Yael Steinhart

Imagining Yourself in the Scene: The Interactive Effects of Goal-Driven Self-Imagery and Visual Perspectives on Consumer Behavior

Consumers often imagine themselves in a scene and engage in such self-imagery while processing information. The goals that they have when they engage in such imagery (e.g., a goal to construct a story of the experience vs. a goal to acquire information) can influence how the mental images they generate affect judgments. When pictures from very different perspectives are provided, those trying to imagine themselves in the scene in order to create a story of the experience have to shift visual perspectives in order to imagine the entire experience. This shift in visual perspective can increase processing difficulty and decrease evaluations of the product or service being described. When individuals are simply imagining themselves acquiring information about the product or service, however, presenting information from different perspectives has a positive impact on evaluations. Four experiments confirmed these effects and the assumptions underlying their conceptualization.

Warnings of Adverse Side Effects Can Backfire Over Time

Warnings that a promoted product can have adverse side effects (e.g., smoking cigarettes can cause cancer) should dampen the product’s allure. We predicted that with temporal distance (e.g., when an ad relates to future consumption or was viewed some time earlier), this common type of warning can have a worrisome alternative consequence: It can ironically boost the product’s appeal. Building on construal-level theory, we argue that this is because temporal distance evokes high-level construal, which deemphasizes side effects and emphasizes message trustworthiness. In four studies, we demonstrated this phenomenon. For example, participants could buy cigarettes or artificial sweeteners after viewing an ad promoting the product. Immediately afterward, the quantity that participants bought predictably decreased if the ad they saw included a warning about adverse side effects. With temporal distance (product to be delivered 3 months later, or 2 weeks after the ad was viewed), however, participants who had seen an ad noting the benefits of the product but warning of risky side effects bought more than those who had seen an ad noting only benefits.

When implicit promises override explicit promises

Purpose – The current research aims to explore the differential effects of bundling products with guarantees (explicit promises of product performance) or with diagnostic kits (kits that allow the user to measure actual product performance) on pre‐purchase product evaluations. It is proposed that when product performance evaluation relies on external sources of information, the effect of a guarantee exceeds the effect of a self‐diagnostic kit. However, when product performance evaluation relies on internal information or self‐reports, product evaluations are better leveraged by an offer of a diagnostic kit than by a guarantee.Design/methodology/approach – The first study examines the differential effects of guarantees and of diagnostic kits on pre‐purchase evaluations of hypothetical products as a function of the mode of evaluation of product performance (internal versus external information sources). The second study explores these effects on pre‐purchase evaluations of actual products, and further inclu...

Purchase availability and involvement antecedents among financial products

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer an integrated approach for understanding the relations among the theoretical and operational antecedents of consumer involvement in the context of financial products. The theoretical antecedents of involvement have been conceptualized as the consumers personal profile, purchase situation, and target product; the operational antecedent includes the purchase availability manipulation.Design/methodology/approach – The research is based on a field study among private customers of a leading financial institute and on two experimental designs within lab settings. The independent variables include the theoretical and operational antecedents and the dependent measure comprises the involvement measure.Findings – The findings emphasize that the theoretical antecedents constitute an effective manipulation of involvement, whereas the operational antecedent has only limited effect.Practical implications – Financial managers should consider the type of financial service,...