Arnd Florack

Predicting acculturation attitudes of dominant and non-dominant groups

Abstract In this study, several variables which have been proved in intergroup research to have had influence on the interaction between groups, were examined with regard to their success to distinguish and predict acculturation attitudes. Variables considered were perceived similarity, contact, identification, self-efficacy, perceived outcome, permeability, vitality, and ingroup bias. Discriminant analyses were computed for dominant groups (Germans, Swiss, and Slovaks) and non-dominant groups (Turks, former Yugoslavians, and Hungarians) to distinguish integration, assimilation, separation, and marginalization attitudes. The variables were efficient in predicting the acculturation attitudes of the groups, with the exception of the Hungarians’ attitudes. The results reveal that although each cultural group shows its own unique pattern there are some variables which are important throughout. In addition, the patterns of variables clearly demonstrate the specifity of each respective acculturation attitude.

Concordance of acculturation attitudes and perceived threat

This study presents the concordance model of acculturation (CMA), which was developed with reference to Berry’s acculturation model (Berry, 1997). A comparison of the attitudes of a dominant and a non-dominant group gives rise to four levels of concordance that represent different possibilities of (mis)matched attitudes: consensual, culture-problematic, contact-problematic, and conflictual. A basic assumption of the CMA is that the greater the mismatch in attitudes, the more threatening and less enriching the intergroup situation will be perceived to be. This assumption was tested in a survey study comparing the attitudes of Germans (N = 265) with the attitudes they imputed to Polish or Italian immigrants. We were able to show that the level of concordance is related to perceived intergroup threat and/or enrichment when controlling for the underlying acculturation attitudes: the greater the concordance between the dominant group’s acculturation attitudes and the attitudes imputed to immigrants, the lower the perceived threat and the higher the perceived enrichment.

Perceived Intergroup Threat and Attitudes of Host Community Members Toward Immigrant Acculturation

Abstract The authors expected the extent to which host community members (a) perceive immigrants as threatening, (b) believe that the immigrants are able to assimilate to the host community (permeability), and (c) consider their presence in the host community as legitimate to predict attitudes towards immigrant acculturation. The authors designed Study 1 to examine attitudes of Germans toward Turkish immigrants. Participants were 227 German white-collar and blue-collar workers. As expected, ethnocentric acculturation attitudes positively correlated with perceived threat and negatively correlated with perceived legitimacy and perceived permeability. However, only perceived threat contributed uniquely to the prediction of the attitudes. In Study 2, the authors applied an experimental manipulation of perceived threat. Before answering attitude questions, participants read magazine articles with a threatening, enriching, or irrelevant content. The manipulation had the predicted impact on the self-reported attitudes toward immigrants. However, the salience of threatening or enriching aspects of the Turkish culture did not affect implicitly measured attitudes.

Acculturation Attitudes of the Dutch and the Germans towards the European Union: The Importance of National and European Identification

The relationship between social identifications and attitudes towards collective acculturation is studied within the context of the European Union. Berry’s (1980) acculturation model is linked to the social identity theory and applied to the instance of European nations (here, the Netherlands and Germany) acculturating into the ‘superordinate-group’ Europe. Results show that the nation’s participation in the European Union is supported to a higher degree by respondents with high than with low European identification. The maintenance of national culture is more strongly preferred by respondents with high than with low national identification. A cross-national comparison indicates that this impact of social identification can be shown only for the Germans. This finding is discussed as resulting from a different construction of national identity in Germany and the Netherlands.

Hard to Ignore Impulsive Buyers Show an Attentional Bias in Shopping Situations

This research focuses on the attentional processes that underlie buying impulsiveness. It was hypothesized that impulsive buyers are more likely than nonimpulsive buyers to get distracted by products that are unrelated to their shopping goal. The study applied a 2 (buying impulsiveness low vs. high) × 2 (shopping vs. nonshopping context) × 2 (product vs. nonsemantic distractors) mixed design. Participants’ attention allocation was measured via eye tracking during a visual distraction paradigm. The results support the distraction hypothesis. Impulsive buyers allocated less attention to a focal product than nonimpulsive buyers. The effect was context-specific and emerged only when the task was framed as a shopping situation. The results show that distraction is not limited to attractive products and suggest that it is driven by a general attentional openness for products in shopping situations.

How shopping orientation influences the effectiveness of monetary and nonmonetary promotions

Purpose – This research aims to examine whether shopping orientation (experiential vs task-focused) influences how consumers react toward nonmonetary and monetary promotions. It was predicted that promotions are more effective if the promotional benefits are congruent with consumers’ shopping orientation. Moreover, consumers’ financial budget was assumed to moderate the influence of shopping orientation on promotion effectiveness. Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses were tested in three experiments. Study 1 used a measure of shopping orientation as a consumer disposition and examined its influence on promotion attractiveness. Two further studies used an experimental manipulation of shopping orientation and examined its influence on promotions attractiveness and retailer choice. Findings – The results supported the hypotheses. Task-focused shoppers evaluated monetary promotions as more attractive than nonmonetary promotions. Experiential shoppers evaluated both types of promotions as comparably at...

Shopping orientation as a stable consumer disposition and its influence on consumers’ evaluations of retailer communication

Purpose – The present aims to examine whether interindividual differences in consumers’ shopping orientations reflect a stable consumer disposition (i.e. chronic shopping orientation; CSO). Furthermore, it examines whether this disposition influences consumers’ evaluations of retailer communication. Consumers may shop under an experiential or a task-focused shopping orientation. Design/methodology/approach – This research builds on four studies; three were conducted online and one was conducted in the laboratory. Study 1 applied a longitudinal design, Studies 2 and 3 applied a cross-sectional design and Study 4 applied an experimental design. Findings – Study 1 shows that CSO is stable over time. Study 2 finds that interindividual differences in CSO are stable across different retail domains. Studies 3 and 4 demonstrate that experiential shoppers prefer stimulation-oriented claims, whereas task-focused shoppers prefer efficiency-oriented claims. Originality/value – The value of shopping orientation for cu...

Self-regulation and protective health behaviour: How regulatory focus and anticipated regret are related to vaccination decisions

Objective: We examined how individual motivational orientations and anticipated regret are related to the protective health decision of vaccination behaviour. Design: The proposed relations were examined in a large-scale sample (N = 3168) and three medium-sized samples (N = 151, N = 194, N = 208). Questionnaires were applied to assess regulatory focus, anticipated regret and vaccination behaviour. Results: Increased prevention-focused self-regulation – which is represented by concerns about security-related goals, responsibilities and obligations – was related to a greater likelihood of vaccination. Prevention-focused individuals’ higher likelihood of getting vaccinated seems at least in part to be a consequence of anticipated regret for not vaccinating. Study 3 suggests that regulatory focus is less related to vaccination decisions when regret is increased by the decision-making context; that is, when information highlighting vaccination effectiveness and a low likelihood of adverse responses is provided. Conclusion: Prevention-focused self-regulation is related to a greater likelihood of engaging in health-protective behaviour. This can be explained by prevention-focused individuals’ greater tendency to anticipate regret about getting ill as a consequence of not adopting protective measures. If people perceive a protective measure such as a vaccination as highly effective, anticipated regret for not adopting it is generally increased, and individual differences in regulatory focus no longer predict the decision.

Visual Attention and Goal Pursuit Deliberative and Implemental Mindsets Affect Breadth of Attention

Mindset theory suggests that a deliberative mindset entails openness to information in one’s environment, whereas an implemental mindset entails filtering of information. We hypothesized that this open- versus closed-mindedness influences individuals’ breadth of visual attention. In Studies 1 and 2, we induced an implemental or deliberative mindset, and measured breadth of attention using participants’ length estimates of x-winged Müller-Lyer figures. Both studies demonstrate a narrower breadth of attention in the implemental mindset than in the deliberative mindset. In Study 3, we manipulated participants’ mindsets and measured the breadth of attention by tracking eye movements during scene perception. Implemental mindset participants focused on foreground objects, whereas deliberative mindset participants attended more evenly to the entire scene. Our findings imply that deliberative versus implemental mindsets already operate at the level of visual attention.

Being prepared for acculturation: On the importance of the first months after immigrants enter a new culture

We hypothesized that perceived communication effectiveness at arrival and initial friendships with members of the receiving society during the first months after arrival in a new country have a long-term effect on the development of acculturation orientations and that this effect is pronounced for individuals with a high need for cognitive closure (NCC). We examined the hypotheses in a study with Spanish-speaking immigrants in Switzerland (n = 146) and in Italy (n = 147). We asked participants to indicate their current attitude to contact with the receiving society and cultural maintenance and report retrospectively their perceived communication effectiveness at arrival and initial friendships. In line with the predictions, the perceptions of high communication effectiveness at arrival and friendships with members of the receiving society during the initial phase in the new culture were positively correlated with the current attitude to contact with the receiving society assessed 7 years after arrival on average. Also, initial friendships with members of the receiving society were negatively correlated with present cultural maintenance. Moreover, with an increase in NCC, these correlations increased.