David H. Silvera

Factors predicting the effectiveness of celebrity endorsement advertisements

This research examines whether consumers infer that celebrity endorsers like the products they endorse, and presents a model using these inferences and other characteristics of the endorser to predict attitudes toward the endorsed product. Participants in two experiments examined written endorsement advertisements and were asked to infer the extent to which the endorser truly liked the advertised product and to rate the endorsers attractiveness, similarity to themselves, and knowledge of the product. Attitudes toward the advertisement, the endorser and the product were also measured. The resulting model indicated that product attitudes were predicted by inferences about the endorsers liking for the product and by attitudes toward the endorser.

Impulse buying: The role of affect, social influence, and subjective wellbeing

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine predictors of impulse buying. Although moderate levels of impulse buying can be pleasant and gratifying, recent theoretical work suggests that chronic, high frequency impulse buying has a compulsive element and can function as a form of escape from negative affective states, depression, and low self‐esteem.Design/methodology/approach – The present research empirically tests a theoretical model of impulse buying by examining the associations between chronic impulse buying tendencies and subjective wellbeing, affect, susceptibility to interpersonal influence, and self‐esteem.Findings – Results indicate that the cognitive facet of impulse buying, associated with a lack of planning in relation to purchase decisions, is negatively associated with subjective wellbeing. The affective facet of impulse buying, associated with feelings of excitement and an overpowering urge to buy, is linked to negative affect and susceptibility to interpersonal influence.Practic...

Consumer style and health: The role of impulsive buying in unhealthy eating

Health psychologists have given surprisingly little attention to consumer behavior. This study focuses on the relationship between an impulsive consumer style and unhealthy eating. In a survey, moderate to strong correlations were found between low self-esteem, dispositional negative affect, impulse buying tendency, snacking habit, and eating disturbance propensity. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model of relations between these variables. Impulse buying tendency was strongly associated with snacking habit, which in turn was related to eating disturbance propensity. Impulse buying, though in itself a pleasurable activity, seemed driven by feelings of low self-esteem and dispositional negative affect. Low self-esteem had a direct link to eating disturbance propensity. The data fit a self-regulation explanation. The study demonstrates the relevance of consumer style for health-related behaviors.

Values and collective self‐esteem as predictors of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence among university students

Purpose – This cross‐cultural study examines inter‐relationships between values (using the list of values), collective self‐esteem (CSE), and consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (CSII).Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through surveys administered to 783 university students in four countries (Australia, English‐speaking Canada, Korea, and Norway).Findings – Results indicate that external and interpersonal values are positively related to the normative component of CSII, while internal values are negatively related to the normative component of CSII. The CSE subscale measuring importance of the group to ones identity is positively related to normative CSII, while the CSE subscale of membership esteem is negatively related to normative CSII. Normative CSII was substantially higher among Korean participants than among participants from the other countries.Research limitations/implications – This research was limited to a sample of university students in Canada, Australia, Norw...

A study of the relationship between parental bonding, self-concept and eating disturbances in Norwegian and American college populations

This study investigated the relationship between bonding patterns and self-concept, and the influence of these constructs on a measure of sub-clinical eating disturbances. Undergraduate students from the United States (N=166) and Norway (N=233) were given self-report questionnaires that included measures of parental bonding, locus of control, self-concept clarity, self-esteem, and disturbed cognitions associated with eating. A structural equation model showed the expected pattern, with bonding predicting self-concept and self-concept predicting eating disturbances. The model fit equally well for samples from both countries and for both genders. This model links the pattern of low care and overprotective parental bonding indicators mediated through a self-concept defined by a lack of self-understanding, low self-esteem, and external locus of control to increased risk of eating disturbances for college aged men and women.

Judgment by Quantity

Five studies are presented that demonstrate the influence of computationally simple quantity information on judgment and the regulation of behavior. Study 1 revealed that Ss used the height of a pile of pages of text to judge their proofreading performance, even when pile size was obviously not determined by the amount of text proofread. In Studies 2 and 3, Ss also used nondiagnostic size information to regulate the amount of time and effort they spent on the task. In Study 4, Ss regulated the amount of effort they spent on a complex essay-writing task by using nondiagnostic page length information. In Study 5, nondiagnostic size information dominated objective performance information, but only when the completed task was in full view of the S. A linguistic mechanism is suggested to explain the use of a judgment by quantity strategy.

Feeling Good about Ourselves Unrealistic Self-Evaluations and Their Relation to Self-Esteem in the United States and Norway

The “better-than-average” effect, the tendency for people to view themselves as above average on positive characteristics but belowaverage on negative characteristics, is an important manifestation of the motive for self-enhancement. The present research examined whether the better-than-average effect occurred in Norway, a country with strong norms for modesty, and whether the same association between unrealistically positive self-appraisals and self-esteem would be observed in Norway and the United States. Seventy-six American and 102 Norwegian participants were asked to rate the favorability and self-descriptiveness of 42 personality traits, and these ratings were used to generate a self-enhancement index. Norwegians showed significantly less self-enhancement bias than did Americans, and Norwegians showed no association between self-esteem and self-enhancement bias.

Analyzing the relation between self-esteem and eating disorders: Differential effects of self-liking and self-competence

Research in the past has demonstrated an association between low self-esteem and eating disorders. Recent research on self-esteem has shown, however, that self-esteem is composed of two distinct factors — self-liking and self-competence. The present study examined the relation between these two self-esteem factors and both eating disorders and eating disturbed cognitions. A total of 51 female participants from a high-risk population were clinically interviewed to identify the eating disorder and administered a series of questionnaires that included a measure of self-liking and self-competence. A strong relationship was found between self-liking and eating disorders, but no relationship was found between self-competence and eating disorders.

The Role of Country of Manufacture in Consumers' Attributions of Blame in an Ambiguous Product-Harm Crisis

ABSTRACT This paper examines how country of origin, in particular country of manufacture (COM), impacts the assessment of blame by observers to a product-harm crisis when information is unclear as to a firms culpability for the crisis. In a pilot study and experiment involving three product categories, we find evidence that a negative country of manufacture increases blame attributions to the company when consumers are not familiar with the brand involved. However, when consumers are familiar with the brand, country of manufacture information does not impact blame attributions. In addition, we find evidence that brand affects how consumers process information pertaining to firm culpability. An unknown brand causes observers to assess information associated with company blame as more important when compared to a well-known brand.

Alcohol consumption among university students: A multi-country study of attitudes, values, identity, and consumer influence

ABSTRACT This multi-country study examines differences in attitudes toward drinking among university students in Canada, Australia, Norway, and Korea. In addition, the relationships between attitudes toward drinking and personal values, social identity, and social influence are examined. Results showed that Koreans had the most favorable attitudes toward drinking, and males in all four countries had more positive attitudes toward drinking than females. In addition, students with more favorable attitudes toward drinking placed a higher importance on interpersonal values and a lower importance on internal and external values, compared to students with less favorable attitudes toward drinking. Furthermore, students with more favorable attitudes toward drinking were more susceptible to interpersonal influence than students with less favorable attitudes toward drinking. Contrary to expectations, students with less favorable attitudes toward drinking placed a higher importance on social identity than students with more favorable attitudes toward drinking. Implications for alcohol awareness programs at universities are discussed.