Caroline Goukens

Me, Myself, and My Choices: The Influence of Private Self-Awareness on Choice

This article examines the impact of private self-awareness on consumer decision making. In four studies, the authors show that the ease of preference formation accompanying private self-awareness makes people more willing and able to rely on their personal preference weights. As the authors predict, privately self-aware consumers are less inclined to opt for a varied choice set (Study 1) and are less likely to select compromise options (Studies 2 and 3), unless they find that it is too difficult to construct their personal preferences (Study 4).

The best of both worlds? Effects of attribute-induced goal conflict on consumption of healthy indulgences

Marketers commonly assume that health claims attached to otherwise unhealthful food stimulate consumption because such claims offer justification for indulgence and reduce guilt. This article proposes a generalized theory of healthful indulgences, identifying when and why people overconsume versus regulate food intake in response to health claims. Four studies demonstrate that not all health claims are created equal. The authors suggest that the nature of the food attributes the claims emphasize—namely, functional versus hedonic—determines the extent of consumption of the indulgence. Health claims featuring functional attributes (e.g., “extra antioxidants”) trigger high levels of health-goal accessibility, which, together with simultaneously accessible indulgence goals attached to the indulgence, results in goal conflict. This conflict leads to reduced consumption of the food. In contrast, health claims featuring hedonic attributes (e.g., “low fat”) render health goals less accessible while accentuating the pleasure dimension of the food, resulting in lower goal conflict and increased consumption of the food. Implications for the food industry and public policy makers are discussed.

Shaping Customer Satisfaction Through Self-Awareness Cues

Six studies show that subtle contextual cues that increase customers’ self-awareness can be used to influence their satisfaction with service providers (while holding the objective service delivery constant). Self-awareness cues tend to increase customers’ satisfaction when the outcome of a service interaction is unfavorable, but they tend to decrease customers’ satisfaction when the outcome of the interaction is favorable. This is because higher self-awareness increases customers’ tendency to attribute outcomes to themselves rather than to the provider. Self-awareness can even influence satisfaction with service interactions that occurred far in the past. The authors demonstrate these effects across a variety of lab and field settings with different simulated retail experiences and with different real-life service interactions, including college courses, meals taken at a university cafeteria, and items purchased at an actual clothing store. The results further show that attempts to shape customers’ satisfaction by means of self-awareness are more likely to be effective when there is substantial customer responsibility for the outcome; when customers’ responsibility is limited, such attempts may backfire.

Changing the default. How to promote healthier food choices

The current environment promotes overeating, hence contributing to the rapid increase in obesity prevalence. To curb the obesity epidemic, it is important that people make healthier food choices. Lately more researchers and health professionals have argued for obesity policy. A public policy tool rising in popularity is ‘nudging’. The goal of nudging is to alter people’s choices without taking any alternatives away. This can be achieved by making small changes in the environment. One example of a nudge is changing the default. Changing the default option can markedly change one’s choice behaviour. Whether this nudge is also effective regarding food choice behaviour is not that clear yet. In an online study, participants were asked to choose a hamburger from a menu. After choosing the hamburger they were randomly divided over three conditions regarding the side dish they received. In the first condition participants received by default a large portion of fries. In the second condition participants received by default a small portion of fries, and in the third condition participants could choose between the two portion sizes. In both the first and second condition participants were given the option to switch to the other portion size. Results showed that especially when hungry, participants choose the side dish that was presented as the default more often. This suggests that a default change may indeed help people make healthier food choices.