A conceptualisation of task dimensions affecting escalation of commitment

People frequently continue an investment despite a negative outcome or sunk cost. Such irrational persistence in a losing course of action has been termed escalation of commitment. Although several explanations of escalation of commitment have been proposed, none of them accounts for all determinants that have been empirically demonstrated. Based on a review of previous research, a conceptualisation is introduced of how escalation of commitment is affected by 4 task dimensions: type and nontransparency of decision goal, nontransparency of sunk costs, time course of sunk costs, and accountability. A more inclusive theory that subsumes escalation of commitment is offered as an alternative that may be developed to account for the effects of the task dimensions.     

Attitude toward environmental policy measures related to value orientation

Moderated mediation effects on attitude toward environmental policy measures of a self‐enhancement vs. self‐transcendence value orientation were examined in two studies. Study 1 (n = 91) showed that for policy measures incurring nontransparent personal costs, influence of value orientation on attitude is fully mediated by environmental concern, whereas for measures incurring transparent personal costs, influence is partially mediated by environmental concern. Study 2 (n = 71) showed that while influence of value orientation on attitude toward eco‐labeled electricity is not mediated by environmental concern, it is fully mediated by reluctance to pay surcharges for eco‐labeled electricity. Value orientation was also shown to moderate influence of reluctance to pay on attitude in that reluctance had an effect only for a self‐enhancement value orientation.     

Eliciting Consumer Choice Heuristics: Sales Representives' Persuasion Strategies

Research has shown that consumers spend little cognitive effort in marketplace decisions (i.e., information acquisition, evaluation of alternatives). In fact, consumers simplify decision making by using decision rules learned from previous purchases. The present research explores the notion that during the course of a sales interaction, sales representatives may use expressions (i.e., primes) that encourage consumers to invoke previously used decision rules. These decision rules lead consumers to consider factors not necessarily relevant to the purchase decision (e.g., what others will think, reciprocate sales representatives' efforts, missed opportunities). Thus, consumers' thoughts are diverted from more pertinent factors such as budget and timing of the purchase. Moreover, consumers persuade themselves to purchase via thoughts concerning the decision rule and visual imagery associated with consumption. The notions of priming and schema- directed thinking are used to explain how sales representatives elicit consumers' decision rules from long-term memory. Implications of these techniques are made with regards to relationship management.     

The measurement of core affect: a Swedish self-report measure derived from the affect circumplex

Three studies were conducted with the aim of developing a new Swedish self-report measure of core affect (the Swedish Core Affect Scale or SCAS). In Study 1,122 participants rated their current mood on 24 unipolar adjective scales. A revised set of 12 bipolar adjective scales was evaluated in Study 2 employing 96 participants who rated their current mood before and after a mood-inducing naturally occurring event. A slightly revised set of adjective scales was used in Study 3, in which another 96 participants rated several induced moods. The results showed that the adjective scale ratings could be aggregated as reliable measures of the independent valence and activation dimensions proposed in the affect circumplex, and that the aggregated measures discriminated mood differences within and between individuals.     

Learning the value of a new currency from prices

In European countries, field studies investigate how citizens acquire knowledge of the new currency, the euro. In 3 laboratory experiments, the authors recruited 168 undergraduates to examine whether such accurate knowledge is acquired from learning prices in the new currency. The results show fast learning of prices of duration of cellular phone calls (quantity) when the prices were proportional to quantity. Inferences of call duration from given prices were likewise found to be accurate. Lower accuracy was however observed for one-to-many mappings of quantity on price and the inverse one-to-many mappings of price on quantity. Price variation may be an important reason for the difficulty in learning the value of the new currency observed in field studies.     

A comparison of the effects of vicariously instigated classical conditioning and direct classical conditioning procedures

Two groups of Ss received either two or 16 paired classical conditioning trials beyond the peak CR. A third group received the same stimuli as in the 16 postpeak condition but in an unpaired and random order. The stimuli in all three groups were delivered directly to S. Subsequently, all three groups, including a fourth which was not given any prior direct classical conditioning, were exposed to vicariously instigated classical conditioning. This consisted of havingS observe someone (model) employed byE who received the same CS as was delivered during direct conditioning. The CS was paired with the feigned arm movement of the model, simulating a reaction to shock. This vicarious classical conditioning procedure when compared to direct classical conditioning resulted in smaller GSR magnitudes for both the CRs and UCRs. Previous experience with direct classical conditioning seems to have had an attenuating effect on GSR magnitude during the vicarious situation. A postexperimental questionnaire tended to support the results, and the relationship between the present study and current classical conditioning theory is discussed.     

STUDIES IN VISUAL PERCEPTION OF ARCHITECTURAL SPACES AND ROOMS: I. Judgment scales of open and closed space

G arling , T. Studies in visual perception of architectural spaces and rooms. I. Judgment scales of open and closed space. Scand. J. Psychol ., 1969, io , 250–256.—Eight observers judged open and closed space, viewing spaces from different spots along a street in a small town. The spaces were viewed and judged either as wholes or parts by using a ratio scaling procedure. The observers were found to make reliable judgments of closed and open space. The function relating these judgment to each other approximated, however, a complementary relation as expected for category ratings. Judgments of whole spaces might be predicted from averaged judgments of their parts.