Beneath the Surface: Abstract Construal Mindset Increases Receptivity to Metaphors in Health Communications

Mj, Landau; Ld, Cameron; Arndt, Jamie; Hamilton, W. Kyle; Tj, Swanson; Bultmann, Michael N.

doi:10.1521/soco.2019.37.3.314

Cited by 18 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…By manipulating the construal level, Study 1 provides initial evidence for our hypotheses: the creative product description in an online context has persuasive advantages on purchase intention (H1) and an individual's high construal level accentuates the persuasion (H2). The results of Study 1 in the context of online shopping are consistent with the relevant research that confirms that the creative marketing message has general advantages (West et al, 2019) and high-level construal could enhance the effectiveness (Landau et al, 2019). However, except for a situational prime, an individual's construal level could also be internal and chronical (Vallacher and Wegner, 1989).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

“…The literature identifies creative and non-creative styles as the two mainstream approaches to describe a product in the text (Kronrod and Danziger, 2013 ). The former uses more rhetorical devices with figurative language using analogies, such as metaphors and personification (Ang and Low, 2000 ; Dahlén et al, 2008 ; Landau et al, 2019 ; West et al, 2019 ; Yao and Shao, 2021 ). The non-creative text descriptions are just what their name suggests—they do not contain rhetorical appeals, and the words and phrases have plain dictionary meaning (Kronrod and Danziger, 2013 ; West et al, 2019 ; Yao and Shao, 2021 ).…”

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, those previous researches are based on the traditional advertising context, and an individual's information process or a cognitive mindset may be more critical and effective in today's digitized and multimedia environment (West et al, 2019 ). Moreover, rhetoric devices and construal level are positively related in metaphor communication (Shan et al, 2017 ; Landau et al, 2019 ). Therefore, we identify the boundary condition from the perspective of the construal level.…”

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, metaphor is a special form of the general category of creative language and is most investigated in marketing communications. Recent research has found that abstract mindsets help recipients to process metaphors in health communication (Landau et al, 2019 ). A creative text description in this research contains more rhetoric devices with figurative language using analogies such as metaphors and personification (Ang and Low, 2000 ; Dahlén et al, 2008 ; West et al, 2019 ), which means claiming product's key benefits with “remote conveyors” that are seemingly unrelated to the product (Althuizen, 2017 ).…”

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similar and related to this cognitive style is the construal level theory, which focused on an individual's mindset on different construal levels, regardless of verbal or visual information. Moreover, research on metaphors, which are highly related to creativity (Marin et al, 2014;Sang and Yeo, 2019), has revealed that an individual's construal mindset is linked to the processing and response to the communications with metaphors (Landau et al, 2019;Sang and Yeo, 2019). Moreover, there also exists evidence that "top-down" processing (Zinken and Zinken, 2007;Gibbs, 2013) and flexible cognition (Förster et al, 2004), which are embedded in high-level construal, are beneficial in interpreting rhetoric devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Is Creative Description Always Effective in Purchase Intention? The Construal Level Theory as a Moderating Effect

2021

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Recent years has witnessed a rapid growth in online shopping. This paper draws from the construal level theory to examine the divergent effects of the creative text descriptions of products on consumers' purchase intention in an online context. It also investigates consumers' construal level and the moderating role of construal level in this relationship. An assumption has been made that the creative description embraces more rhetorical devices with analogies. In doing so, such texts are in need of consumers who are having a more abstract, top-down, flexible mindset, which makes it more persuasive to some consumers with high-level construal. Three experiments add evidence to this study. These results suggest that the creative text descriptions are generally more persuasive than the non-creative ones in an online context, and that the persuasiveness of the creative descriptions can be accentuated (vs. attenuated) especially for high- (vs. low-) level construal individuals. The findings hold various theoretical implications for the creative marketing messages and construal level theory. First, in the current research, broadening, and integrating relevant research were possible by exploring the creative language in an online context. Also, it demonstrates that construal level—that is, consumers' internal thoughts, rather than external factors—influences their preference for a creative description style, thus helping extend the applications of the construal level theory to the field of creative marketing communications and integrate the research discoveries in metaphor communication.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 84%

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theory and Hypothesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Is Creative Description Always Effective in Purchase Intention? The Construal Level Theory as a Moderating Effect

2021

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Location, location, location: When and how low price locations improve consumer price perceptions

Barone

Coulter

Kulow

et al. 2022

Psychology and Marketing

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Does seeing a price in a physically low (vs. high) location prompt consumers to believe that the featured product is less costly? Recent research supports this possibility by showing that low price locations trigger “down=less” metaphors which prompt price perceptions that are monetarily “low” in magnitude. Extending such work, we offer a two‐stage model to account for price location effects and examine theoretically‐relevant moderators that influence the likelihood of “down=less” metaphors being activated (Stage 1) and being mapped onto a price magnitude judgment (Stage 2). Results demonstrate that price location effects will emerge under conditions where consumers (a) experience feelings of high (vs. low) power that encourage metaphor activation and (b) possess a high (vs. low) need for structure that encourages the mapping, or transfer, of these metaphors onto a price judgment mapping. A final study shows that “down=less” metaphorical influences do not affect price magnitude judgments in the presence of factors that inhibit either metaphor activation (i.e., feelings of low power) or mapping (i.e., a low need for structure). By identifying these contingencies, this research further specifies when price location effects are likely to arise, increasing our understanding of pricing in general and this locational phenomenon in particular.

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Comparing Metaphor Theory and Embodiment in Research on Social Cognition

Landau

2021

Handbook of Embodied Psychology

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Beneath the Surface: Abstract Construal Mindset Increases Receptivity to Metaphors in Health Communications

Cited by 18 publications

References 48 publications

Is Creative Description Always Effective in Purchase Intention? The Construal Level Theory as a Moderating Effect

Is Creative Description Always Effective in Purchase Intention? The Construal Level Theory as a Moderating Effect

Location, location, location: When and how low price locations improve consumer price perceptions

Comparing Metaphor Theory and Embodiment in Research on Social Cognition

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