The Role of Construal Level in Message Effects Research: A Review and Future Directions

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stella Juhyun Lee
Keyword(s):  
Psychological Theory ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Message Processing ◽  
Future Directions ◽  
Design Elements ◽  
Processing Styles ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Message Effects ◽  
Mental Construal

Abstract Construal level theory is a recent psychological theory that examines the relationship between psychological distance and mental construal. However, the theory’s implications for message effects research requires more attention. Construal level theory can guide new hypotheses that test the persuasiveness of certain combinations of message features and tailoring messages to different individual orientations. This is possible as the theory may reveal underlying similarities across disparate message topics, design elements, and message processing styles. Core principles of construal level theory are explicated, and message effects research areas that may benefit from its propositions are reviewed and elaborated upon. Finally, caveats of applying the theory to message effects research and future directions are discussed.

scholarly journals Psychological Distance Cues in Online Messages

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 65-80
Author(s):  
Hande Sungur ◽  
Guido M. van Koningsbruggen ◽  
Tilo Hartmann
Keyword(s):  
Online Communication ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Spatial Distance ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Message Processing ◽  
Online Information ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Within Subjects

Abstract. Growing evidence reveals that people rely on heuristic cues when processing online information. The current research, by adopting a construal level theory approach, examined whether psychological distance cues within online messages influence message processing. According to construal level theory, spatial and hypothetical distances (i.e., probabilities, likelihoods) share an association based on psychological distance. Construal level literature suggests that people overgeneralize this association and attribute unlikely events to distant places and likely events to close-by places. The current research provides a novel test of this relationship in an online communication setting. In two within-subjects experiments (Studies 1 and 2), we presented participants tweets depicting likely and unlikely events, and measured whether they attribute them to spatially close or far sources. Confirming our predictions, participants utilized the psychological distance cues and attributed the likely tweets to spatially close and the unlikely tweets to spatially far sources. In two follow-up experiments, we tested the same relationship by employing between-subjects designs. In Study 3 where participants saw one spatial distance and both likely and unlikely tweets, participants formed the same association albeit less strongly and attributed the unlikely tweets to spatially distant sources. In Study 4, where participants saw two spatial distances and only one tweet, the expected association was not formed. Findings suggest that comparison of likelihood information is necessary to form an association between source location and tweet likelihood. The implications of psychological distance and a construal level theory approach are discussed in the context of online heuristics and persuasion.

scholarly journals Improving temporal consistency of preferences: The influence of mental construal

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 949-965
Author(s):  
Asli Elif Aydin
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Design ◽  
Mental Representations ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Temporal Consistency ◽  
Electronic Products ◽  
Mental Construal ◽  
Construal Levels ◽  
High Level ◽  
Over Time

Majority of the current literature on mental construal has focused on effects of varying construal levels on preference shifts whereas this research investigates the influence of mental construal on the change of preference consistency over time. Building on construal level theory, we propose that high-level construal, which creates abstract, and decontextualized mental representations, leads individuals to more consistent preferences than low-level construal, which creates concrete, and contextualized mental representations. Furthermore we examine the effect of having a matching versus non-matching construal level at two different evaluation instances, on achieving greater extents of consistency. To test this prediction a mixed experimental design is employed, in which participants evaluated electronic products at two different sessions. It is demonstrated that when participants have the same construal level at two points in time, their evaluations become similar since they mentally construe the objects in the same way whereas when the construal level differs at these two points, participants focus on different aspects of the products, form different evaluations and have less consistent preferences.

The Application and Development of Construal Level Theory

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Jun HUANG ◽  
Ye LI ◽  
Hongwei ZHANG
Keyword(s):  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Construal Level

scholarly journals A construal-level approach to hedonic and utilitarian shopping orientation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniele Scarpi
Keyword(s):  
Consumer Behavior ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Moderating Effect ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Shopping Orientation ◽  
Shopping Orientations ◽  
Construal Levels ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractSeveral studies in consumer behavior have focused on consumers’ shopping orientation in terms of hedonic and utilitarian shopping. The present research advances a different perspective examining hedonic and utilitarian shopping orientations with the theoretical lenses of construal-level theory. Results from two studies indicate that hedonism relates to higher and utilitarianism to lower construal levels (Study 1). Consequently, individuals tend to prefer desirability-related options when shopping hedonically, and feasibility-related options when shopping in a utilitarian way (Study 2). The findings further show a moderating effect of construal level on the relationship between shopping orientation and choice, consistent with construal-level theory.

scholarly journals COVID-19, camping and construal level theory

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Christopher A. Craig ◽  
Siyao Ma ◽  
Ismail Karabas
Keyword(s):  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Construal Level
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