Citation

Griskevicius V, Goldstein NJ, Mortensen CR, Sundie JM, Cialdini RB, Kenrick DT. J. Mark. Res. 2009; 46(3): 384-395.

Affiliation

University of Minnesota.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2009, American Marketing Association)

DOI

10.1509/jmkr.46.3.384

PMID

19727416

PMCID

PMC2735890

Abstract

How do arousal-inducing contexts, such as frightening or romantic television programs, influence the effectiveness of basic persuasion heuristics? Different predictions are made by three theoretical models: A general arousal model predicts that arousal should increase effectiveness of heuristics; an affective valence model predicts that effectiveness should depend on whether the context elicits positive or negative affect; an evolutionary model predicts that persuasiveness should depend on both the specific emotion that is elicited and the content of the particular heuristic. Three experiments examined how fear-inducing versus romantic contexts influenced the effectiveness of two widely used heuristics-social proof (e.g., "most popular") and scarcity (e.g., "limited edition"). Results supported predictions from an evolutionary model, showing that fear can lead scarcity appeals to be counter-persuasive, and that romantic desire can lead social proof appeals to be counter-persuasive. The findings highlight how an evolutionary theoretical approach can lead to novel theoretical and practical marketing insights.

Language: en