Creating Brand Meaning: A Review and Research Agenda

In this paper I review, from the perspective of experimental research, studies that have examined how brands acquire cultural meaning, and suggest future research directions. McCracken's (Journal of Consumer Research, 13 , 1986 and 71) model of the meaning transfer process gained influence about thirty years ago, but experimental studies of the processes it posited have been limited in their scope. The review is organized around three questions. First, what should be the dependent variables: the types of meanings that can adhere to brands? Second, what have we learned from studies on the types of visual, sensory, and human cues that are the sources of particular types of brand meaning—our independent variables? Third, what do we know, and need to know, about the inferential and other processes through which consumers “take possession” of these brand meanings from these cues? The review concludes with a research agenda.     

More expertise for a better perspective: Task and strategy-driven adaptive neurofunctional reorganization for word production in high-performing older adults

The suggestion that neurofunctional reorganization may contribute to preserved language abilities is still emerging in aging studies. Some of these abilities, such as verbal fluency (VF), are not unitary but instead rely on different strategic processes that are differentially changed with age. Younger (n = 13) and older adults (n = 13) carried out an overt self-paced semantic and orthographic VF tasks within mixed fMRI design. Our results suggest that patterns of brain activation sustaining equivalent performances could be underpinned by different strategies facing brain changes during healthy aging. These main findings suggest that temporally mediated semantic clustering and frontally mediated orthographic switching were driven by evolutive neurofunctional resources in high-performing older adults. These age-related activation changes can appear to be compatible with the idea that unique neural patterns expressing distinctive cognitive strategies are necessary to support older adults’ performance on VF tasks.     

Reflecting talks: a pedagogical model in the learning organization

The aim of the article is to deepen the understanding of how a pedagogical model for reflecting talks can be used in order to make sustainable learning part of the daily work in the learning organization. From an interactive research approach, we have together with a project management group in a European Social Fund project worked with sustainable learning and knowledge development. Empirical data has been collected at the implementation of ten reflecting talks about sustainable equality. The results of the study lead to a strategy for how sustainable learning can become part of the daily work at a workplace. The strategy is constituted by a pedagogical model for reflecting talks, which clearly shows how sustainable learning in an organization can be structured. The core of the pedagogical model for the reflecting talks where both practically applied and theoretically anchored knowledge are important components. The learning process is based on observation, reflection, analysis and discussion of concrete situations/events. The models rests on four basic conditions; pedagogical competence, a delimited problem area, the learning group and timeframes. The model can be used in the daily work at short dialogues or at more penetrating discussions.     

Unconscious integration of pointing relation between two masked arrows

In the present study, by using a briefly masked prime display paradigm, we investigated whether the pointing relation (same or different) between two unconsciously perceived arrows in the prime could be processed. Since only motor response priming can reflect unconscious processing of two arrows’ pointing-direction relation (i.e., a relational integration), we could distinguish the motor response priming from the visual priming in this study which in other studies were not separated. We also manipulated the prime-to-target stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) by using a 70?ms and a 180?ms SOA. In this experiment, two masked arrow signs pointing in the same or different directions (> > or > <) were simultaneously presented in the prime, followed by two arrow symbols also pointing in the same or different directions in the target. The participants were asked to decide whether the two arrows in the target were pointing in the same or different directions. The results did not show any visual priming effect, but did show that the unconsciously perceived pointing relation in the prime elicited a positive motor response priming effect in RT under the 70?ms SOA condition, and a negative motor response priming effect in accuracy under the 180?ms SOA condition. The results were discussed in terms of self-motor-inhibition (or mask-triggered inhibition) and attention mechanisms. Overall, this study indicated that the pointing relation between the two subliminal arrows in the prime could influence the subsequent responses to the target and suggested that people can integrate unconsciously perceived information.     

Circumplex of identity formation modes: A proposal for the integration of identity constructs developed in the Erikson–Marcia tradition

The paper presents the Circumplex of Identity Formation Modes, which is designed to integrate the various concepts describing identity formation in the Erikson–Marcia tradition. The theoretical foundations of the model were formulated based on (1) analysis of the definitions of constructs currently used in the literature on identity development, (2) redefinition of exploration and commitment (basic constructs proposed by Marcia to describe identity formation), and (3) the relationship between identity constructs and personality metatraits. The new model incorporates circumplex structure from other personality models and distinguishes eight modes of identity formation: Exploration, Consolidation, Socialization, Normativity, Petrification, Diffusion, Defiance, and Moratorivity. In this way, our proposal resolves problems inherent in the theory of identity formation offering a synthesis of models developed in the Erikson–Marcia tradition.     

Increased discriminability of authenticity from multimodal laughter is driven by auditory information

We present an investigation of the perception of authenticity in audiovisual laughter, in which we contrast spontaneous and volitional samples and examine the contributions of unimodal affective information to multimodal percepts. In a pilot study, we demonstrate that listeners perceive spontaneous laughs as more authentic than volitional ones, both in unimodal (audio-only, visual-only) and multimodal contexts (audiovisual). In the main experiment, we show that the discriminability of volitional and spontaneous laughter is enhanced for multimodal laughter. Analyses of relationships between affective ratings and the perception of authenticity show that, while both unimodal percepts significantly predict evaluations of audiovisual laughter, it is auditory affective cues that have the greater influence on multimodal percepts. We discuss differences and potential mismatches in emotion signalling through voices and faces, in the context of spontaneous and volitional behaviour, and highlight issues that should be addressed in future studies of dynamic multimodal emotion processing.     

Examining misses in reading aloud repeated words

This study examined a novel task in which participants read aloud passages shown two words per line on a computer screen. There were four different passages, all of which included unrelated sentences, with each sentence containing one test word. The passages differed only in the text type (prose, scrambled) and in the identity of the test word (the, one). The word the is a common function word, whereas one is a less common content word. The test word was repeated in half of the sentences at the end of one line and at the start of the following line. Many more misses in reading aloud occurred on the than on one, especially for prose passages; almost all misses involved repeated words. These results were interpreted in terms of hypotheses and models that have been proposed for the letter-detection task. Specifically, it is concluded that reading aloud is influenced by structural processes that differentiate between function and content words.     

Situating interventions to bridge the intention–behaviour gap: A framework for recruiting nonconscious processes for behaviour change

This paper presents a situated cognition framework for creating social psychological interventions to bridge the intention–behaviour gap and illustrates this framework by reviewing examples from the domains of health behaviour, environmental behaviour, stereotyping, and aggression. A recurrent problem in behaviour change is the fact that often, intentions are not translated into behaviour, causing the so‐called intention–behaviour gap. Here, it is argued that this happens when situational cues trigger situated conceptualizations, such as habits, impulses, hedonic goals, or stereotypical associations, which can then guide behaviour automatically. To be effective in changing such automatic effects, behaviour change interventions can attempt to change situational cues through cueing interventions such as priming, nudging, upstream policy interventions, or reminders of social norms. Alternatively, behaviour change interventions can attempt to change the underlying situated conceptualizations through training interventions, such as behavioural inhibition training, mindfulness training, or implementation intentions. Examples of situated behaviour change interventions of both types will be discussed across domains, along with recommendations to situate interventions more strongly and thus enhance their effectiveness to change automatic behaviour. Finally, the discussion addresses the difference between tailoring and situating interventions, issues of generalization and long‐term effectiveness, and avenues for further research.