How Regulatory Fit Affects Value in Consumer Choices and Opinions
Published 2/1/2006
Author: Tamar Avnet and E. Tory Higgins
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Executive Summary
The standard economic theory of preferences assumes that, in itself, the manner in which a decision is obtained should not affect its monetary value, except to the extent that the manner provides additional information about the decision. For example, the amount of money people offer to purchase a product that they choose from among a set of alternatives should not depend on the choice strategy they use, as long as the outcomes or consequences of choosing the product remain constant. However, recent research on value and decision making shows that the choice strategy or the manner in which an object is chosen can affect the perceived value of an object. Furthermore, it shows that this perceived value can be translated into monetary terms, such that, in some instances, people assign a higher monetary value to products if they choose it using one strategy than if they choose it using another strategy. The authors argue that regulatory fit is a source of this phenomenon.
Regulatory fit occurs when the strategic manner in which a choice or a decision is made sustains the decision maker’s current goal orientation. The effect of regulatory fit on the value that is assigned to the decision object involves two important components: a “feeling-right” component and a “strength-of-engagement” component. The feeling-right component is related to people’s feelings about their decision activity, suggesting that the activity itself is experienced as being better when the manner of the decision making sustains or fits a person’s current regulatory orientation. The strength-of-engagement component is related to the motivational force that people experience when they make a decision, suggesting that people are more engaged in their decision responses (e.g., evaluative responses) when the manner of their decision making sustains or fits their current regulatory orientation. These two components of regulatory fit are both considered to be independent of a simple hedonic or pleasure/pain experience. The main implication of this independency is that increasing the feeling-right experience and strengthening people’s engagement in a decision can increase either positive reactions or negative reactions to an object.
The goal of this article is to illustrate how value from fit matters. To this end, the authors draw on previous research to explain the process that they believe occurs when people experience regulatory fit. They discuss how the fit effect on value is distinct from other factors that affect value, such as relevancy, matching, hedonic mood, and arousal. Using research on this topic, this article summarizes the current state of knowledge about how fit influences value, and it offers new ideas for further research.
Biography
Tamar Avnet is Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Rotman School of Management at Toronto University. Professor Avnet holds a BA in Economics and Management and an MS in Management Sciences, Industrial Relations, and Manpower Administration, both from the Israel Institute of Technology (Technion). She received her MA and doctoral degree from Columbia University. Her research interests are in the areas of decision making, customer judgment and decision behavior, and the mechanism of feelings and emotions within marketing. Her articles have appeared in leading academic journals, including Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
E. Tory Higgins is Stanley Schachter Professor of Psychology, Professor of Business, and Director of the Motivation Science Center at Columbia University (where he also received his doctoral degree in 1973). He has received a MERIT Award from the National Institute of Mental Health, the Thomas M. Ostrom Award in Social Cognition, the Donald T. Campbell Award for Outstanding Contributions to Social Psychology (Society of Personality and Social Psychology), the William James Fellow Award for Distinguished Achievements in Psychological Science (from the American Psychological Society), and the American Psychological Association Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions.
J Marketing Research, Volume 43, Number 1, February 2006
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