International audience"Retail therapy" is often applied to the notion of trying to cheer oneself up through the purchase of self-treats. The negative moods that lead to retail therapy, however, have also been associated with greater impulsivity and a lack of behavioral control. Does this lead to mindless shopping when consumers are "down" and regret later? The current work documents that a bad mood does lead to greater purchase and consumption of unplanned treats for the self. However, it also provides evidence that the consumption of self-treats can be strategically motivated. Those individuals who do indulge can also exercise restraint if the goal of restraint also leads to improved mood. Finally, retail therapy has lasting positive impacts on mood. Feelings of regret and guilt are not associated with the unplanned purchases made to repair a bad mood. The implications of the research are discussed

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. Consumers' tendency to choose the option in the center of an array and the process underlying this effect is explored. Findings from two eye-tracking studies suggest that brands in the horizontal center receive more visual attention. They are more likely to be chosen. Investigation of the attention process revealed an initial central fixation bias, a tendency to look first at the central option, and a central gaze cascade effect, progressively increasing attention focused on the central option right prior to decision. Only the central gaze cascade effect was related to choice. An offline study with tangible products demonstrated that the centrally located item within a product category is chosen more often, even when it is not placed in the center of the visual field. Despite widespread use, memory-based attention measures were not correlated with eye-tracking measures. They did not capture visual attention and were not related to choice. The University of Chicago Press

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Previous research in marketing and consumer research has shown that consumers/ households often possess multiple ideal points in a given product/service category. In such cases, traditional segmentation and positioning models that estimate a single ideal point per individual/segment may render an inaccurate portrayal of the true underlying utility functions of such consumers/segments and the resulting market structure. We propose a new clusterwise multiple-ideal-point spatial methodology that estimates multiple ideal points at the market segment level while simultaneously determining the market segments' composition of consumers, as well as the corresponding joint space.T he consumer behavior literature supports the notion that consumers do not typically have stable utility functions. Instead, they construct their final utility assessments spontaneously as they face specific decision problems. Moreover, these on-the-spot judgments are shaped by the needs and goals of the individual, the aspects of the consumptive situation, the context in which the choice alternatives are being evaluated, how the choice problem is stated, and how the choice alternatives are framed (Belk 1974(Belk , 1975(Belk , 1979Bettman, Luce, and Payne 1998). Thus, consumer decisions are a function of both the context in which the decisions are made and the individual making the decision (Carlson and Bond 2006;Simon 1955Simon , 1990 PA 16802 (sxb975@psu.edu). The authors wish to thank the editor, associate editor, and three reviewers for their insightful comments that improved this manuscript. The authors also wish to acknowledge Joon Park and Crystal Scott for their efforts in the data collection. Requests for information or reprints can be sent to Wayne S. DeSarbo at wsd6@psu.edu. John Deighton served as editor and Brian Ratchford served as associate editor for this article.Electronically published March 28, 2008 1991). Hence, consumers can employ a different decision strategy each time they make a decision. As a result, consumers may have different preference judgments for the same brand across different situations or contexts (Bettman et al. 1998). As consumer utility functions and decisionmaking strategies change over contexts, consumers can have more than one ideal product/point in a given product category. It is therefore essential to understand this aspect of consumer preferences because it can affect how products are promoted to consumers, how new products are designed, and how products are priced and bundled.Previous consumer research has shown that consumers and households often possess multiple ideal points in a given product/service category. When they do, measures of market-level preferences need to account not only for heterogeneity across decision makers but also for the heterogeneity within a decision maker across time or context. We propose a new clusterwise multiple-ideal-point spatial methodology that estimates multiple ideal points at the market segment level while simultaneously determining the market segments' compo...

Federal and local emergency management agencies and policy makers often ask: Why do individuals refuse to leave their homes when emergency evacuations are mandated during lifethreatening natural disasters? In three experimental studies, the current research establishes that during a natural disaster, individuals become aware of their mortality. Existential anxiety is high and a need for control is instantiated. This makes following the directive to evacuate relatively less appealing. If, however, individuals can meet their need for control while in the process of making the evacuation decision (e.g., choice of shelter), the likelihood of evacuating increases.In light of increasing concerns related to global climate change, terrorist threats, pandemics and other natural disasters, calls for more interdisciplinary work in understanding human decision making in emergency situations have been made. The current work has timely implications for emergency management agencies, policy makers, and those required to communicate during natural disasters.