Priming, shifting selves and decision making: The role of personal meaning systems in consumer *choice

Abstract

Much research has established that an individual\u27s preferences are contingent on elements of the decision environment, such as the response mode or framing of choices (Payne, Bettman & Johnson, 1992). In addition, it is well established that activating a product category (Herr, 1989) or product feature (Yi, 1990) in a consumer\u27s memory can influence subsequent judgments. However, this dissertation takes a subtler route, by priming higher level concepts that are seemingly unrelated to consumption preferences. Three separate essays establish that the activation of these subtler concepts, such as an individual\u27s self-conception or feelings about mortality, can also influence purchase decisions. The first essay, entitled, “Constructing Preferences Online,” shows that a variable as subtle as the background design of a web page can also change preferences. An individual examining a web page can be primed by the background pictures or colors, which then affect attribute weights and ultimately product choice. A series of experiments found that these background stimuli influenced both the order of external information search and the participants\u27 choice of products. The second essay, entitled, “Terror Management and Marketing,” demonstrates that exposure to death-related material activates one\u27s desire to be an exemplary member of society, thereby increasing interest in high-status products. Individuals who were subtly reminded of their own impending mortality evaluated high-status items more favorably than did control subjects. In contrast, mortality salient subjects rated low-status and non-status products slightly less favorably than did their control counterparts. The third essay, entitled, “Shifting Selves and Decision Making,” illustrates how priming different self-construals can impact consumers\u27 decision making. Experiment I showed that individuals whose interdependent selves were activated were more risk-seeking in their choices of gambles, and more likely to choose products that conformed to social norms, than were those whose independent selves were activated. Follow-up experiments further examined the conditions under which self-construal priming can influence choice, and used implicit memory measures to explain the underlying mechanism behind this phenomenon