Compensatory knowledge signaling in consumer word‐of‐mouth

This paper extends prior research on consumer knowledge beliefs and word-of-mouth transmission. Findings from four studies suggest that people compensate for unfavorable discrepancies between their actual and ideal consumer knowledge with heightened efforts to signal knowledgeability through the content and volume of their word-of-mouth transmissions. This compensatory knowledge signaling effect is moderated by the self-concept relevance (psychological closeness) of the word-of-mouth target and lay beliefs in the self-enhancement benefits of transmitting product knowledge. Content analysis of participants' product communications further supports our knowledge signaling account. The relationship between actual:ideal knowledge discrepancies and heightened word-of-mouth intentions is mediated by the specific negative emotion associated with actual:ideal self-discrepancies. Overall, the findings suggest that the relationship between consumer knowledge and word-of-mouth transmission depends not only on what you think you know, but also on what you wish you knew.     

the questionable impact of gender on job loss reactions: implications for employment counseling

A heterogeneous sample of 301 men and 118 women who experienced job loss was surveyed on 4 affective and 14 attributional variables. Analysis revealed that approximately 90% of the reported gender differences involving job loss reactions disappeared when age, ethnic background, marital status, education, tenure, salary job classification, and financial strain were controlled. Resulting gender differences do not support traditional stereotypes of unemployed women nor do they support previous findings of gender‐related job loss reactions.     

The Temporary Construction of Consumer Attitudes

This article investigates factors that affect whether people will construct attitudes based on external information from others, their own direct experience, or some combination of the two. Evidence from two studies suggests that consumers' salient goals and the order and degree of favorability associated with the two types of information (external vs. experiential) are factors that may jointly determine attitude construction. In study 1, participants who were in an evaluative (nonevaluative) frame of mind were more likely to construct their attitudes based on initial (recent) diagnostic information regarding the attitude object (i.e., an advertisement). Participants appear to use an anchoring and adjustment process to construct their attitudes. In study 2, to further test this anchoring and adjustment explanation, we use the well‐established finding that people sometimes express attitude behaviors in line with a third party's views. When a third party created an external contingency, participants no longer systematically anchored on prior or recent information toward the attitude object. The results of these two studies point out the usefulness of identifying (a) processes of attitude construction, and (b) processes of how consumers determine whether a generated attitude is an appropriate guide for their behavior. The findings are discussed in terms of the current retrieval versus construction debate in the attitude literature.     

The Influence of Physical Elevation in Buildings on Risk Preferences: Evidence from a Pilot and Four Field Studies

Little empirical research has been reported on the role of spatial positioning inside buildings on consumer behavior. Based on embodied cognition literature, we propose that elevation from street level influences risk preferences. In a pilot study and four field studies involving financial decisions with both hypothetical and real payoffs, we find evidence that high physical elevation increases risk‐seeking tendencies. Furthermore, we demonstrate that elevation leads to riskier behavior by increasing sensitivity to power. Finally, we establish a boundary condition for the impact of elevation on risk preferences by demonstrating that the effect attenuates when accessibility of physical elevation is low. These findings show that a subtle environmental parameter—physical elevation from street level—can influence human psychological states and consequently affect decisions.     

Computergraphic modeling and analysis: A portable system for tracking arm movements in three-dimensional space

A system is presented that allows automated, three-dimensional tracking of hand and arm movements. The system incorporates commercially available optoelectronic cameras and provides portable and affordable, yet accurate, three-dimensional monitoring of multiple joints of the hands and arms. Special-purpose hardware components were developed, as was software for data acquisition, data processing, and graphic display. The hardware and software are described, along with such necessary procedures as system calibration and transformation of coordinate system frames of reference. Testing of the system revealed highly accurate three-dimensional spatial tracking. The three-dimensional numeric and graphic analyses of movement made possible by this system allow new studies into the nature of the neural control of movement.