Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: As the internet becomes more widely used as a marketplace, consumers are increasingly faced with scenarios where they have to customize products by adding features to a base model or delete features from a fully loaded model, a phenomenon known as option framing. People can now customize their vacations, pizzas, personal computers, shoes and cars with the click of a mouse. Recent research has shown consumers will end up with more features and spend more money when they have to remove features from a fully loaded model versus adding features to a base model (Biswas, 2009; Park & Kim, 2012). Emotion may impact these decision processes. People typically use two modes of information processing: fast and intuitive or deliberate and analytical. Past research has shown positive and neutral emotions can lead people to use a fast and intuitive information processing mode while negative emotions can lead people to use a deliberate and analytical approach (Howard & Barry, 1994; Park & Banji, 2000; Samson & Voyer, 2012; Schwarz, 2013; Schwarz & Bless, 1991). This study investigated how the specific emotions of amusement and sadness impact decisions in an option framing scenario of purchasing a car. Participants were induced with either an amusement or sadness emotion by watching a film clip and then added features to a base model car or removed features from a fully loaded car. The results confirmed past findings in that people spent more money and chose more features when presented with a fully loaded model versus a base model. Emotion did not have an effect in the final product configuration.
Author: Charles E Drehmer
Language: English
Subfield: General Decision Sciences
Field: Decision Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2606035044