Consumers (and Consumer Researchers) Need Conscious Thinking in Addition to Unconscious Processes: A Call for Integrative Models, A Commentary on Williams and Poehlman

When open‐mindedness lowers product evaluations: Influencers to consumers’ response to religious cues in advertising

“…It is possible that consumers that self‐identify as open‐minded are only saying this because this is their ideal self and indicating open‐mindedness is an act of protection of their desired identity. In this case, self‐reported open‐mindedness may not reflect actual attitudes and behavior, fitting with the literature on self‐report bias (Baumeister, Clark, Kim, & Lau, ). Alternatively, consumers may be open‐minded toward noncontroversial topics, but given the controversial nature of religion (Mathras et al, ; Minton & Kahle, ), this general open‐mindedness may not be carried over to religious cue use in marketing.…”

“…As posited in the discussion section of Study 2, these interesting and contradictory findings may be a result of consumers responding to the open‐mindedness scale in a way more consistent with their ideal self rather than actual self (c.f., Baumeister et al, ); however, the manipulation of open and close‐mindedness in Study 3 provides evidence to refute this explanation given that mindedness was manipulated rather than measured. The other possible explanation provided in the discussion section of Study 2 regarding the generality of the open‐mindedness scale would still be relevant here, in that general open‐mindedness was primed rather than specific open‐minded views regarding religious groups.…”

“…However, just the opposite was found in Studies 2 and 3. While self‐report bias could be influential in explaining why consumers respond in a way that was more in line with the consumer's ideal self (Baumeister et al, ; Fisher & Katz, ; Roehm, ), results from Study 3 rule out this explanation by showing the same pattern of effects when open‐mindedness is manipulated rather than measured.…”

Commentary: Two Ways of Thinking About Self-Control

“…For instance, there is evidence showing that environmental cues which are associated with motor inhibition (e.g., fearful facial expressions) can be applied to control unintentionally evoked impulses toward rewarding food objects (Veling et al, 2011 ). Nevertheless, this paper does not aim to underestimate controlled inputs in consumer behavior, given that both conscious and unconscious processes should be respected in consumer research (see Baumeister et al, 2017 ).…”

Consumers’ response to pandemic threat: Purchase behaviour in convenience stores. Evidence from British panel data

“…Consumers' purchase behaviour has been treated by theorists and practitioners as one of the most significant and consequential topics for decades (e.g. Baumeister et al, 2017, Kłopocka, 2017, Kotler & Armstrong, 2010, Nicosia, 1966, Rybaczewska & Sparks, 2019. Therefore our goal is to contribute to the ongoing debate about various aspects of consumers' purchase behaviour (e.g.…”