Promotion and Prevention in Consumer Decision Making: State of the Art and Theoretical Propositions

INSIDE CONSUMPTION: FRONTIERS OF RESEARCH ON CONSUMER MOTIVES, GOALS, AND DESIRES, S. Ratneshwar, David Glen Mick, eds., Routledge

61 Pages Posted: 2 Aug 2004

See all articles by Michel Tuan Pham

Michel Tuan Pham

Columbia University - Columbia Business School

E. Tory Higgins

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Management

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss how regulatory focus theory, a theory of motivation and self-regulation, can be drawn upon to explain a variety of consumer decision making phenomena. We briefly review the major tenets of the theory, which proposes a fundamental distinction between two modes of self-regulation called promotion and prevention. Drawing on existing empirical evidence and new conceptual analyses, we then develop a series of theoretical propositions about the effects of promotion and prevention on consumer decision making. These propositions are organized along the traditional stages of the decision making process postulated by standard consumer behavior theory (i.e., problem recognition, information search, consideration set formation, etc.). Some of these propositions have already received empirical support, but most await formal empirical testing in consumer research. This propositional inventory can thus be viewed as a research agenda for studying the role of regulatory focus in consumer decision making.

Keywords: Judgment, decision making, motivation, self-regulation, consumer behavior, regulatory focus theory

JEL Classification: C91, D10, D11, D12, D81, D83, D91, E21, M31

Suggested Citation

Pham, Michel Tuan and Higgins, E. Tory, Promotion and Prevention in Consumer Decision Making: State of the Art and Theoretical Propositions. INSIDE CONSUMPTION: FRONTIERS OF RESEARCH ON CONSUMER MOTIVES, GOALS, AND DESIRES, S. Ratneshwar, David Glen Mick, eds., Routledge, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=571701

Michel Tuan Pham (Contact Author)

Columbia University - Columbia Business School ( email )

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HOME PAGE: http://https://www.micheltuanpham.com/

E. Tory Higgins

Columbia University - Columbia Business School, Management ( email )

3022 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
United States

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