Knowledge that Transforms

AbstractDespite the voluminous evidence in support of the paradoxical finding that providing individuals with more options can be detrimental to choice, the question of whether and when large assortments impede choice remains open. Even though extant research has identified a variety of antecedents and consequences of choice overload, the findings of the individual studies fail to come together into a cohesive understanding of when large assortments can benefit choice and when they can be detrimental to choice. In a meta‐analysis of 99 observations (N = 7202) reported by prior research, we identify four key factors—choice set complexity, decision task difficulty, preference uncertainty, and decision goal—that moderate the impact of assortment size on choice overload. We further show that each of these four factors has a reliable and significant impact on choice overload, whereby higher levels of decision task difficulty, greater choice set complexity, higher preference uncertainty, and a more prominent, effort‐minimizing goal facilitate choice overload. We also find that four of the measures of choice overload used in prior research—satisfaction/confidence, regret, choice deferral, and switching likelihood—are equally powerful measures of choice overload and can be used interchangeably. Finally, we document that when moderating variables are taken into account the overall effect of assortment size on choice overload is significant—a finding counter to the data reported by prior meta‐analytic research.

AbstractResearch on discrepancies between the actual self and ideal self has examined self‐discrepancies in knowledge, skills and stature but age‐based self‐discrepancies have only recently received attention and so we studied this phenomenon in young adolescents. In three studies we identified a product‐category contextual cue that apparently caused adolescents to respond to an existing age‐based self‐discrepancy. Specifically we found that when the contextual cue was advertising for an age‐restricted product, adolescents conformed to dissimilar young adult advertising models and diverged from similar adolescent models. This indicated that the contextual cue caused them to respond to an age‐based self‐discrepancy and use a product associated with the ideal self rather than the actual self. Importantly, this response was stronger among adolescents that were more dissatisfied with their age. With advertising for an age‐unrestricted product, adolescents conformed to adolescent advertising models and diverged from young adult models. Industry policies for age‐restricted products assume that similarity drives influence and therefore mandate that advertising models be young adults rather than adolescents. Our findings suggest this assumption is invalid for age‐restricted products.

AbstractThis research examines how consumers evaluate a target in the present that is positively associated with them in the past or future. We suggest that such evaluations are affected by the perceived connectedness between their current self and temporal self, that is, the self at that particular point in time of association with the target in the past or future. A strong (vs. weak) connectedness will result in a more (vs. less) favorable evaluation of the target—be it a product, brand, or pro‐social cause. Converging evidence supporting our premise is found in three studies.

AbstractAlthough brand authenticity is gaining increasing interest in consumer behavior research and managerial practice, literature on its measurement and contribution to branding theory is still limited. This article develops an integrative framework of the concept of brand authenticity and reports the development and validation of a scale measuring consumers' perceived brand authenticity (PBA). A multi‐phase scale development process resulted in a 15‐item PBA scale measuring four dimensions: credibility, integrity, symbolism, and continuity. This scale is reliable across different brands and cultural contexts. We find that brand authenticity perceptions are influenced by indexical, existential, and iconic cues, whereby some of the latters' influence is moderated by consumers' level of marketing skepticism. Results also suggest that PBA increases emotional brand attachment and word‐of‐mouth, and that it drives brand choice likelihood through self‐congruence for consumers high in self‐authenticity.

AbstractEfforts to identify and understand gender differences have a long history that has sparked lively debate and generated much public interest. Although understanding gender differences is pivotal to consumer researchers and marketers, investigations into this issue by such individuals have been few in number, often weak in theory, and rather limited in progress made. This paper strives to reinvigorate such inquiry. We begin by describing four major theories of gender differences (socio‐cultural, evolutionary, hormone‐brain, and the selectivity hypothesis) and then assess relevant research from 2000 to 2013 in marketing, psychology, and biomedicine. From this, five conclusions emerge: Males are more self‐oriented, while females are more other‐oriented; females are more cautious responders; females are more responsive to negative data; males process data more selectively and females more comprehensively; and females are more sensitive to differentiating conditions and factors. We conclude by identifying several areas of opportunity for advancing our understanding of gender differences.

AbstractIndividuals experience a greater frequency of interruptions than ever before. Interruptions by e‐mails, phone calls, text messages and other sources of disruption are ubiquitous. We examine the important unanswered question of whether interruptions can increase the likelihood that individuals will choose closure‐associated behaviors. Specifically, we explore the possibility that interruptions that occur during the climactic moments of a task or activity can produce a heightened need for psychological closure. When an interruption prevents individuals from achieving closure in the interrupted domain, we show that the resulting unsatisfied need for psychological closure can cause individuals to seek closure in totally unrelated domains. These findings have important implications for understanding how consumer decisions may be influenced by the dynamic—and often interrupted—course of daily events.

AbstractIn this rebuttal, we discuss the comments of Rucker, McShane, and Preacher (2015) and McClelland, Lynch, Irwin, Spiller, and Fitzsimons (2015). Both commentaries raise interesting points, and although both teams clearly put a lot of work into their papers, the bottom line is this: our research sets the record straight that median splits are perfectly acceptable to use when independent variables are uncorrelated. The commentaries do a good job of furthering the discussion to help readers better develop their own preferences, which was the purpose of our paper. In the final analysis, neither of the commentaries pose any threat to our findings of the statistical robustness and valid use of median splits, and accordingly we can reassure researchers (and reviewers and journal editors) that they can be confident that when independent variables are uncorrelated, it is totally acceptable to conduct median split analyses.

AbstractA growing stream of research has examined emotions and decision‐making based on the appraisal tendencies associated with emotions. This paper outlines two general approaches that can lead to further our understanding of the variety of ways emotions affect decision‐making and information processing. Specifically, future research can examine the nature of emotional appraisals or investigate the nature of decision contexts and underlying psychological processes influenced by emotions. To understand the nature of emotional appraisals, scholars could examine the interaction of two appraisal dimensions or identify novel appraisal tendencies. To understand the decision‐making contexts and psychological processes influenced by emotions, scholars could examine how emotions interact with contextual influences to shape judgments through a variety of processes such as providing information, priming goals, or activating mindsets. These approaches to the study of emotions and decision‐making will contribute to more nuanced theory development around emotions, nurture new empirical work, and encourage interest in exploring a broader set of emotions.

AbstractWe comment on Iacobucci, Posavac, Kardes, Schneider, and Popovich (2015) by evaluating the practice of discretizing continuous variables. We show that dichotomizing a continuous variable via the median split procedure or otherwise and analyzing the resulting data via ANOVA involves a large number of costs that can be avoided by preserving the continuous nature of the variable and analyzing the data via linear regression. As a consequence, we recommend that regression remain the normative procedure both when the statistical assumptions explored by Iacobucci et al. hold and more generally in research involving continuous variables. We also discuss the advantages of preserving the continuous nature of the variable for graphical presentation and provide practical suggestions for such presentations.

AbstractConsiderable prior statistical work has criticized replacing a continuously measured variable in a general linear model with a dichotomy based on a median split of that variable. Iacobucci, Posovac, Kardes, Schneider, and Popovich (2015‐in this issue) defend the practice of “median splits” using both conceptual arguments and simulations. We dispute their conceptual arguments, and we have identified technical errors in their simulations that dramatically change the conclusions that follow from those simulations. We show that there are no real benefits to median splits, and there are real costs in increases in Type II errors through loss of power and increases in Type I errors through false–positive consumer psychology. We conclude that median splits remain a bad idea.