I Really Want to Like It: Motivated Liking

Motivations to like products can alter consumers’ evaluations of and choices of products. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate enhanced liking for music thought to indicate refinement and sophistication in people who like it. Study 3 demonstrates that these effects occur counter to people’s expectations, ruling out belief-confirmation and social-desirability as explanations. Study 4 replicates the findings using choices that bear immediate consequences (listening to full songs) and a different motivation: believing oneself to have high emotional-intelligence. Further studies will explore additional motivations and product domains and investigate the process through which consumers learn to like products they are motivated to like.

Citation:

Aner Tal and Dan Ariely (2009) ,"I Really Want to Like It: Motivated Liking", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 937-939.