Anneleen Van Kerckhove

A Motivational Account of the Question-Behavior Effect

To explain the question-behavior effect, that is, the effect of answering an intention question on subsequent behavior, this article takes on a motivational perspective and proposes that answering an intention question automatically activates an intention. The activation of this motivational state influences subsequent brand choices due to changes in brand accessibilities. Three studies provide support for the assumption that responding to an intention question affects brand choices through a motivational mechanism, such that (1) answering an intention increases the accessibility of motivation-related information and decreases the accessibility of motivation-competing information which increases the choice for the intention-related brand; (2) intention completion temporarily reverses the foregoing accessibility patterns, instigating a reversal of the brand choices for an immediate, second brand choice; and (3) the changes in brand accessibilities and thus the behavioral effect persist as the delay between the intention question and brand choice occasion increases until intention completion.

The Floor Is Nearer than the Sky: How Looking Up or Down Affects Construal Level

This research shows that consumers select a different product when they look down versus up. Because (1) people are accustomed to looking down to process nearby stimuli and to looking up to process distant stimuli, and because (2) perceived distance is linked to concrete versus abstract processing, the association between moving one’s eyes or head down or up and concrete versus abstract processing has become overly generalized. A series of three experiments highlights that downward (upward) head and eye movements evoke more concrete (abstract) processing because downward (upward) head or eye movements have come to serve as a proximity (distance) cue. Two additional experiments indicate downstream behavioral consequences of moving one’s eyes or head down versus up. Consumers choose more for feasible versus desirable products when looking down and vice versa when looking up. They also tend to be more preference-consistent when looking down versus up.

Look at that body! How anthropomorphic package shapes systematically appeal to consumers

ABSTRACT The manuscript identifies how anthropomorphized packages elicit aesthetic appeal. Specifically, we shed light on the effectiveness of applying evolutionary relevant shapes, which are figures of attractive female (i.e. hourglass-shaped) and male (i.e. V-shaped) bodies, to consumer goods’ package design. Results of two lexical decision tasks (Study 1a and 1b) show that when consumers observe a package shaped after an ideal body figure, the mental schema of the human body spontaneously becomes activated. In turn, accessible knowledge of the activated schema influences consumer responses. Two studies (Studies 2a and 2b) demonstrate that packages of gender-neutral consumer goods shaped after an ideal body figure generate aesthetic appeal and favourable product evaluations. A final study (Study 3) reveals that when the package of a gender-specific consumer good is being anthropomorphized, a gender-schema congruity effect occurs: aesthetic appeal is elicited when the package shape is congruent with the target users ideal body figure.

‘My lips are sealed’ - The impact of package resealability on the consumption of tempting foods

Resealable packages are nowadays omnipresent on store shelves. While the main advantage of the resealability feature is its ability to reclose the package in order to extend the shelf life of the food product inside, the present researchs aim is to assess whether this advantage also has implications for palatable, energy-dense food consumption. Two studies provide intentional as well as behavioral evidence for the claim that consumers are better able to self-regulate their consumption and thus eat less in one occasion when a palatable, energy-dense food product is offered in a resealable (vs. unresealable) package. A third study investigates the effect of package resealability across multiple consumption occasions and reveals that the resealability feature limits the volume consumed on each occasion (conditional on consumption incidence) while it does not accelerate consumption frequency, resulting in a lower total consumed volume of palatable, energy-dense snacks over a six-day period. This research offers actionable insights for consumer welfare and public health care and aids manufacturers in delineating optimal food packaging strategies.