Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-28 Cooperative journals: 《心理科学进展》
Abstract： Minimalism refers to a lifestyle that seeks satisfaction in a non-material world by reducing consumption. Given the increasing popularity of minimalistic consumption (i.e., voluntary simplicity), it is necessary to understand minimalism more comprehensively. First, we provide a categorization scheme related voluntary simplicity, including its conception, dimensions, and measurements. Characterized by a minimal, simple, and responsible lifestyle, minimalism can be defined as the degree to which consumers select a lifestyle to minimalize their consumption and to take control of their life. The practice of simplified living typically entails minimizing possessions, consuming less, and valuing personal growth. Then, factors that influence minimalistic consumption are presented. The reasons for individuals to adopt simplifying behaviors are manifold. That is, motivations for engaging minimalistic consumption are multifaceted and complicated, including both internal (i.e., personal, financial, lifestyle) and external (i.e., economic, social, environmental) motivations. In addition to consumers who curtail their consumption due to financial restraints, there are consumers who consciously consume, although they are financially well off. The rejection of the concept that one’s success is determined by his/her material goods (i.e., materialism) has prompted interest in minimalistic consumption. In addition, some simplifiers (i.e., minimalistic consumers) are driven by motives of environmental sustainability. That is, when consumers give greater consideration to the natural environment and ecological system, they may engage in voluntary simplicity to live both well and sustainably. Furthermore, people can lead an independent and self-determined life through minimalistic consumption; therefore, a desire to achieve an autonomous life is an important antecedent of minimalistic consumption. Moreover, philosophical motivation (i.e., religious belief) is another factor driving minimalism in consumption. Moving forward, the potential impacts of minimalistic behavior are shown. Minimalism has a positive influence on individual, societal and environmental wellbeing. Adopting low consumption helps expand mental space, resulting in a feeling of lightness, relaxation, and clarity. A minimalistic lifestyle facilitates individuals’ positive emotions while reducing their negative emotions such as depression. Consumers can also reduce their dependence on the market offerings by curtailing the overall consumption, in search of a simpler but happier life. Additionally, minimalistic practices offer several wellbeing benefits such as meaning and happiness. In addition, a minimalistic lifestyle can improve harmony in communities, as it can help build more connections with others in society. By sharing skills, donating to charities or giving back to the community, simplifiers can experience a sense of community and closeness to others, thus enhancing communal well-being. More importantly, most literature notes that this lifestyle is positively associated with environmental and ecological wellbeing. With a strong ecological awareness, consumers tend to protect the environment through a variety of practices, such as decreasing carbon emissions, avoiding excess packaging, and preserving resources and habitats. Collectively, we categorize antecedents of minimalistic consumption into four types (i.e., demographic, psychological, situational, religious factors). We also summarize the effects of minimalistic consumption in the previous research, such as enhancing happiness and sense of meaning. In order to understand voluntary simplicity, four theories (i.e., theory of basic values, self-determination theory; hierarchical theory of needs; self-regulation theory) were introduced. By combining these theories, we shed a novel light on understanding the forming process of minimalistic consumption. Specifically, in self-observation stages, individuals generate self-directed values. Based on these values, consumers make judgments whether their needs are satisfied. Lastly, in the self-reaction phase, consumers adopt the results of these judgments, and they evaluate achieve autonomy, competence and relevance from the self-determination theory. Given the important role of minimalistic consumption in the contemporary marketplace, it is essential for both marketers and scholars to know more details in simplifying practices. Several directions (e.g., developing valid measurements, taking cultural differences into account, identifying boundary conditions) for future research are discussed.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-27 Cooperative journals: 《心理学报》
Abstract： Previous research has long paid attention to how to improve persuasive effectiveness in charitable donation. Based on moral foundation theory (MFT) and stereotype content model (SCM), this paper proposes that a match between moral appeal and social perception leads higher persuasive effectiveness of individual donation. More specifically, relative to those who are exposed to a binding appeal, consumers who are exposed to an individualizing appeal are more willing to donate for warmth-oriented organizations. However, for competence- oriented organizations, a binding appeal will garner higher persuasive effectiveness than an individualizing appeal. Furthermore, two types of efficacy (i.e., self-efficacy and response efficacy) mediate the interaction effect of moral appeal and social perception on donation effectiveness. Three lab experiments were conducted to examine these hypotheses. In particular, experiment 1 employed a 3 (moral appeal: binding appeal vs. individualizing appeal vs. neutral) × 2 (social perception: warmth-oriented vs. competence-oriented) two-way between-subjects design. We found that competence-oriented (vs. warmth-oriented) organizations will obtain better donation persuasion results when consumers are exposed to binding (vs. individualizing) appeal, supporting the hypotheses H1a and H1b. Then, in experiment 2, we identified the underlying mechanism, such that the interaction effect is driven by consumers’ response efficacy and self-efficacy, verifying the hypotheses H2a and H2b. Experiment 3 further examined the mediating role of different types of efficacy using a moderation approach. Participants were randomly assigned to one of condition of 3 (moral appeal: binding appeal vs. individualizing appeal vs. neutral) × 2 (social perception: warmth- oriented vs. competence-oriented) × 2 (efficacy: self-efficacy vs. response efficacy). Experiment 3 replicated the findings of previous experiments, showing the robustness of our conclusions. We also ruled out some alternative explanations (e.g., empathy) in the study.Theoretically, this research observes for the first time the interactive effect of moral appeal and social perception, thus extending both moral foundation theory and stereotype content model. The current study also enriches existing donation literature by examining the mediating role of response efficacy and self-efficacy. Managerially, this research has rich implications to charitable organization and companies when they aim to improve persuasive effectiveness in an individual donation.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-27 Cooperative journals: 《心理学报》
Abstract： Almost all transactions require the information of payment--payment mechanism. It is increasingly common nowadays that venders prone to harness multiple payment mechanism to provide potential convenience for their consumers, including under donation scenarios. Inevitably, the morality people valued in donation scenarios are different from other transactions. A growing of recent studies have investigated the donation payment, while surprisingly very few studies have examined whether a donation activity should be accompanied with either one payment mechanism or multiple payment mechanism. In the current study, we extend the extent literature by examining how potential donators respond to donation with either one payment mechanism or multiple payment mechanisms.People subjectively associate things that often come together. In our daily lives, multiple payment mechanism is applied in commercial scenarios so frequently that people may elicit a conclusion that is “multiple payment mechanisms = commercialization.” In this research, we propose that when consumers encounter multiple payment mechanisms (versus one payment mechanism) with the information of seeking help, they would feel incongruence and then make metacognitive inferences about their evaluations toward the target based on the “multiple payment mechanism = commercialization” lay belief. Specifically, we propose that compared to one payment mechanism, multiple payment mechanism leads people less likely to donate via the following metacognition inference process: consumers (1) notice the multiple payment mechanism, (2) infer that the information of donation must contain commercial components, based on the “multiple payment mechanisms = commercialization” lay belief, to explain their inner feelings, and (3) because the perception of commercialization is contrary to the positive moral expectations (e.g., loyalty, sanctity), consumers may be skeptical to the morality of the target which in turn attenuates their donation. Further, we suggest that the main effect of the number of payment mechanism on individual donation should be contingent on the diagnosticity of the lay belief. When the “multiple payment mechanisms = commercialization” is low diagnositic, the negative effect of multiple (vs. one) payment mechanism on donation should be suppressed.One pilot study and six experimental studies were conducted to examine our hypotheses. Pilot study used supraliminal tasks to examine the existence of the “multiple payment mechanism = commercialization” lay belief. Study 1a ( N = 342) was a 4 (number of payment mechanism: one vs. two vs. three vs. four) between-subjects design, excluding the impact of different number of payment mechanisms. Study 1b (N = 295) was a 5 (number of payment mechanism: control vs. one [Bestpay] vs. one [Bank of China] vs. one [Alipay] vs. three) with the purpose of excluding the impact of different types of payment mechanisms and initially validating the mediating role of perceived commercialization. Study 2 (N = 298) further confirmed the robustness of the main effect for different receiving targets with a 2 (number of payment mechanism: one vs. four) × 2 (target: person vs. organization) between-subjects design. Study 3 ( N = 140) examined the serial mediating effect of perceived commercialization and moral suspicion. Studies 4 (N = 173) and 5 (N = 224) identified the moderating effect of the diagnosticity of “multiple payment mechanism = commercialization” lay belief by using different manipulations of diagnosticity. Specifically, Study 4 was a field study in which we measured people’s real donation behavior. To document a robust effect, we varied the context of donation and payment methods across all studies. Our investigation suggests that relative to one payment mechanism, multiple payment mechanism may dampen individual donate. This effect would be attenuated when the “multiple payment mechanism = commercialization” lay belief is not used (i.e., low diagnosticity). These findings offer novel insights on literature regarding donation, payment, number effect, and metacognition inference, while practically suggesting that sponsor of donation activities must carefully consider the number of payment mechanism.
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-27 Cooperative journals: 《心理学报》
Abstract： Joint consumption is pervasive in daily life, such as watching movies with friends, eating out with family and shopping for communal kitchens with roommates. Comparing with individual consumption, decisions in joint consumption are distinct in a variety of aspects. The number of existing literatures on joint consumption is increasing year by year, but the research topics are too scattered to form a system. Previous researches can be divided into three categories: driving factors, decision results and their influencing factors and subsequent consequences. However, very few studies have examined whether consumers would behave differently in the context of individual and joint consumption. In the current research, we extend the extent literature by examining how consumer respond to exploration behavior when shopping either individually or with others. Choosing between familiar and unfamiliar products is one of the most common forms of exploratory behavior. Perceived risk is an important factor affecting this choice. According to risky-shift theory, an individual in a group has greater risk-taking tendencies than when alone because sharing the decision result could weaken the perceived risk of each group member. In addition, there are researches showing mere being accompanied by others also decreases risk perception. Therefore, we inference that comparing with individual consumption, consumers in joint consumption would perceive less risk so that they prefer unfamiliar options. Nonetheless, the main hypothesis is limited. In the light of product category risk and impression management, this effect appears only when individuals are with close companions and face with low-risk products. Five studies were conducted to examine our hypotheses. As a lab experiment, study 1a (N = 138) was a 2 (consumption situation: individual vs. joint) between-subjects design, which proved that participants in the joint condition were more likely to choose the unfamiliar product than those in the individual condition. Study 1b (N = 263) repeats the main effect with a 3 (consumption situation: individual vs. joint with friends vs. joint with families) between-subjects design and also excluded the potential influence of relationship type on this effect. And by changing the manipulation and measurement method, study 2 (N = 150) verified the mediating effect of perceived risk with a 2 (consumption situation: individual vs. joint) between-subjects design. And it also ruled out the alternative explanation of emotional arousal. Study 3 (N = 213) was 3 (consumption context: individual vs. joint with a close friend vs. joint with a distant friend) between-subjects design. It identified two important moderating variables. On the one hand, we can only investigate the effect of joint consumption among low-risk products. On the other hand, participants were more interested in unfamiliar products only when they were with close friends. Additionally, it examined the mediating role of perceived risk and excluded the alternative explanation of diffusion of responsibility. Study 4 (N = 148) extended the scope of application of this main effect with a 2 (consumption situation: individual vs. joint) between-subjects design. The results show that even when faced with daily choices in non-consumption situations, participants under joint consumption showed exploratory behavior. Our investigation suggests that joint consumption (vs. individual consumption) encourages consumers to try new and unfamiliar products/services through a decreased perception of consumption risk. This effect would be attenuated when consumers are shopping with distant companions or when consumers face the choice of high-risk products/services. Our findings supplement the literature on joint consumption, exploration behavior and risk-shift theory, while practically suggesting that managers can integrate the joint consumption context into the new product promotion process by defining product positioning.
Subjects: Psychology >> Cognitive Psychology Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2023-03-13
Abstract： As a special type of vocabulary, the formal representation form of brand names is divided into visual representation (the visual characteristics of printed letters) and auditory representation (the overall acoustic characteristics of words), font style (including letter case, fonts, colors) and speech (including phonemes, syllables, tones or accents) can respectively provide a visual or auditory representation. The influence of brand name font style and speech on consumers’ psychology both occur in the perceptual processing stage of vocabulary, and the impact results and mechanisms of the two are both related to and distinct from each other. In addition, there is a cross-channel connection between the audiovisual effects of the brand name. Future research should combine practical issues to supplement the audiovisual effect of brand names.
Peer Review Status:
Awaiting Review
Subjects: Psychology >> Social Psychology submitted time 2022-01-28
Abstract：
Joint consumption is pervasive in daily life, such as watching movies with friends, eating out with family and shopping for communal kitchens with roommates. Comparing with individual consumption, decisions in joint consumption are distinct in a variety of aspects. The number of existing literatures on joint consumption is increasing year by year, but the research topics are too scattered to form a system. Previous researches can be divided into three categories: driving factors, decision results and their influencing factors and subsequent consequences. However very few studies have examined whether consumers would behave differently in the context of individual and joint consumption. In the current research, we extend the extent literature by examining how consumer respond to exploration behavior when shopping either individually or with others.
Choosing between familiar and unfamiliar products is one of the most common forms of exploratory behavior. Perceived risk is an important factor affecting this choice. According to risky-shift theory, an individual in a group has greater risk-taking tendencies than when alone because sharing the decision result could weaken the perceived risk of each group member. In addition, there are researches showing mere being accompanied by others also decreases risk perception. Therefore, we inference that comparing with individual consumption, consumers in joint consumption would perceive less risk so that they prefer unfamiliar options. Nonetheless, the main hypothesis is limited. In the light of product category risk and impression management, this effect appears only when individuals are with close companions and face with low-risk products.
Five studies were conducted to examine our hypotheses. As a lab experiment, study 1a (N = 138) was a 2 (consumption situation: individual vs. joint) between-subjects design, which proved that participants in the joint condition were more likely to choose the unfamiliar product than those in the individual condition. Study 1b (N = 263) repeats the main effect with a 3 (consumption situation: individual vs. joint with friends vs. joint with families) between-subjects design and also excluded the potential influence of relationship type on this effect. And by changing the manipulation and measurement method, study 2 (N = 150) verified the mediating effect of perceived risk with a 2 (consumption situation: individual vs. joint) between-subjects design. And it also ruled out the alternative explanation of emotional arousal. Study 3 (N = 213) was 3 (consumption context: individual vs. joint with a close friend vs. joint with a distant friend) between-subjects design. It identified two important moderating variables. On the one hand, we can only investigate the effect of joint consumption among low-risk products. On the other hand, participants were more interested in unfamiliar products only when they were with close friends. Additionally, it examined the mediating role of perceived risk and excluded the alternative explanation of diffusion of responsibility. Study 4 (N = 148) extended the scope of application of this main effect with a 2 (consumption situation: individual vs. joint) between-subjects design. The results show that even when faced with daily choices in non-consumption situations, participants under joint consumption showed exploratory behavior.
Our investigation suggests that join consumption (vs. individual consumption) encourages consumers to try new and unfamiliar products/services through a decreased perception of consumption risk. This effect would be attenuated when consumers are shopping with distant companions or when consumers face the choice of high-risk products/services. Our findings supplement the literature on joint consumption, exploration behavior and risk-shift theory, while practically suggesting that managers can integrate the joint consumption context into the new product promotion process by defining product positioning.
Peer Review Status:Awaiting Review
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