Sweatshop labor is wrong unless the shoes are cute: Cognition can both help and hurt moral motivated reasoning

The present research investigated the dual role of cognition as either an enabler of moral reasoning or self-interested motivated reasoning for endorsing sweatshop labor. Experiment 1A showed motivated reasoning: participants were more likely to endorse the use of sweatshop labor when considering a Caribbean vacation with questionable labor practices for themselves than for their friends. Experiment 1B demonstrated that endorsement of sweatshop labor mediated the relationship between product desirability and purchase intention. Experiment 2 found that cognitive resources were recruited to enhance motivated reasoning regarding sweatshop labor, the latter of which was reduced under cognitive load. Experiments 3A and 3B found that when cognitive resources were specifically directed in a comparative joint evaluation, participants offered harsher views on the ethicality of a favored company, and were less influenced by motivated factors than when under separate evaluations.     

The Affective Tipping Point: Do Motivated Reasoners Ever “Get It”?

In order to update candidate evaluations voters must acquire information and determine whether that new information supports or opposes their candidate expectations. Normatively, new negative information about a preferred candidate should result in a downward adjustment of an existing evaluation. However, recent studies show exactly the opposite; voters become more supportive of a preferred candidate in the face of negatively valenced information. Motivated reasoning is advanced as the explanation, arguing that people are psychologically motivated to maintain and support existing evaluations. Yet it seems unlikely that voters do this ad infinitum. To do so would suggest continued motivated reasoning even in the face of extensive disconfirming information. In this study we consider whether motivated reasoning processes can be overcome simply by continuing to encounter information incongruent with expectations. If so, voters must reach a tipping point after which they begin more accurately updating their evaluations. We show experimental evidence that such an affective tipping point does in fact exist. We also show that as this tipping point is reached, anxiety increases, suggesting that the mechanism that generates the tipping point and leads to more accurate updating may be related to the theory of affective intelligence. The existence of a tipping point suggests that voters are not immune to disconfirming information after all, even when initially acting as motivated reasoners.     

Model's Race: A Peripheral Cue in Advertising Messages?

Based on the Elaboration Likelihood Model and Social Categorization Theory, an experiment examined minority viewers' use of racial cues on exposure to product advertising. A total of 160 Black adults from a southeastern city rated a garment bag advertisement that featured either a White or a Black model and contained either strong or weak message arguments. Consistent with both theoretical notions, product and advertising evaluations were more favorable given a Black than a White model, but only for Black participants who identify strongly with Black culture. Blacks who identify weakly with Black culture evaluated the product and advertisement similarly given a White or a Black model. The results also showed that the Black model's race motivated Blacks, particularly those with strong racial attitudes, to process the message in a biased manner. In particular, the Black (versus White) model's race positively influenced the Black participants' thoughts about the product, which in turn yielded more favorable product evaluations. The findings suggest that Blacks appear to engage in biased processing (and not simple cue processing) when exposed to Black models in advertising messages.     

A test of the self-perception explanation of the effects of rewards on intrinsic interest

An experiment was conducted to test the proposition that rewards undermine or enhance intrinsic interest in a task to the extent that individuals interpret their behavior as being motivated by the reward. It was predicted that when subjects were denied the opportunity to develop and confirm this attribution, rewards would not produce an undermining effect, but rather would enhance dispositions and behavior. Subjects were recruited to evaluate a new sugar-free soft drink. Two levels of incentives (reward-no reward), two levels of examination (opportunity-no opportunity), and three levels of outcome (good-neutral-poor) were employed. The results support the prediction that an incentive's effect depends on the examination opportunity. In the examination condition, rewarded subjects attributed their behavior more to external factors than did unrewarded subjects, but gave more negative product evaluations only after tasting it. In the no examination condition, there were no differences in the attributions made by rewarded and unrewarded subjects, and rewarded subjects were more positively disposed toward the product both before and after tasting it. These results are explained as a consequence of two properties of rewards, enhancement through reinforcement and undermining through discounting, and of hypothesis-testing processes.     

Identifying persons feigning limitations in their competence to proceed in the legal process

Accurate assessment of the response styles criminal defendants adopt when undergoing evaluations of their competence to proceed with the legal process is critical because some feign limitations in their abilities in an attempt to delay or avoid prosecution. This study examined the utility of the Inventory of Legal Knowledge (ILK) to identify persons motivated to feign competence related limitations. That the ILK has good potential as a screening tool is indicated by findings that the measure (1) has adequate test–retest reliability and (2) classified correctly the large majority of participants in two samples (i.e., college students and psychiatric patients) who completed the measure under “honest” or “fake bad” conditions. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Drawn to the gloss: Examining the effect of product reflection on product aesthetics

While advertising products with reflections is a common industry practice, this research is the first to investigate their impact on product aesthetics. Reflections are endowed with an inherent shine since they are naturally formed by the interaction of light with an object and a reflecting surface. We draw upon this property along with Evolutionary Psychology (EP) research documenting an intrinsic human attraction towards gloss to predict their positive effect on product aesthetics. Further in line with the EP principles, we propose that this effect is mediated by enhanced pristineness perceptions about the product in the presence of its reflection in the ad. Finally, we draw upon the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) to identify product design complexity as a boundary condition for the positive effect of reflection on product attractiveness perceptions. For a product with relatively high (vs. low) design complexity, with design being the focal aspect that is elaborated via a central route, we predict the effect of a peripheral stylistic cue like product reflection to attenuate. Three experimentally designed studies employing different product types offer empirical support to these predictions. Our work extends prior marketing research studying the effects of executional elements in advertising on consumers' product reactions, particularly the aesthetic impact of product reflections as creative stylistic cues. The managerial implications of this work span both traditional and digital marketing channels. Incorporating a product reflection in advertising can work as an easy-to-implement option that can help practitioners elevate product pristineness and aesthetics. On the other hand, avoiding their use when advertising products with relatively complex designs can save both ad space and money.     

The Role of Abstract and Specific Knowledge in the Formation of Product Judgments: An Analogical Learning Perspective

Prior research has assumed that existing knowledge exerts its influence on consumer judgments primarily through abstract knowledge structures. Consequently, little attention has been given to the possibility that judgments may, under certain circumstances, be influenced by knowledge associated with more specific knowledge structures. This article examines the factors responsible for determining the impact of abstract versus specific knowledge on consumer judgments. Based on the Consumer Learning by Analogy model (CLA model; Gregan‐Paxton & John, 1997), it is argued that the relative influence of abstract and specific knowledge is a function of (a) the relation between the new product and existing knowledge and (b) the nature of consumer's knowledge. These ideas were tested in a series of experiments in which participants were required to judge a new product that varied in its relation to an existing product or brand. In this context, the influence of specific knowledge was most evident when participants were able to construct an attribute mapping, but not a relational mapping, to link the novel product to a familiar brand exemplar. When it was possible to construct a relational mapping, a more abstract knowledge structure, such as a schema, was retrieved and used as the basis of product judgments.     

The Effects of Decoys on Preference Shifts: The Role of Attractiveness and Providing Justification

The relative preference for a target product over a competitor can be increased by providing a third alternative (a “decoy”) that is clearly inferior to the target but is not necessarily inferior to the competitor. In 3 experiments, we examined the conditions in which these decoy effects occur. When participants reported their preferences immediately after being exposed to the information about them, the influence of decoys on preferences was attributable to the justification they provided for choosing the target over the competitor. (That is, a decoy had an impact if and only if the target was superior to the decoy but the competitor was not.) When participants evaluated each product individually before making their choices, however, they based their preferences on these evaluations. In this case, decoys exerted their influence through their impact on the values that participants assigned to the attributes on which the evaluations were based. This influence was evident even when the decoy was clearly inferior to both the target and competitor. Moreover, it occurred under conditions in which the target and competitor were in different product categories and also when the decoy was in a totally different product domain than the target and competitor.     

Ideal-self Responding on the MMPI

The MMPI was administered to 29 college students under standard and ideal-self instructions in order to determine whether or not there is agreement as to what constitutes favorable adjustment. A profile analysis of the ideal-self responses yielding an intraclass correlation of .62 (p < .001). This result substantiates previous studies suggesting that an identifiable profile exists. Items changed between the self and ideal administrations were analyzed for their social favorability, interpretive ambiguity, obviousness, and scale membership. The first three factors were found to significantly influence responding under the ideal-self set. Implications of such item changes and of ideal-self profile were discussed.     

Social identity threat and consumer preferences

Although marketers often link brands with an aspect of consumer social identity, the current research demonstrates that such brand-identity linkages may sometimes have negative consequences. Consumers motivated to protect and maintain feelings of individual self-worth alter their product evaluations and choices to avoid a threatened aspect of their own social identity. Whereas those low in collective self-esteem (CSE) tend to exhibit such identity avoidance effects, those high in CSE maintain associations with an identity-linked brand even when that social identity is threatened. Moreover, when the consumer feels positively about the self via self-affirmation, the effect among low CSE consumers is mitigated. Finally, it is demonstrated that differences in the use of identity as a resource underlie the effects.     

Making Things Happen (Un)Expectedly: Interactive Effects of Age,Gender, and Motives on Evaluations of Proactive Behavior

Proactive behavior entails self-starting actions oriented toward change in the future. Other people’s perceptions of an employee’s proactive behavior are likely shaped by personal characteristics of the employee and related expectations. We hypothesized that the intersectionality of age, gender, and two motives (i.e., achievement and benevolence) influences others’ evaluations of proactive behavior. Consistent with the social role theory and the notion of a lack of fit, results of a first experimental vignette methodology study with an employee sample (N?=?101; 1818 ratings) showed that proactive behavior was rated as more effective for older men compared to younger men motivated by achievement, whereas proactive behavior was rated as more effective for younger men compared to older men motivated by benevolence. Younger women compared to older women received higher effectiveness ratings for proactive behavior independent of their motive. In a second experimental vignette methodology study with a sample of participants in supervisory roles (N?=?164; 1205 ratings), we partially replicated the results of the first study: proactive behavior was rated as more effective for older men compared to younger men motivated by achievement, and proactive behavior was rated as more effective for younger women compared to older women motivated by achievement. In contrast, effectiveness ratings of proactive behavior of younger and older men as well as younger and older women motivated by benevolence did not differ. Overall, by investigating the intersectionality of age, gender, and motives, these findings advance research on influences of person characteristics on others’ evaluations of proactive behavior.

     

Longer is better

The longer something is thought to exist, the better it is evaluated. In Study 1, participants preferred an existing university requirement over an alternative; this pattern was more pronounced when the existing requirement was said to be in place for a longer period of time. In Study 2, participants rated acupuncture more favorably as a function of how old the practice was described. Aesthetic judgments of art (Study 3) and nature (Study 4) were also positively affected by time in existence, as were gustatory evaluations of an edible consumer good (Study 5). Features of the research designs argue against mere exposure, loss aversion, and rational inference as explanations for these findings. Instead, time in existence seems to operate as a heuristic; longer means better.     

Extending the brand image on new products: the facilitative effect of happy mood states

• Investigates the influence of mood and brand favorability on the evaluation of brand extensions. It is argued that affective states have an impact on the likelihood that the evaluation of a new product is based on the implications of the brand rather than on the implications of the features of the new product. Specifically, participants reported more positive evaluations of a new product when it was introduced by a positive rather than a negative brand – and this differential impact of category information was more pronounced for participants in a positive compared to a neutral or a negative mood.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A framework for risk-benefit evaluations in biomedical research

Essentially all guidelines and regulations require that biomedical research studies have an acceptable risk-benefit profile. However, these documents offer little concrete guidance for implementing this requirement and determining when it is satisfied. As a result, those charged with risk-benefit evaluations currently assess the risk-benefit profile of biomedical research studies in unsystematic ways, raising concern that some research participants are not being protected from excessive risks and that some valuable studies involving acceptable risk are being rejected. The present paper aims to address this situation by delineating the first comprehensive framework, which is based on existing guidelines and regulations as well as the relevant literature, for risk-benefit evaluations in biomedical research.     

数字有形状吗?数字信息精确性和品牌标识形状的匹配效应

数字的精确性(精确 vs.大概)会影响人们的各种心理与推断, 本文在已有研究的基础上提出数字精确性与形状之间存在关联。具体而言, 精确数字会更有可能被感知为多角, 而大概数字更可能被感知为圆润。实验1和2分别通过内隐联想测试和消费情境确认这一效应的存在, 实验3进一步探讨了流畅性感知对上述匹配效应影响消费者产品评价的中介作用, 实验4则通过反转数字的性别象征意义, 提出了匹配效应的边界条件：当人们头脑中形成“精确=女性、大概=男性”的联系时, 会产生精确数字-圆润形状和大概数字-多角形状的匹配关系。这些结果说明了数字信息与形状信息之间存在认知关联, 它对理解个体如何加工数字信息、形状信息以及企业如何利用这些信息提供了一定的启发意义。     

Autobiographical memory and conceptions of self: getting better all the time

We examine links between self-assessment and autobiographical memory. People generally view themselves as improving over time, relative to their peers. We suggest that this sense of improvement is sometimes illusory, and motivated by the desire to enhance the current self. Our research focuses on people's subjective feeling of temporal distance between an earlier period and the present, a feeling that is only modestly associated with actual time. Research participants praise or criticize the same former self, depending on how far away it feels. An equally distant episode feels close or remote, depending on whether it has favorable or damaging implications for evaluations of the current self. The identical achievement boosts evaluations of the current self or has little impact, depending on how far away it feels. The same failure does or does not harm appraisals of the current self, depending on how far away it feels.     

The Influence of Color on Brand Extension: Mediation Role of Processing Style

Color carries distinct psychological meanings and thus it may induce a different cognitive processing style. Adopting this conceptual framework, the current research investigated the influence of color on brand extension evaluation. For color manipulation, participants were given the picture of a brand extension product (e.g., notebook) on a blue versus red background on a sheet of paper. Then participants evaluated the brand extension product. The finding revealed that participants in the blue-background condition evaluated the extension product more favorably than those in the red-background condition. This research further demonstrated that processing style mediated the effect of color on the evaluation of the brand extension product by using a visual matching task. In addition, this research showed the moderating effect of brand slogan on brand extension evaluation. Participants in the blue-background condition evaluated the extension product (i.e., digital camera) more favorably when they were exposed to the abstract brand slogan, whereas participants in the red-background condition evaluated the extension product more favorably when they were exposed to the concrete brand slogan.     

Are You What Your Avatar Eats? Health-Behavior Effects of Avatar-Manifested Self-Concept

Drawing on the self-concept activation and goal-priming account of the priming effect, this study examined how self-concept—i.e., ideal self, ought self, and actual self—can be harnessed as a model for avatar customization in digital games to promote healthy-eating behavior. Female participants (N = 133) customized an avatar in a digital game to reflect either the ideal, ought, or actual self. Participants then selected food items for their avatar within the digital game as well as food items for themselves to eat afterward. Results suggest that for participants using an ought-self avatar, the extent to which they were conscious of their health was positively related to healthier food choice both within and after playing the game. No such effect emerged for participants who used an ideal- or actual-self avatar, indicating that participants formed the goal of being healthy only with regard to the ought self. This study demonstrates that avatar customization in a digital game can serve a regulatory function by representing individuals’ duties and responsibilities, thus, causing them to adopt such attributes manifested in their avatar during and after the game.     

The ideal self at play: the appeal of video games that let you be all you can be

Video games constitute a popular form of entertainment that allows millions of people to adopt virtual identities. In our research, we explored the idea that the appeal of games is due in part to their ability to provide players with novel experiences that let them "try on" ideal aspects of their selves that might not find expression in everyday life. We found that video games were most intrinsically motivating and had the greatest influence on emotions when players' experiences of themselves during play were congruent with players' conceptions of their ideal selves. Additionally, we found that high levels of immersion in gaming environments, as well as large discrepancies between players' actual-self and ideal-self characteristics, magnified the link between intrinsic motivation and the experience of ideal-self characteristics during play.     

金钱激励在社会排斥影响不确定性决策中的调节作用

研究从金钱补偿的视角考察社会排斥对不确定性决策的影响以及金钱激励的调节作用。实验发现,有金钱激励时,被排斥者在爱荷华赌博任务(Iowa gambling task,IGT)中的行为分数(组块2和3的选牌净分数和总的盈利分数)显著高于社会接纳者,表现为风险规避; 在无金钱激励时,被排斥者在IGT任务中的行为分数(组块4和5的选牌净分数和总的盈利分数)显著低于被接纳者,表现为风险寻求。实验结果表明社会排斥对不确定性决策的影响受到金钱激励的调制。