Like a Cold Glass of Water on a Hot Summer Day: Essays Expoloring Differential Sensitivity to Nonconscious Cues in Consumer Contexts.

Abstract

The value of an ice-cold glass of water is a function of an individual’s thirst, whether he finds himself in the middle of the Sahara or the North Pole, and an interaction of the two. At some level marketers are aware that value is a dynamic construct, but in spite of this, little to no research has been conducted exploring the interactions between the internal states of consumers, their context, and the interaction of the two, particularly in the domain of nonconscious processing. Despite the fact that individuals’ sensitivity to nonconscious cues has been shown to vary, no one has yet considered how the interaction of one’s internal milieu and his context might influence his sensitivity to such nonconscious cues. In this dissertation three essays explore how sensitivity to subtle cues varies as a function of an individuals’ internal state and his context, revealing implications for consumer behavior. Essay 1 focuses on how sensitivity to relationships, whether by cultural default or situated by priming a mindset, influences consumer response to the common situation in which a chosen set of products cannot be obtained in its entirety. Essay 2 explores how threats to social connection motivate individuals to be more sensitive to humanlike cues in consumer contexts and subsequently decreases the likelihood of engaging in genuine interpersonal interactions and prosocial behaviors after exposure to humanlike cues in products. Essay 3 discusses how a more general threat to an individual’s internal milieu – putting one in a conflicted state of mind – leads to greater sensitivity to relevant cues in his context, which has subsequent effects on choices and behaviors including spending or saving money, choosing an apartment, and eating healthily or indulgently. Taken together, the essays provide different examples of how individuals can be more or less sensitive to the cues in their context based on an interaction between their internal states and the contexts in which they find themselves. Implications for marketing practice and consumer research are discussed including ideas for future research employing emerging technologies that allow for more proximal, real-time measures of both self and context.