Two Birds, One Stone? Positive Mood Makes Products Seem Less Useful for Multiple-Goal Pursuit

Negotiating the pursuit of multiple goals often requires making difficult trade-offs between goals. In these situations, consumers can benefit from using products that help them pursue several goals at the same time. But do consumers always prefer these multipurpose products? We propose that consumers' incidental mood state alters perceptions of products in a multiple-goals context. Four studies demonstrate that being in a positive mood amplifies perceptions of differences between multiple conflicting goals. As a consequence, consumers are less likely to evaluate multipurpose products as being able to serve multiple distinct goals simultaneously. We conclude by discussing implications of these findings for marketers of multipurpose products

When Do Incidental Mood Effects Last? Lay Beliefs versus Actual Effects

In a series of studies we examine how incidental mood present at the time of an experience affects judgments made long after the mood has dissipated and compare this to lay beliefs about how mood affects memory-based judgments. We find that memory-based judgments are affected by incidental mood only when there is an external prompt to evaluate the stimulus in real time. This is contrasted with lay beliefs about the effects of mood, which are not sensitive to delay or to the presence of real-time evaluations. The mismatch between lay beliefs and actual effects leads consumers to distort previously unbiased memory-based judgments when they are reminded of the source of the incidental mood. (c) 2009 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Swayed by the numbers: the consequences of displaying product review attributes

Prior research has shown the independent effects of average product ratings and number of reviews for online purchases, but the relative influence of these aggregate review attributes is still debated in the literature. In this research, the authors demonstrate the conditional influences of these two attributes as a function of the valence of average product ratings and the level of review numbers in a choice set. Specifically, they argue that the diagnosticity of the number of reviews, relative to average product ratings, increases when average product ratings are negative or neutral (vs. positive) and when the level of review numbers in a choice set is low (vs. high). As a result, when consumers choose among the best options on one of the review attributes (average product ratings or the number of reviews), their preference shifts from the higher-rated option with fewer reviews toward the lower-rated option with more reviews. The authors demonstrate this preference shift in seven studies, elucidate the underlying process by which this occurs, and conclude with a discussion of the implications for retailers and brands

Swayed by the Numbers: The Consequences of Displaying Product Review Attributes

Prior research has shown the independent effects of average product ratings and number of reviews for online purchases, but the relative influence of these aggregate review attributes is still debated in the literature. In this research, the authors demonstrate the conditional influences of these two attributes as a function of the valence of average product ratings and the level of review numbers in a choice set. Specifically, they argue that the diagnosticity of the number of reviews, relative to average product ratings, increases when average product ratings are negative or neutral (vs. positive) and when the level of review numbers in a choice set is low (vs. high). As a result, when consumers choose among the best options on one of the review attributes (average product ratings or the number of reviews), their preference shifts from the higher-rated option with fewer reviews toward the lower-rated option with more reviews. The authors demonstrate this preference shift in seven studies, elucidate the underlying process by which this occurs, and conclude with a discussion of the implications for retailers and brands