When Your World Must Be Defended: Choosing Products to Justify the System

Cutright, Keisha M.; Wu, Eugenia; Banfield, Jillian C.; Kay, Aaron C.; Fitzsimons, Gavan J.

doi:10.1086/658469

Cited by 83 publications

(82 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In essence, individuals may use many different manifestations of boundaries as a means of achieving structured consumption in response to threats to control. This is consistent with the growing body of research in consumer behavior that demonstrates that consumers respond to threats in their lives with a variety of different consumption behaviors (e.g., Cutright et al 2011;Ferraro, Shiv, and Bettman 2005;Gao, Wheeler, and Shiv 2008;Rucker and Galinsky 2008).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

The Beauty of Boundaries: When and Why We Seek Structure in Consumption

Cutright¹

2012

J Consum Res

Self Cite

174

201

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How do consumers cope when it seems that they have no control over their outcomes in life? This research posits that consumers will seek greater structure in consumption-or the sense that everything is in its designated place. Moreover, it suggests that very simple boundaries in the environment offer a means for attaining this sense of structure. Several experiments demonstrate that when personal control is threatened, consumers prefer logos, products, and environments that are tangibly or intangibly bounded over those that are unbounded. This research also explores the functional and symbolic benefits that boundaries provide as representations of order and structure.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 85%

The Beauty of Boundaries: When and Why We Seek Structure in Consumption

Cutright¹

2012

J Consum Res

Self Cite

174

201

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…It is therefore conceivable that men may have found this information more relevant than women. Thus, in Study 2 I used a manipulation that earlier research has shown to induce the system justification motive in both men and women (Cutright, Wu, Banfield, Kay, & Fitzsimons, 2011;Kay et al, 2009;Lau, Kay, & Spencer, 2008). Procedure.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

System justification and the defense of committed relationship ideology.

Day

Kay²,

Holmes

et al. 2011

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A consequential ideology in Western society is the uncontested belief that a committed relationship is the most important adult relationship and that almost all people want to marry or seriously couple (DePaulo & Morris, 2005). In the present article, we investigated the extent to which the system justification motive may contribute to the adoption of this ideology. In Studies 1 and 2, we examined whether a heightened motive to maintain the status quo would increase defense of committed relationship values. In Study 3, we examined the reverse association, that is, whether a threat to committed relationship ideology would also affect sociopolitical system endorsement. As past research has found that the justification of political systems depends upon how much these systems are perceived as controlling, in Study 4 we tested whether the defense of the system of committed relationships would also increase when framed as controlling. Results from Studies 1–4 were consistent with our hypotheses, but only for men. In Study 5, using cross-cultural data, we sought to replicate these findings correlationally and probe for a cause of the gender effect. Results from more than 33,000 respondents indicated a relationship (for men) between defense of the sociopolitical system and defense of marriage in countries where the traditional advantages of men over women were most threatened. In Studies 6 and 7, we investigated when this gender difference disappears. Results revealed that when we measured (Study 6) or manipulated (Study 7) personal relationship identity rather than relationship ideology, effects also emerge for women.

show abstract

“…When conservatives experience a high level of threat or uncertainty, they may attempt to restore feelings of control (Heine, Proulx, & Vohs, 2006), thereby decreasing variety‐seeking and limiting choice to things that are familiar. Such a threat might take the form of a power threat, (Rucker & Galinsky, 2008), system threat (Cutright, Wu, Banfield, Kay, & Fitzsimons, 2011), or mortality salience (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1986). Alternatively, unfamiliar shopping environments and/or unexpected events during the in‐store experience could reduce or reverse the positive effect of conservatism on variety‐seeking, due to a heightened need to manage uncertainty.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Political conservatism and variety‐seeking

Fernandes

Mandel

2013

J Consum Psychol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this research, we document and explain a counterintuitive effect of political ideology on variety‐seeking. Although political conservatives have a higher desire for control, which exerts a negative effect on variety‐seeking, they also have a stronger motivation to follow social norms, which exerts a positive effect on variety‐seeking. Three studies demonstrate that conservatism is positively related to variety‐seeking due to social normative concerns and rule out an alternative explanation of heightened self‐expressive motives among conservatives. This research provides preliminary evidence of how political ideology may explain differences in product choices.

show abstract

When Your World Must Be Defended: Choosing Products to Justify the System

Cited by 83 publications

References 31 publications

The Beauty of Boundaries: When and Why We Seek Structure in Consumption

The Beauty of Boundaries: When and Why We Seek Structure in Consumption

System justification and the defense of committed relationship ideology.

Political conservatism and variety‐seeking

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About