The effects of regulatory focus and mixed valence imagery and analytical attributes on product decisions

Abstract

Purpose-This paper investigates the effects of regulatory focus (promotion vs. prevention) and mixed valence attributes (positive imagery and negative analytical vs. negative imagery and positive analytical) on consumers' evaluation and purchase intention for a product. Design/methodology/approach-A pre-test followed by a single between subject's experiment was conducted to test the major hypotheses in the study. Findings-Results show that promotion (prevention) focus prefer the product when it is described in terms of positive imagery but negative analytical (positive analytical but negative imagery) attributes in terms of both evaluation and purchase intention. Research limitations/implications-Future research may validate and extend the current findings with other product or service categories, and study the underlying processes that guide decision making. Practical implications-Findings from this study will help managers devise a range of marketing strategies in the areas of advertising, segmentation and product positioning. Originality/value-The current research is novel as it addresses lack of research that engages imagery and analytical attributes with different valences, and fills in a gap as to how regulatory focus will rely on imagery (analytical) attributes with different valences while making product decisions.

How does consumer regulatory focus impact perceived value and consumption emotions?

“…A recent study by Das (2015) that examined the effects of regulatory focus on impulsiveness and loyalty also found interesting linkages indicating that promotion focus is positively related to impulsiveness and prevention focus is negatively associated with impulsiveness. In a similar vein, another recent study by Roy (2017) showed that individuals with a promotion orientation focus more on positive imagery attributes in their product decisions, whereas those with a prevention orientation focus prefer analytical ones. In all of these studies, promotion focus has been shown to either have positive relationships with hedonic-related factors or focus more on positive outcomes like perceived benefits.…”

“…Consumer behavior scholars have recognized the importance of individuals' psychological differences in a consumption situation and have attempted to use the RFT to more thoroughly examine underlying mechanisms (Das, 2015;Hassenzahl et al, 2008;Pham and Higgins, 2005;Roy, 2017;Roy and Ng, 2012;Trudel et al, 2012;Yeo and Park, 2006). For example, Yeo and Park (2006) studied regulatory focus fit by testing how participants reacted to a brand extension strategy when the extension was similar versus dissimilar to the original brand.…”

Effects of Regulatory Focus and Emotions on Information Preferences: The Affect-as-Information Perspective

“…However, when promotion-focused people are sad, they are more likely to be sensitive to future losses ( Lench et al, 2011 ). In contrast, prevention-focused individuals with high risk aversions tend to decrease their reliance on emotions but increase their reliance on analytical processes ( Friedman and Förster, 2000 ; Roy, 2017 ).…”

“…However, when promotionfocused people are sad, they are more likely to be sensitive to future losses (Lench et al, 2011). In contrast, prevention-focused individuals with high risk aversions tend to decrease their reliance on emotions but increase their reliance on analytical processes (Friedman and Förster, 2000;Roy, 2017). The objective of experiment 3 was to investigate the interactive effect of salient sources of emotions and regulatory focus on information preferences.…”

Efeitos da metáfora da verticalidade e do foco regulatório motivacional do consumidor sobre as avaliações de preços

“…De acordo com as teorias da psicológica clássica sobre motivação, feedback de sucesso levanta as expectativas de resultados e induz ou mantém a motivação de aproximação, enquanto que o feedback de falha reduz as expectativas de resultados e induz ou mantém a motivação de afastamento (Atkinson, 1964;Föster et al, 2001). De acordo com Os modelos positivos, os indivíduos que tenham alcançado um sucesso extraordinário, inspiram outras pessoas a buscarem uma excelência similar (Lockwood, Jordan & Kunda, 2002 foco em promoção seja substituído quando é necessária uma vigilância da situação (Larsen, 2004;Roy, 2017).…”