Embodied cognition and social consumption: Self-regulating temperature through social products and behaviors

Seung Hwan (Mark) Lee, Jeff D. Rotman, Andrew W. Perkins

Journal of Consumer Psychology · 2014 · Volume 24 · Issue 2

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2013.09.006

Abstract

Extant embodied cognition research suggests that individuals can reduce a perceived lack of interpersonal warmth by substituting physical warmth, and vice versa. We suggest that this behavior is self-regulatory in nature and that this self-regulation can be accomplished via consumptive behavior. Experiment 1 found that consumers perceived ambient temperature to be significantly lower when eating alone compared to eating with a partner. Experiment 2 found that consuming a cool (vs. warm) drink led individuals to generate more socially-oriented attributes for a hypothetical product. Experiment 3 found that physically cooler individuals desired a social consumption setting, whereas physically warmer individuals desired a lone consumption setting. We interpret these results within the context of self-regulation, such that perceived physical temperature deviations from a steady state unconsciously motivate the individual to find bodily balance in order to alleviate that deviation.

Keywords

Embodied cognition, Temperature, Social consumption, Social products, Self-regulation

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