Knowledge that Transforms

Three experiments investigate the emotions that arise from buying or not buying at an unintended purchase opportunity and how they color evaluations of affective advertising appeals that are viewed subsequently. We demonstrate that buying can cause happiness tempered with guilt, while not buying causes pride. Consistent with the felt affect, respondents who had bought at time 1 subsequently prefer happiness appeals to pride appeals, while those who had refrained prefer pride appeals. Drawing attention to the initial purchase decision and varying the affect by manipulating the discount both moderate this effect. These results contribute to the literatures on self-regulation, emotions, and persuasion.