조절초점과 의사결정 어려움이 고려상표군 구성의 이질성에 미치는 효과

We investigated how consumers with a prevention versus promotion-focus would respond to two types of decision difficulty (i.e., goal conflict and decision strategy fit) in their consideration set formation, We conducted two experimental studies. Experiment 1, which used a 2 (goal conflict: high vs. low) x 2 (regulatory focus: prevention-focus vs. promotion-focus) between- subjects design, revealed that as a conflict between consumption goals (a higher-order and a lower-order goal) increases, prevention-focused participants formulated more heterogeneous consideration sets (Mhigh conflict = 0.52 vs. Mlow conflict = 0.33 ; F(1, 94) = 6.59, p < .05), whereas promotion-focused participants showed little difference in the heterogeneity in consideration set, regardless of a conflict between consumption goals (Mhigh conflict = 0.30 vs. Mlow conflict = 0.41 ; F(1, 94) = 2.49, p = .12). We expected that prevention-focused participants would regard both higher-order and lower-order goals as important and would undergo more systematic and effortful decision making processes, which lead to inclusion of new and diverse alternatives. In contrast, promotion-focused participants are good at solving goal conflicts and more likely to perceive similarities between goals and alternatives due to their abstract and flexible thinking style. Therefore, we assumed that such tendency would make promotion-focused individuals less sensitive to goal conflicts. Experiment 2, which used a 2 (decision mode: rejection vs. choosing) x 2(regulatory focus: prevention-focus vs. promotion-focus) between-subjects design, produced a similar pattern of results; prevention-focused participants formed more heterogeneous consideration sets when they adopted a choosing approach than when they used a rejection approach (Mrejection = 0.24 vs. Mchoosing = 0.43 ; F(1, 101) = 6.57, p < .05). Prevention-focused individuals have been shown to perceive a lower degree of fit with a choosing strategy. Therefore, we presumed that prevention-focused individuals would perceive greater decision difficulties with a choosing strategy, which would lead them to consider new and diverse alternatives. In contrast, promotion-focused participant showed little difference in the heterogeneity in consideration set, regardless of the type of a decision strategy that they used (Mrejection = 0.41 vs. Mchoosing = 0.40 ; F(1, 101) = .03, p = .87). We speculated that promotion-focused individuals would perceive a similar level of difficulty in both decision strategies and thus show no difference. The findings of the current research contribute to the literature by investigating the combined effects of the two important factors in consideration set formation, whose impact has been studied in isolation. We also identified a fit between a decision strategy and a regulatory focus as a new factor that can influence consideration set formation. Our findings also suggest that promotion strategies should be adapted based the desired level of consideration set heterogeneity.