Dissociating Controllable and Uncontrollable Effects of Affective Stimuli on Attitudes and Consumption

Abstract

This research studies a fundamental and seemingly straightforward question: Can basic advertising elements, such as the presence of attractive imagery, have uncontrollable effects on consumers' attitudes and consumption decisions? Answering this question is methodologically challenging, because the presence of an uncontrollable process can be masked by a simultaneously operating controllable process. We argue first that existing methods conflate the contribution of both processes and are therefore unable to measure the presence of an uncontrollable process reliably. To solve the conundrum, we present a novel application of processing tree modeling. Evaluative conditioning is employed as a paradigm to study the influence of affective visual stimuli on attitudes and behavior. Across six experiments, we demonstrate the validity of the model parameters estimating controllable and uncontrollable processes. As predicted, the parameter estimate of the controllable process is susceptible to cognitive resources and levels of motivation to exert control. The parameter estimate of the uncontrollable process appears unaffected by these factors. We also demonstrate the external validity of our findings and their relevance to stimuli and instructions typical for consumer research. Finally, we find that controllable and uncontrollable processes are both predictive of product choice and consumption. We discuss implications for consumer protection.

Putting Operating Principles (What) Before Conditions (How and When) to Improve Theorizing: S - S versus S - R learning in Evaluative Conditioning

“…Similarly, accounts which propose 'non-automatic' accounts of EC, like the propositional account, might still allow for the presence of some automaticity features. For example, they might claim that people 'cannot help' forming propositions about CS -US relations when they perceive them, to explain evidence that EC has uncontrollable effects on CS evaluations (Gawronski, Balas, & Creighton, 2014;Hütter & Sweldens, 2018).…”

How to Study Consciousness in Consumer Research, A Commentary on Williams and Poehlman

“…Therefore parameter estimates obtained by process dissociation procedures cannot be taken at face value either, but (like other measures) need to be complemented with additional experimental manipulations. For example, parameter estimates for conscious and unconscious processes need to be validated by manipulations of variables assumed to impact these processes differently (e.g., cognitive capacity, motivation or attention; Hütter et al 2012;Hütter and Sweldens, 2016;Mierop, Hütter, and Corneille, 2016).…”

How associative is evaluative conditioning? An empirical investigation at the attitude acquisition and attitude change stages

“…Recently, the uncontrollability of the EC effect has been replicated using different controllability manipulations (Gawronski, Gast, et al, 2015) and Multinomial Processing Tree Modeling (Hütter & Sweldens, 2018). The latter work is particularly convincing, the uncontrollability parameter is a valid predictor of behavior and was unaffected by experimental manipulations of motivation and attentional resource.…”

“…For instance, advertisement strategies are generally based on the idea that providing people with information about a given brand will result in the formation of favorable attitudes towards the brand, and so ultimately lead to buy products from this brand. In general, people approach what they like and avoid what they dislike, and this is true in many aspects of their life, including social interactions (Greenwald, McGhee, & Schwartz, 1998), voting behavior (Bassili, 1993(Bassili, , 1995, or food consumption (Hütter & Sweldens, 2018). Because attitudes are mainly acquired rather than inherited (Rozin, 1982;Rozin & Millman, 1987), it is crucial to understand how attitudes are formed and can be influenced.…”

“…Many studies in consumer research established the influence of EC in promoting favorable brand attitudes (Allen & Janiszewski, 1989;Allen & Madden, 1985;Bierley, McSweeney, & Vannieuwkerk, 1985;Gibson, 2008;Gorn, 1982;Hütter & Sweldens, 2018;Janiszewski & Warlop, 1993;Kellaris & Cox, 1989;Kim, Allen, & Kardes, 1996;McSweeney & Bierley, 1984;Nord & Peter, 1980;Shimp, Stuart, & Engle, 1991;Stuart et al, 1987;Sweldens et al, 2010), even for changing the evaluation of "mature brands" such as Coke or Pepsi (Gibson, 2008) and to affect actual consumption behavior (e.g., Gibson, 2008;Gorn, 1982;Hütter & Sweldens, 2018).…”