Keri Kettle

The Signature Effect: Signing Influences Consumption-Related Behavior by Priming Self-Identity

Evidence from four studies shows that signing ones name influences consumption-related behavior in a predictable manner. Signing acts as a general self-identity prime that facilitates the activation of the particular aspect of a consumers self-identity that is afforded by the situation, resulting in behavior congruent with that aspect. Our findings demonstrate that signing causes consumers to become more (less) engaged when shopping in a product domain they (do not) closely identify with (studies 1 and 2), to identify more (less) closely with in(out)-groups (study 3), and to conform more with (diverge more from) in(out)-groups when making consumption choices in preference domains that are relevant to signaling ones identity (study 4). We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.

Motivation by Anticipation Expecting Rapid Feedback Enhances Performance

We have all waited to receive evaluations of our performance. Indeed, feedback on some of life’s most consequential endeavors—such as writing exams, developing business proposals, and preparing manuscripts for publication—arrives with substantial delay. Although the importance of feedback in learning and other domains is well recognized (e.g., Schmidt & Bjork, 1992), the question of whether people’s performance is influenced by when they expect to receive feedback on it has not been examined previously. When anticipated feedback is more proximate, so is the threat of disappointment—the negative affect experienced when an outcome falls short of expectations (van Dijk, Zeelenberg, & van der Pligt, 2003). The desire to avoid disappointment is a powerful motivator, leading people to alter their choices (Mellers, 2000), lower their expectations (Carroll, Sweeny, & Shepperd, 2006; Shepperd, Ouellette, & Fernandez, 1996), and intensify their efforts to perform well (Norem & Cantor, 1986). Thus, we hypothesized that the mere anticipation of more proximate feedback would cause people to perform better. We tested this hypothesis in a field experiment involving a highly consequential behavior: individual presentations in a university course. Each student gave a 4-min oral presentation that was peer-graded. The course comprised seven sections. Within each section, students were randomly assigned to a presentation date; typically, 10 students made presentations in each class session. All students in the audience rated each presentation on a scale from 0 (poor) to 10 (excellent). The mean of these ratings formed the presenter’s grade for this component of the course.

Anger Promotes Economic Conservatism

Research suggests that certain facets of people’s political ideals can be motivated by different goals. Although it is widely accepted that emotions motivate goal-directed behavior, less is known about how emotion-specific goals may influence different facets of ideology. In this research, we examine how anger affects political ideology and through what mechanisms such effects occur. Drawing on the dual-process motivational model of ideology and the functionalist perspective of emotion, we propose that anger leads people to support conservative economic ideals, which promote economic independence and discourage societal resource sharing. Four studies support our hypothesis that anger can enhance support for an election candidate espousing conservative economic ideals. We find that anger shifts people toward economic conservatism by orienting them toward competition for resources. Implications and future research on the relationship between emotions and political ideology are discussed.