Visuals misleading consumers? Testing the visual superiority effect in advertising

2022 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyongseok Kim ◽  
Hyang-Sook Kim
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Dual Processing ◽  
Cognitive Responses ◽  
Online Experiment ◽  
Image Study ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Superiority Effect ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Visual Element ◽  
Textual Content

Purpose The purpose of this study is to test the visual superiority effect in a verisimilar scenario that an industry association seeks to manipulate consumers using a visual element in its ad while providing an ostensibly balanced claim about the potential health effects of stevia. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted. In Study 1, an online experiment was conducted with a sample of 112 adult consumers using a two-group (headline frame type: gain vs loss), post-test only design with additional planned analysis of an individual difference (i.e. regulatory focus). In Study 2, another online experiment was implemented with a sample of 175 adults using a 2 (headline frame type: gain vs loss) × 2 (image valence: positive vs negative) between-subjects design with additional planned analysis of regulatory focus. The hypotheses were tested by running the PROCESS macro on SPSS. Findings The results showed that when exposed to the advertising message designed to elicit uncertainty, participants relied more on the visual than the textual content (i.e. framed headline and body text) in forming attitude toward the behavior (i.e. consuming stevia). Analysis of cognitive responses also revealed that those who received the stimulus ad with an image added (Study 2) generated significantly fewer thoughts related to the textual content of the ad than those who received the ad with no image (Study 1). Originality/value This study represents one of the earliest experimental inquiries into the visual superiority effect in an advertising context. While earlier studies have tended to rely on dual-processing models to test the effects of advertising stimuli featuring both textual and visual elements, the findings of this study (e.g. visual content overwhelmed its textual counterpart in producing persuasive effects) somewhat contradict the premise of dual-processing models.

Regulatory focus and construal level theory on low-income consumer indebtedness: Evidence from an emerging market

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrícia de Oliveira Campos ◽  
Marconi Freitas da Costa
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Task Complexity ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Psychological Distance ◽  
Construal Level Theory ◽  
Construal Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Low Income Consumers

PurposeThis study aims to further analyse the decision-making process of low-income consumer from an emerging market by verifying the influence of regulatory focus and construal level theory on indebtedness.Design/methodology/approachAn experimental study was carried out with a design 2 (regulatory focus: promotion vs prevention) × 2 (psychological distance: high vs low) between subjects, with 140 low-income consumers.FindingsOur study points out that the propensity towards indebtedness of low-income consumer is higher in a distal psychological distance. We found that promotion and prevention groups have the same propensity to indebtedness. Moreover, we highlight that low-income consumers are prone to propensity to indebtedness due to taking decisions focused on the present with an abstract mindset.Social implicationsFinancial awareness advertisements should focus on providing more concrete strategies in order to reduce decision-making complexity and provide ways to reduce competing situations that could deplete self-regulation resources. Also, public policy should organize educational programs to increase the low-income consumer's ability to deal with personal finances and reduce this task complexity. Finally, educational financial programs should also incorporate psychology professionals to teach mindfulness techniques applied to financial planning.Originality/valueThis study is the first to consider regulatory focus and construal level to explain low-income indebtedness. This paper provides a deeper analysis of the low-income consumers' decision process. Also, it supports and guides future academic and decision-making efforts.

Rejecting options from large and small choice sets: the mediating role of confidence

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 1845-1863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Chan ◽  
Yitong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Choice Overload ◽  
Behavioral Experiments ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
Decision Confidence ◽  
Selection Decisions ◽  
Choice Sets ◽  
Two Alternatives

Purpose Literature on choice has predominantly focused on selection decisions rather than rejection decisions. Research on rejection decisions has also only studied rejecting one option from two alternatives. This research aims to study the differences in decision confidence and satisfaction in rejection decisions between choice sets of small and large sizes. Design/methodology/approach The authors conducted three behavioral experiments in which they first tested the overall effect (Experiment 1) and then found out whether regulatory focus (Experiment 2) and the attractiveness of options (Experiment 3) moderated it. Findings The authors observed that decision satisfaction increased when rejecting larger (vs smaller) choice sets. Decision confidence mediated it (Experiment 1). The effect was strongest when participants had a prevention focus (Experiment 2) and when they were rejecting relatively unattractive options (Experiment 3). Research limitations/implications This research expands the understanding of how individuals make rejection-based decisions and in particular how individuals make choices for one option out of many as in the selection-based choice overload literature. Practical implications The authors show how choice sets of varying sizes affect rejection decisions commonly faced by managers and consumers. This research provides implications for improving confidence and satisfaction, both of which are important elements of everyday decision-making, by suggesting that choice outcomes may differ depending on whether one is making a selection or a rejection decision and whether the choice set size is small or large. Originality/value This is the first study to examine rejection decisions with more than two alternatives. The findings complement the large body of work on the choice overload effect that focuses on selection decisions.

Effects of absence positioning of unknown product ingredients on consumer evaluations

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (9/10) ◽  
pp. 2128-2150
Author(s):  
Timucin Ozcan ◽  
Ahmet M. Hattat ◽  
Michael Hair
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Initial Study ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Mediation Effect ◽  
Amazon Mechanical Turk ◽  
Initial Attempt ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Consumer Evaluations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Results

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the effectiveness of positioning unknown ingredients either with the presence or absence of framing; both are common in marketplace (e.g. Secret® deodorant visibly claims “aluminum chlorohydrate” while Crystal® promotes “no aluminum chlorohydrate”). Design/methodology/approach The authors used three scenario-based experiments. The participants were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk online panel and randomly assigned to a variety of experimental conditions. Findings Initial study results show that consumers have more positive evaluations and purchase intentions for absence positioning than presence positioning, because absence positioning induces greater perceptions of protection. In the second study, these results are extended using multiple ingredients, along with competitor products; they show that absence positioning leads to better evaluations than presence positioning and replicate the mediation effect that was found earlier. In the final study, through manipulating participants’ regulatory focus, the authors show that absence-positioned ingredients have a higher choice share when consumers are in the prevention mindset. Conversely, when customers are in promotion mindset and looking for better performance, presence positioning of ingredients seems to have higher choice shares. Research limitations/implications The research has implications for product development, promotions, labeling and packaging, showing the positive influence of absence positioning of unknown ingredients. Practical implications Marketers may emphasize the absence of unknown ingredients in their products instead of following a strategy that highlights the inclusion of them. Originality/value To the authors’ extant knowledge, this research is an initial attempt to understand how consumers react to promotion of product ingredients. In addition, it contributes to the literature in unknown attributes by showing that absence positioning of certain types of ingredients is perceived better than presence framing of them.

Transactional leadership and dynamic capabilities: the mediating effect of regulatory focus

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (9) ◽  
pp. 2284-2306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Feng Xu ◽  
Xiaohong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Transactional Leadership ◽  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Dynamic Capabilities ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Promotion Focus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Collaborative Innovation ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The mechanism of leadership’s impact on dynamic capabilities has aroused widespread interest, but few studies focus on transactional leadership, especially empirical research by micro foundations in the R&D departments from collaborative innovation alliances. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the mechanism of transactional leadership affects dynamic capabilities based on the mediating effect of regulatory focus. Design/methodology/approach In order to better illustrate the role of transactional leadership on dynamic capabilities, the authors introduced regulatory focus as a mediator based on previous research. A sample of 245 dyads comprised of full-time employees and their immediate supervisors was collected from the innovation teams of industry-university alliances through questionnaires in China and analyzed via hierarchical regression method. Non-response bias and endogeneity testing were also conducted to confirm the validity of the findings. Findings Contingency-reward behavior promotes the development of employee sensing and seizing capability. Management-by-exception promotes the development of employee reconfiguration capability. Promotion focus positively mediates the relationship between contingency-reward and sensing-seizing capability. Prevention focus positively mediates the relationship between management-by-exception and sensing-seizing capability. In addition, management-by-exception is also positively related to sensing capability and promotion focus is positively related to reconfiguration capability. Originality/value This paper confirmed different dimensions of transactional leadership favor different dimensions of dynamic capabilities based on different dimensions of regulatory focus, which enriches the theory of strategic leadership and dynamic capabilities, and is conducive to the management of collaborative innovation in technological innovation alliances.

The mediational effect of regulatory focus on the relationships between mindfulness and job satisfaction and turnover intentions

2014 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 494-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martha C. Andrews ◽  
K. Michele Kacmar ◽  
Charles Kacmar
Keyword(s):  
Job Satisfaction ◽  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Turnover Intentions ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Prevention Focus ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of mindfulness as a predictor of the two components of regulatory focus theory (RFT): promotion and prevention focus. It further examines promotion focus and prevention focus as mediators of the mindfulness-job satisfaction and mindfulness-turnover intentions relationships. Finally, job satisfaction is also examined as a mediator of the mindfulness-turnover intentions relationship. Design/methodology/approach – The model was tested using data collected via a snowball approach. Online surveys were distributed to undergraduate students enrolled in a business course. Students were then given the opportunity to earn extra credit by sending the survey to potential respondents. The relationships were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings – Support was found for four of the six hypotheses. Prevention focus did not negatively mediate the relationship between mindfulness and job satisfaction as well as the relationship between mindfulness and turnover intentions. Research limitations/implications – One limitations of this research is the placement of mindfulness as an antecedent to promotion and prevention focus. Another plausible alternative is to consider mindfulness as a consequence. An additional limitation is the use of a snowball sampling technique. Future research should examine these findings using employees of a single organization. Originality/value – This research theoretically and empirically links RFT and mindfulness. This study also adds to the limited research empirically linking RFT and turnover intentions, both directly and indirectly via job satisfaction. Finally, this research extends previous research that established the positive relationship between mindfulness and job satisfaction by examining the mindfulness-job satisfaction-turnover intentions relationship.

Impact of regulatory focus on security technostress and organizational outcomes: the moderating effect of security technostress inhibitors

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Inho Hwang ◽  
Sanghyun Kim ◽  
Carl Rebman
Keyword(s):  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Organizational Outcomes ◽  
Equation Model ◽  
Organizational Level ◽  
Moderating Effects ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Individual Personality

PurposeOrganizations invest in information security (IS) technology to be more competitive; however, implementing IS measures creates environmental conditions, such as overload uncertainty, and complexity, which can cause employees technostress, eventually resulting in poor security performance. This study seeks to contribute to the intersection of research on regulatory focus (promotion and prevention) as a type of individual personality traits, technostress, and IS.Design/methodology/approachA survey questionnaire was developed, collecting 346 responses from various organizations, which were analyzed using the structural equation model approach with AMOS 22.0 to test the proposed hypotheses.FindingsThe results indicate support for both the direct and moderating effects of security technostress inhibitors. Moreover, a negative relationship exists between promotion-focused employees and facilitators of security technostress, which negatively affects strains (organizational commitment and compliance intention).Practical implicationsOrganizations should develop various programs and establish a highly IS-aware environment to strengthen employees' behavior regarding IS. Furthermore, organizations should consider employees' focus types when engaging in efforts to minimize security technostress, as lowering technostress results in positive outcomes.Originality/valueIS management at the organizational level is directly related to employees' compliance with security rather than being a technical issue. Using the transaction theory perspective, this study seeks to enhance current research on employees' behavior, particularly focusing on the effect of individuals' personality types on IS. Moreover, this study theorizes the role of security technostress inhibitors for understanding employees' IS behaviors.

Potential antioxidant and lipid peroxidation inhibition of coffee mixed with lemongrass (Cymbopogon citrates) leaves

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ayman El-Anany ◽  
Sami Althwab ◽  
Rehab Ali ◽  
Rehab F.M. Ali ◽  
Hassan Mousa
Keyword(s):  
Lipid Peroxidation ◽  
Health Benefits ◽  
Radical Scavenging ◽  
Control Sample ◽  
Reducing Power ◽  
Storage Period ◽  
Dpph Radical ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Levels

Purpose The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of the addition of dried lemongrass leaves (DLGL) powder, at different levels, on phenolics content, antioxidant activities, consumer acceptance and the inhibition of lipid peroxidation of roasted coffee (RC). Design/methodology/approach DLGL powder was incorporated at the levels of 0%, 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5% and 10% of RC weight. The total flavonoids (TF), total phenolics (TP) and antioxidant activity measured using a 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical and reducing power assay of RC, DLGL and binary mixture of them determined. The oxidative indices of coffee oil samples during storage were investigated. In addition, the sensory characteristics of RC fortified with different levels of DLGL powder were evaluated. Findings The TP content of DLGL powder was 1,100.32 mg/100 g DWb, nearly 1.2 times higher than found in RC beans. The TF content of RC enriched with 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5% and 10% DLGL were found to be around 1.05, 1.10, 1.15 and 1.20 times higher than that in the control coffee samples. RC supplemented with various levels of DLGL powder showed higher DPPH radical scavenging and reducing power activities. At the end of the storage period (six months), the acid, peroxide, P-Anisidine and total oxidation value values of RC supplemented with 10% DLGL powder were about 1.94, 2.52, 2.60 and 2.59 times as low as in the control sample without any addition of DLGL powder, respectively. RC containing 2.5% and 5.0% DLGL powder had significantly (p < 0.05) the highest sensory scores. Consequently, the addition of DLGL in coffee at up to a 5% ratio may have potential health benefits. Practical implications RC containing 2.5% and 5.0% DLGL powder had significantly (p = 0.05) the highest sensory scores. Originality/value Consequently, the addition of DLGL in coffee at up to a 5% ratio may have potential health benefits.

Analogical reasoning and regulatory focus: using the creative process to enhance consumer-brand outcomes within a co-creation context

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (6) ◽  
pp. 1355-1381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Naletelich ◽  
Nancy Spears
Keyword(s):  
New Product Development ◽  
Regulatory Focus ◽  
Analogical Reasoning ◽  
New Product ◽  
Regulatory Fit ◽  
Purchase Intentions ◽  
Task Engagement ◽  
Reasoning Task ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Analogical Thinking

Purpose New product development (NPD) is increasingly being delegated to consumers, yet little research has investigated consumer-centric factors that may influence this delegation. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to uniquely combine regulatory focus and analogical reasoning to investigate new product ideation and downstream consumer-brand responses. Design/methodology/approach A series of experiments were undertaken. Findings Study 1 revealed that promotion-focused consumers (as opposed to prevention-focused consumers) have significantly greater purchase intentions if given an analogical reasoning task before engaging in new product ideation due to their cognitive flexibility. Study 2 tested the effects of near vs far analogies and found that promotion-focused consumers use analogical thinking to a greater extent and have significantly higher purchase intentions if primed with far analogies because regulatory fit is enhanced. However, analogical thinking and purchase intentions significantly drop if primed with near analogies. In contrast, prevention-focused consumers use analogical thinking to a greater extent and have significantly higher purchase intentions if shown near analogies, compared to far analogies, because of improved regulatory fit. Both studies confirm a serial mediation chain involving task engagement, self-brand connection, and brand sincerity. Research limitations/implications This research extends current understanding regarding the role of creative tasks within consumer NPD. It also uniquely links regulatory focus and consumer task engagement in NPD to increase favorable brand responses. Practical implications Findings offer managerial insights that can positively increase consumer-brand outcomes during NPD. Originality/value This is one of the first studies to demonstrate the importance of analogical thinking and consumer-centric factors (i.e., regulatory focus) during the NPD process. This avenue of research is important, as most studies have neglected ways in which to increase consumer NPD task engagement, leaving resources unutilized.

Factors influencing internet users’ intention to sign e-petitions

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 257-275 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karina Lia Meirita Ulo ◽  
Achmad Nizar Hidayanto ◽  
Puspa Indahati Sandhyaduhita ◽  
Widia Resti Fitriani ◽  
Meyliana Meyliana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Source Credibility ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Personal Relevance ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Personal Perspective ◽  
Dual Processing ◽  
Online Questionnaire ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internet Users

Purpose This study aims to identify factors behind the intention to sign e-petitions, focusing on three aspects, i.e. information (argument quality), the source of information (source credibility) and personal perspective (personal relevance and altruism). Design/methodology/approach Data collection is done by using a quantitative approach through an online questionnaire. This study involved 211 respondents who were internet users in Indonesia who had signed an e-petition. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling approach with IBM Amos version 22.0. Findings The findings revealed that there are three factors shaping internet users’ attitudes toward e-petitions, namely, altruism, AQ and personal relevance, of which altruism was the strongest factor. Those who have a positive attitude toward e-petitions seemed to have higher intention to sign e-petitions. Additionally, we discovered that internet users believe credible e-petition initiators deliver better arguments, which drive them to sign e-petitions. Research limitations/implications The finding related to elaboration likelihood model has revealed that not only the dual processing of central routes and peripheral routes but also the possibility of peripheral routes influencing the factors in the central route. Hence, future studies need to include the examination of this relation. Finally, altruism is identified as the major factor that influences people to sign e-petitions. Therefore, people should be aware of this factor while examining the environment that likely has voluntary aspects. Practical implications To improve the adoption of the e-petition system, it is important for the e-petition websites to maintain attitude factors to achieve the e-petition goals. It is also important that e-petition websites provide credibility information of the e-petition initiators and make it visible to everyone. The e-petition sites must be able to be personalized so that users can be categorized based on their profiles or interests. Finally, as altruism is the most influencing factor in shaping internet users’ attitude toward e-petitions, e-petition initiators need to write a persuasive and arousing information and images for their e-petition. Some templates, tips or even online training to persuasive public petitions also need to be provided. Originality/value This study attempts to fill the research gap by examining factors from three domains, i.e. information source (the e-petitioners), information/AQ and personal perspective (personal motivation) of the e-petition signers. The authors enrich the research model with altruism factors that influence attitude in signing petitions. This study illustrates the characteristic of Indonesian internet user’s and provides important implications for how the e-petitions site should improve the functionality of the sites.

A picture is worth a thousand words! How visual storytelling transforms the aesthetic experience of novel designs

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 913-926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christin Seifert ◽  
Veena Chattaraman
Keyword(s):  
Aesthetic Experience ◽  
Visual Design ◽  
Cognitive Responses ◽  
Holistic Model ◽  
Significant Interaction Effect ◽  
Visual Storytelling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
Aesthetic Judgments

Purpose This study aims to provide a holistic understanding of how visual storytelling influences the objective and subjective cognitive responses of consumers, namely objective aesthetic impression and subjective aesthetic association, and aesthetic judgments in response to differing levels of novelty in design innovations. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-factorial experimental study manipulating the novelty of chair designs (moderate/high) and visual design stories (present/absent) was conducted among 263 female US consumers to test the proposed research model. Findings With respect to the main effects of novelty and visual design stories, consumers had more positive cognitive responses and aesthetic judgments to: product designs with moderate (vs high) novelty; and products with visual design stories than without. A significant interaction effect uncovered that visual design stories particularly aided products with high (vs moderate) design novelty with respect to objective aesthetic impressions. Examination of the structural relationships between the variables revealed that subjective aesthetic associations mediate the relationship between objective aesthetic impressions and aesthetic judgments. Practical implications To mitigate risk in radical design innovations, marketers should use visual storytelling to communicate product form associations and enable consumers to successfully decode the meaning of novel designs during initial encounters. Originality/value By examining a holistic model involving both perceptual and conceptual product concepts, this study fills a critical research void to develop insightful implications on bridging the gap between novel product designs and consumer understanding.

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