Can Downward Counterfactual Thinking Increase Consumers’ Goal Persistence?
Previous research suggests that downward counterfactuals are demotivating. We show that for promotion-oriented consumers, downward counterfactuals trigger positive affect which enhances goal persistence through a signal of goal commitment. In contrast, prevention-oriented consumers gain both content-specific and negative affective benefits from upward counterfactuals via a signal of insufficient goal progress.
Citation:
Christina I. Anthony and Elizabeth Cowley (2019) ,"Can Downward Counterfactual Thinking Increase Consumers’ Goal Persistence?", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 47, eds. Rajesh Bagchi, Lauren Block, and Leonard Lee, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 438-439.
Authors
Christina I. Anthony, University of Sydney, Australia
Elizabeth Cowley, University of Sydney, Australia
Volume
NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 47 | 2019
Share Proceeding
Featured papers
See MoreFeatured
Don't Troll Me Bro: A Study of Griefing in Video Games
Elana Harnish, Ohio University
Jacob Lee Hiler, Ohio University
Featured
Consuming Products with Experiences: Why and When Consumers Want Mementos
Charlene Chu, Chapman University
Suzanne Shu, University of California Los Angeles, USA
Featured
Meaningful Numbers: Consumer Response to Verbal Reaffirmation of Numerical Nutrition Information
Steffen Jahn, University of Goettingen, Germany
Monique Breaz, University of Goettingen, Germany
Till Dannewald, Wiesbaden Business School
Yasemin Boztug, University of Goettingen, Germany