For Better or For Worse? Valenced Comparative Frames and Regulatory Focus
Shailendra Pratap Jain, Charles Lindsey, Nidhi Agrawal, Durairaj Maheswaran
Journal of Consumer Research · 2007 · Volume 34 · Issue 1
Abstract
Three experiments examine how prevention-focused and promotion-focused consumers evaluate the comparison brand and what information they anchor on in direct comparative ads framed positively or negatively. Negative (vs. positive) frames lead prevention-focused respondents to exhibit higher evaluations for the advertised brand and lower evaluations for the comparison brand. Under promotion focus, positive (vs. negative) frames lead to more favorable attitudes toward the advertised brand with no difference in attitudes for the comparison brand. Preference for consistency is posited as a possible process explanation. We also find an evaluation order effect: prevention-focused (promotion-focused) individuals evaluate the comparison (advertised) brand first.
Keywords
Categorization, Self-concept, Cultural Theories and Analysis, Judgment and Decision Making, Experimental Design and Analysis (ANOVA)
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