dreze, 2010) 13
Article 3: Gender identity salience and perceived vulnerability to breast cancer (Puntoni, Stefano,
Sweldens, Tavassoli, 2011) 14
Article 4: Identity-based consumer behavior (Reed II, Americus, Forehand, Puntoni & Warlop,
2012) 15
Week 6: Consumers and Marketing for a ‘Better world’ 15
Article 1: The goal-gradient hypothesis resurrected: Purchase acceleration, illusionary goal
progress, and customer retention (Kivetz, Urminsky & Zheng, 2006) 15
Article 2: A room with a viewpoint: Using social norms to motivate environmental conservation in
hotels (Goldstein, Cialdini & Griskevicius, 2008) 16
Article 3: Justification effects on consumer choice of hedonic and utilitarian goods (Okada, 2005)
17
Article 4: Licensing effect in consumer choice (Khan & Dhar, 2006) 17
,Week 1: The Psychological Core
Article 1: Stimulus Recognition and the mere exposure effect (Bornstein 1992)
Examines relationship between stimulus recognition and mere exposure effect
Mere exposure effect: people tend to develop preference for stimuli that they have been
repeatedly exposed to, even when they are not consciously aware of the exposure.
→ unreinforced exposure that is sufficient to enhance attitude toward stimulus
Stimuli
1) Subliminal: stimuli that we are not aware of perceiving
2) Supraliminal: stimuli that we are consciously perceiving
Experiment:
- The more frequently the shape (Polygon, Photograph) was shown, the more
participants liked it.
- The mere exposure effect (Liking) is stronger in the 5 ms stimuli; No significant effect
for 500 ms stimuli
- The mere exposure effect (Recognition) is higher in the 500 ms stimuli
- Subliminal stimuli produce larger mere exposure effect than supraliminal stimuli
and therefore have a more significant effect.
Implication: Repeated exposure to a product or brand could lead to increased recognition
and preference
Article 2: Shining in the Center: Central Gaze cascade effect on product choice (Atalay
2012)
Examination of consumers tendency to choose the option in the center in an array and the
underlying process of this effect
Experiment:
, - Eye tracking studies show that brand in horizontal center receive more visual
attention
→ more likely to be chosen
- Central fixation bias: tendency to look first at the central option
- Central Gaze Effect: progressively increasing attention focused on the central option
right prior to decision
- Attention leads to increase in total number of fixations, fixation duration and choice
share
→ Effect more pronounced in first and last 5 seconds of gaze
Implication: Products centrally located within product category are chosen more often →
center is very important location
Gaze Cascade Effect: can lead to higher choice likelihood
- Avalanche of fixations on the to-be-chosen object in final seconds of gaze duration
→ sequence of fixations (gaze pattern) provides information about visual search
process
- Fixation: when person looks at specific thing for 20-40 ms
Article 3: The mere association effect and brand evaluations (Dimofte, Claudiu & Richard
2011)
Explores impact of associative processes on consumer brand evaluations
Mere association effect: Perceptions of a brand can be influenced by the mere presence or
association of unrelated positive/negative stimuli
→ if we see/think about something positive/negative in relation to a brand it can affect how
we feel about that brand, even if things are not related.
E.g. happy puppy for chips advertisements → more positive feelings towards brand
→ Effect can happen at a conscious or unconscious level.
Experiment:
1: Exposure to subliminal primes before being shown brand logos
→ more positive brand evaluation when being primed with positive stimuli / more
negative when primed with negative stimuli
2: Exposure to supraliminal primes before being shown brand logos
→ more positive brand evaluation when being primed with positive stimuli / more
negative when primed with negative stimuli
3: Boundary conditions of mere association effect: Brand involvement
→ effect more pronounced among consumers with low brand involvement.
Implications: Marketers should be cautious about types of stimuli they associate with their
brands → associations can have lasting impacts on consumer perception
Article 4: An integrative review of sensory marketing: Engaging the senses to affect
perception, judgment and behavior (Krishna 2012)
Provides overview of the field of sensory marketing and its impact on consumer behavior
