Date of Award

2008

Degree Type

Thesis

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Park, Ernest

Subject Headings

Consumer behavior, Consumers' preferences, Motivation (Psychology), Regulatory focus, BIS/BAS, Consumer Psychology, Marketing, Approach/ avoidance motivation

Abstract

Messages are more effective when framed to be congruent with individuals' approach/avoidance motivation (Sherman, Mann, & Updegraff, 2006). Two experiments explored whether congruency might also effect consumer reactions by examining whether person-message fit enhances enjoyment of taste of a product, increases how fluid an advertisement is perceived to be, and heightens one's willingness to buy a product and the overall product value. Study 1 demonstrated a congruency effect, where avoidance motivation scores positively predicted perceptions of taste/enjoyment of a sugar-free food, but only when the product advertisement was loss-framed. In the loss-frame condition, higher avoidance scores also related to increased ratings of advertisement quality. Unexpectedly, congruency effects were not found under gain-frame conditions. Study 2 examined if congruency effects would be accented in group settings. A main effect was expected, where participants in the group condition would rate the outcome variables higher than those in the individual condition. Study 2 demonstrated an accentuation effect, but not as expected. Overall this study broadens our awareness of factors that interact to influence attitudes, and perceptions of taste and message quality

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