A conceptual framework is developed that provides a description of group decisionmaking processes in conflict situations. Selected implications of this framework as It applies to family purchase tasks are tested using experimental data provided by couples making sequences of product choice decisions. Models tested include powerrelated resources and power use-related goals as determinants of relative Influence. Results indicate that relative preference intensity and the outcomes of preceding joint decisions consistently made the strongest contributions to relative influence. M any purchase decisions are made by families and organizations rather than by individuals. This realization has motivated consumer behavior researchers to develop conceptual models ofthe group decisionmaking process (Sheth 1974; Webster and Wind 1972) and empirical studies on such topics as who is involved in purchases (Davis and Rigaux 1974; Silk and Kalwani 1982), decision role structure (Davis 1976; McMillan 1973), and the determinants of relative influence (Kriewall 1980; Thomas 1982). However, limited progress has been made in testing descriptive models of group purchasing and relative influence, especially those with strong theoretical bases. The objectives of this research are to: 1. Present a conceptual framework for conflict resolution and relative influence in cooperative groups. 'This article received an honorable mention in the 1986 Robert Ferber Award for Consumer Research competition for the best interdisciplinary article based on a recent doctoral dissertation. The award is cosponsored by the Association for Consumer Research and the Journal of Consumer Research.

Replicating Raghunathan and Pham (1999), results from two experiments confirm that while anxiety triggers a preference for options that are safer and provide a sense of control, sadness triggers a preference for options that are more rewarding and comforting. Results also indicate that these effects are driven by an affect-asinformation process and are most pervasive when the source of anxiety or sadness is not salient. Finally, our results document a previously unrecognized phenomenon we term displaced coping, wherein affective states whose source is salient influence decisions that are seemingly-but not directly-related to the source of these affective states.R esearch on how affect influences consumer behavior has historically focused on the contrast between "good" and "bad" moods, that is, on the differential influence of affective states that vary in valence (see Pham 2004 for a review). It is only recently that researchers began recognizing that affective states of the same valence may exert different influences on behavior (Lerner and Keltner 2000;Raghunathan and Pham 1999). In an early demonstration of this idea (Raghunathan and Pham 1999), subjects were placed in an anxious, sad, or neutral mood and given choices between pairs of gambles and pairs of jobs in which one option was high-risk/high-reward and the other was lowrisk/low-reward. Although the choices were completely unrelated to the source of anxiety or sadness, anxious subjects preferred the low-risk/low-reward option, sad ones preferred the high-risk/high-reward option, and neutral mood subjects fell in between.These widely cited results, along with other conceptually related findings (e.g., Lerner and Keltner 2000), have prompted numerous studies on the so-called beyond-valence effects of discrete affective states (e.g., Garg, Inman, and . However, as with most other beyond-valence studies, the Raghunathan and Pham (1999) studies were limited in two ways. First, the studies were somewhat ambiguous with respect to the process underlying their effects. Raghunathan and Pham (1999) speculated that the phenomenon was driven by an affect-as-information process (Schwarz and Clore 1996) whereby feelings of anxiety and sadness are interpreted as information regarding the choices one had to make. Although their findings were generally consistent with this interpretation, Raghunathan and Pham (1999) did not provide direct evidence that an affect-asinformation process was indeed at work. Second, Raghunathan and Pham (1999) did not fully define the boundaries for their findings. It is obvious that affective states will influence decisions that are directly related to their source (e.g., an angry customer's decision to change the service provider), as has been documented in the coping literature (e.g., Luce 1998). Less obvious are the conditions under which feelings influence decisions not directly related to their source-as in Raghunathan and Pham (1999) and other beyond-valence studies.In this article we report two experiments that extend the Raghunatha...

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The authors investigate the conditions in which price promotions affect pretrial brand evaluations. A price promotion is theorized to be informative about brand quality when it stands out because it deviates from either its own past behavior or industry norms. Product category experts, who have alternative sources of information to make quality judgments, are expected to make less use of price promotions as a quality cue than novices are. The authors describe three laboratory studies in the context of a price promotion that is designed to increase trial in a service industry. Results suggest that consistency with past promotional behavior, distinctiveness in terms of how common it is to promote in an industry, and consumer expertise are important variables that moderate when price promotions have an unfavorable effect on brand evaluations. The authors highlight implications for service providers that are offering promotions to attract new customers in industries in which promotions are uncommon and discuss the theoretical implications of the finding that expertise moderates the effects of distinctiveness and consistency on evaluations in the context of price promotions.