Marco Pichierri

Consumer Hypnotic-Like Suggestibility: Possible Mechanism in Compulsive Purchasing

The authors hypothesize a concept, Consumer Hypnotic-Like Suggestibility (CHLS), defined as an altered state of consciousness, as a state causing a tendency to respond positively to messages aimed at inducing consumers to make unplanned purchases. This study aims to investigate the associations of CHLS with interpersonal variables and compulsive purchasing—a frequent and uncontrollable preoccupation with buying or impulses to buy. A study was conducted on a sample of 232 subjects (n = 111 men; M age = 41 yr.), through the administration of a questionnaire, which measured: CHLS, compulsive purchasing, consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (the necessity to enhance ones image in the opinion of others through the consumption of products), and consumer atmospherics, i.e., environmental stimuli known to influence purchasing decisions. Modeling and mediation analyses suggested that internal and external drivers—Consumer Susceptibility to Interpersonal Influence and atmospherics—are positively related to CHLS which affects compulsive purchasing.

To buy or to rent? An experimental study on the antecedents of consumers’ acquisition-mode decisions

Renting is a widely used mode of gaining access to goods, yet research on how consumers decide whether to buy or rent a good is still limited, leaving unclear whether a buy-or-rent choice is driven by situational (i.e., context-related) or dispositional (i.e., personality-related) factors. This research jointly addresses the role of situational and dispositional factors on the rent-or-buy decision, to shed light on what actually drives consumers’ preference for one or the other acquisition mode. Results of an experimental study, conducted using a real-life choice situation involving a leading automotive brand, show that overall consumers strongly prefer buying to renting, regardless of the quality of the alternatives they are evaluating. This evidence challenges the commonly held idea that through rental consumers can enjoy superior-quality goods that they could otherwise not afford. Furthermore, results show that specific situational (time horizon) and dispositional (importance of possession, locus of control, convenience orientation) factors may affect individuals’ intention to buy or rent. Theoretical and managerial implications are also discussed.

Eating With Your Eyes: How Packaging Visual Cues Affect Content Estimation and Self-control in Virtue and Vice Food

Abstract This research investigates the effects of visual cues depicted on food packaging on consumers’ estimates of the contained amount and consumers’ self-control intentions. Results from two experiments show that the number of product units shown on the package drives perceptions and behavioral intentions in food categories where product size tends to be quite standardized, supporting the “see more, expect more” effect reported by previous literature, but adding a “see virtue, expect more” effect triggered by product type. Instead, when product size tends to vary across manufacturers, picture size has a greater effect on consumers’ content estimations and self-control intention than the number of product units depicted, suggesting the existence of a “see small, expect more” effect according to which consumers estimate larger content when the package portrays smaller product units. Results stimulate awareness of the effects that can be conveyed by images on packaging, on content estimates and consumer self-control.

Anziani e social media: opportunità o minaccia?

Although several studies found that individuals’ chronological age is negatively correlated with innovations’ adoption, recent evidences show that older adults are the age group with the highest growth rate in the use of social networking sites. The aim of this paper is to shed light on the relationship between elderly and social networking sites - defined as online spaces in which individuals can create self-descriptive profiles and a network of personal connections - by reviewing contributions from psychological and marketing literatures. This study examines how the use of these tools can be a source of physical and psychological well-being for the elderly, helping them to cope with the social isolation and cognitive decline. At the same time, it addresses the issue of their accessibility, examining the barriers to the virtual inclusion of the elderly in the social media, and the threats related to their use.