Interventionist external agents make specific advice less demotivating

Khenfer, Jamel; Laurin, Kristin; Tafani, Éric; Roux, Élyette; Kay, Aaron C.

doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2017.07.003

Cited by 9 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Overall, the findings from this study support theories claiming that a personal relationship with God allows one to perceive oneself as having control over their lives (Kay et al, 2008;Landau, Kay, & Whitson, 2015;Norenzayan et al, 2016). However, it is important to note that a personal relationship with an unpredictable, interventionist God may actually decrease a sense of control (Kay, Laurin, Fitzsimons, & Landau, 2014;Khenfer, Laurin, Tafani, Roux, & Kay, 2017). Future studies that identify the type of God people are reporting a relationship with will provide a more nuanced understanding of whether and how the type of God mediates the association between a personal relationship with God and sense of control.…”

Section: Personal Relationship With God and Sense Of Controlsupporting

confidence: 74%

Neural underpinning of a personal relationship with God and sense of control: A lesion-mapping study

Cohen-Zimerman

Cristofori

Zhong

et al. 2020

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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A strong personal relationship with God is theoretically and empirically associated with an enhanced sense of control. While a growing body of research is focused on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying religious belief, little is known about the brain basis of the link between a personal relationship with God and sense of control. Here, we used a sample of patients with focal brain lesions (N = 84) and matched healthy controls (N = 22) to determine whether damage to the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC)-a region associated with emotionally meaningful religious experiences and with sense of control-will modulate self-reports of a personal relationship with God and sense of control. We also examined potential mediators for these associations. Voxel-based lesion symptom mapping revealed that damage to the right vmPFC resulted in a stronger personal relationship with God, and patients with damage to this region demonstrated an increased sense of control relative to patients with damage to posterior cortex and healthy controls. Moreover, the association between vmPFC damage and greater perceived sense of control was mediated by a stronger personal relationship with God. Collectively, these results suggest that a strong personal relationship with God can serve an important psychological function by affecting sense of control, with both enhanced following damage to the right vmPFC.

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Section: Personal Relationship With God and Sense Of Controlsupporting

confidence: 74%

Neural underpinning of a personal relationship with God and sense of control: A lesion-mapping study

Cohen-Zimerman

Cristofori

Zhong

et al. 2020

Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci

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“…This does not mean that we discard desire for competence as a potential driver of brand anthropomorphism. Brands may be seen as enabling the self by providing consumers with a sense of competence (Park, Eisingerich & Park, 2013), especially if the brand projects competence and reliability (Khenfer et al, 2017). The current research highlights the interplay between power and perceived competence on brand relationships.…”

Section: Theoretical Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 76%

“…If establishing social relationships with inanimate objects can help reduce feelings of loneliness, it can also help people feel in control over their environment (what MacInnis and Folkes [2017] labelled an "effectance motivation"). From this perspective, brands are used not to satisfy social needs through their perceived warmness, but to satisfy a need for control through their perceived ability to help consumers accomplish tasks and obtain desired outcomes (Fournier & Alvarez, 2012;Khenfer et al, 2017). Thus, brand anthropomorphism may drive purchase based on the potential usefulness of the brand, thereby making consumerbrand relationships potentially hierarchical and endowing consumers with a position of power over the brand.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Customer empowerment in the face of perceived Incompetence: Effect on preference for anthropomorphized brands

Khenfer

Shepherd

Trendel

2020

Journal of Business Research

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Brands often tell consumers that they have power, either directly through slogans such as Burger King's famous "Have it your way" or by allowing them to exert control over the purchasing process (e.g., product and service customization). Yet, not everyone may feel competent enough to handle a sudden increase in empowerment. Would then variations in perceived competence affect how power influences social interactions in the marketplace? In this research, we address this question in relation to brand anthropomorphism given managers' widespread practice of imbuing brands with human features. In five studies, we found evidence that customer empowerment heightened a sense of social dominance and drove preference for anthropomorphized brands when feelings of competence were high. In contrast, when feelings of competence were threatened, customer empowerment drove people away from anthropomorphized brands because resentment overcame feelings of social dominance.

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“…For example, people may receive relevant and comprehensive information about saving but still show reluctance to act because specific financial advice might leave them overwhelmed and demotivated (Khenfer et al, 2017a). Even the most comprehensive programs might prove ineffective if they ignore the psychological mechanisms involved in consumers' financial decisions (Khenfer et al, 2017a;Richins, 2011;Ward & Lynch, 2019). This is particularly problematic in the age of mass consumption where interventions designed to help consumers prepare their financial future must coexist with frequent appeals to their desire to acquire material possessions (e.g., advertisements).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, poor financial decisions are not necessarily born out of misinformation. For example, people may receive relevant and comprehensive information about saving but still show reluctance to act because specific financial advice might leave them overwhelmed and demotivated (Khenfer, Laurin, et al, 2017). Even the most comprehensive programs might prove ineffective if they ignore the psychological mechanisms involved in consumers' financial decisions (Khenfer, Laurin, et al, 2017; Richins, 2011; Ward & Lynch, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How materialism shapes the effectiveness of financial literacy messages: A cross‐cultural perspective

Khenfer

2022

Applied Psychology

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This cross-cultural experiment (N = 1,000) shows that messages designed to promote financial literacy are differently effective among U.S. and Arab consumers depending on the salience of materialistic thoughts at the time of exposure. Among U.S. consumers, financial literacy messages increased savings intention by heightening the importance of saving when materialistic thoughts were salient but had no impact otherwise. This is consistent with existing research which has largely focused on WEIRD countries (Western, Educated, Industrial, Rich, Democratic; Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010). However, among Arab consumers (data collected in the United Arab Emirates), we found that financial optimism was a key construct to explain savings behaviors. Specifically, our results show that financial literacy messages lower levels of financial optimism, and thus, increase savings intention at baseline levels. When materialistic thoughts are salient, our results suggest that Arab consumers prefer spending in the presence of financial literacy messages because having materialistic thoughts heightens financial optimism when one is assured that acquiring financial knowledge and skills guarantees one's financial success.

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Interventionist external agents make specific advice less demotivating

Cited by 9 publications

References 29 publications

Neural underpinning of a personal relationship with God and sense of control: A lesion-mapping study

Neural underpinning of a personal relationship with God and sense of control: A lesion-mapping study

Customer empowerment in the face of perceived Incompetence: Effect on preference for anthropomorphized brands

How materialism shapes the effectiveness of financial literacy messages: A cross‐cultural perspective

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