Exploring the Cognitive Mechanism that Underlies Regulatory Focus Effects

Abstract

Much research has explained regulatory focus effects via the alternative psychological states (eagerness vs. vigilance) people experience when they adopt different regulatory foci. This article identifies for the first time the cognitive mechanism that underlies regulatory focus effects. We propose that promotion-focus individuals engage in relational elaboration, which entails identifying commonalities or abstract relationships among disparate items. In contrast, prevention-focus individuals engage in item-specific elaboration, which involves focusing on specific attributes of each item independent of others. Results support our theorizing by demonstrating that promotion-focus (prevention-focus) individuals exhibit enhanced performance on tasks that require relational (item-specific) elaboration.

When will customers care about service failures that happened to strangers? The role of personal similarity and regulatory focus and its implication on service evaluation

“…According to former research, regulatory orientation can be induced by the environment or situation (Higgins et al, 1994;Pham and Avnet, 2004;Zhu and Meyers-Levy, 2007). For example, prevention-focused can be primed with prevention consumption goals, whereas promotion-focused can be primed with promotion consumption goals (Aaker and Lee, 2001).…”

Technology readiness and usage: a global-identity perspective

“…Such individuals are then freer to engage in exploratory behavior, attend freely to relationships among items, think more abstractions, engage in relational processing (generating overarching connections between concepts), and in general are more creative and playful (Friedman and Förster 2002;Semin et al 2005). On the other hand, prevention-focused individuals are more vigilant about an environment perceived as potentially threatening and problematic, and are more analytical, assessing matters carefully in precise detail, thinking about items in concrete and specific terms, and engaging in behaviors cautiously (Friedman and Förster 2002;Semin et al 2005; see also Zhu and Meyers-Levy 2007). Consequently, the degree of technology readiness should be accordingly influenced by an individual's regulatory focus.…”

The Impact of Country of Brand Image on Symbolic Value of Luxury Brands

“…Notably, there is significant difference between the two regulatory focus systems. Prior researches show that promotion-focused consumers pay more attention to abstract information, while prevention-focused consumers emphasize concrete information (Zhu & Meyers-Levy, 2007). Compared with concrete functional value of brand, symbolic value of brand should be more abstract, uncovering the underlying psychological mechanism between consumers and brands.…”