IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jconsa/v55y2021i1p254-273.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Building toward a solid foundation: The effect of thinking concretely about the future

Author

Listed:
  • Stacie F. Waites
  • Adam Farmer
  • Carol L. Esmark Jones

Abstract

According to construal level theory, consumers tend to think about their future abstractly, making it unclear and inexact. Here, a new approach is developed to help people enhance their future‐oriented outcomes by priming them to think about their future concretely. Two experiments show that priming a concrete mindset about the future leads to enhanced future‐oriented outcomes. Specifically, the studies show that participants discounted current funds in favor of future gains less when they were primed with a concrete mindset. Opportunity cost consideration is shown to be the mechanism driving this effect. Though research suggests that most consumers do not consider opportunity costs unless they are explicitly presented to them, priming a concrete mindset increases consideration of opportunity costs so that consumers can make better current decisions that will enhance their future‐oriented outcomes. This research helps to better understand why thinking concretely about the future is beneficial to future‐oriented outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Stacie F. Waites & Adam Farmer & Carol L. Esmark Jones, 2021. "Building toward a solid foundation: The effect of thinking concretely about the future," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(1), pages 254-273, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:55:y:2021:i:1:p:254-273
    DOI: 10.1111/joca.12344
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12344
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joca.12344?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lea Dunn & JoAndrea Hoegg, 2014. "The Impact of Fear on Emotional Brand Attachment," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(1), pages 152-168.
    2. Shane Frederick & Nathan Novemsky & Jing Wang & Ravi Dhar & Stephen Nowlis, 2009. "Opportunity Cost Neglect," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(4), pages 553-561, December.
    3. Juliano Laran, 2010. "Choosing Your Future: Temporal Distance and the Balance between Self-Control and Indulgence," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(6), pages 1002-1015, April.
    4. Kukar-Kinney, Monika & Scheinbaum, Angeline Close & Schaefers, Tobias, 2016. "Compulsive buying in online daily deal settings: An investigation of motivations and contextual elements," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(2), pages 691-699.
    5. Kivetz, Ran & Simonson, Itamar, 2002. "Self-Control for the Righteous: Toward a Theory of Precommitment to Indulgence," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 29(2), pages 199-217, September.
    6. repec:cup:judgdm:v:4:y:2009:i:4:p:280-286 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Northcraft, Gregory B. & Neale, Margaret A., 1986. "Opportunity costs and the framing of resource allocation decisions," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 348-356, June.
    8. Joseph K. Goodman & Gabriele Paolacci, 2017. "Crowdsourcing Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(1), pages 196-210.
    9. Stephen A. Spiller, 2011. "Opportunity Cost Consideration," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 38(4), pages 595-610.
    10. Carl Chiarella & Xue-Zhong He & Christina Sklibosios Nikitopoulos, 2015. "Pricing the American Feature," Dynamic Modeling and Econometrics in Economics and Finance, in: Derivative Security Pricing, edition 127, chapter 0, pages 349-369, Springer.
    11. Rebecca W. Hamilton & Debora Viana Thompson, 2007. "Is There a Substitute for Direct Experience? Comparing Consumers' Preferences after Direct and Indirect Product Experiences," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(4), pages 546-555, June.
    12. Daniel M. Bartels & Oleg Urminsky, 2015. "To Know and to Care: How Awareness and Valuation of the Future Jointly Shape Consumer Spending," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(6), pages 1469-1485.
    13. Han, Nah Ray & Baek, Tae Hyun & Yoon, Sukki & Kim, Yeonshin, 2019. "Is that coffee mug smiling at me? How anthropomorphism impacts the effectiveness of desirability vs. feasibility appeals in sustainability advertising," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 352-361.
    14. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly, 2000. "The Costs and Benefits of Consuming," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 27(2), pages 267-272, September.
    15. Martin, Ingrid M. & Kamins, Michael A. & Pirouz, Dante M. & Davis, Scott W. & Haws, Kelly L. & Mirabito, Ann M. & Mukherjee, Sayantani & Rapp, Justine M. & Grover, Aditi, 2013. "On the road to addiction: The facilitative and preventive roles of marketing cues," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1219-1226.
    16. repec:idb:brikps:6883 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Malkoc, Selin A. & Zauberman, Gal & Bettman, James R., 2010. "Unstuck from the concrete: Carryover effects of abstract mindsets in intertemporal preferences," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 113(2), pages 112-126, November.
    18. Diamond, Peter & Koszegi, Botond, 2003. "Quasi-hyperbolic discounting and retirement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(9-10), pages 1839-1872, September.
    19. Daniel M. Bartels & Oleg Urminsky, 2011. "On Intertemporal Selfishness: How the Perceived Instability of Identity Underlies Impatient Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 38(1), pages 182-198.
    20. Taesuh Cha, 2015. "American Exceptionalism at the Crossroads: Three Responses," Political Studies Review, Political Studies Association, vol. 13(3), pages 351-362, August.
    21. Yao, Emery & Fang, Ruolian & Dineen, Brian R. & Yao, Xin, 2009. "Effects of customer feedback level and (in)consistency on new product acceptance in the click-and-mortar context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(12), pages 1281-1288, December.
    22. Scott I. Rick & Cynthia E. Cryder & George Loewenstein, 2008. "Tightwads and Spendthrifts," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 34(6), pages 767-782, October.
    23. Hauser, John R & Wernerfelt, Birger, 1990. "An Evaluation Cost Model of Consideration Sets," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(4), pages 393-408, March.
    24. Xinshu Zhao & John G. Lynch & Qimei Chen, 2010. "Reconsidering Baron and Kenny: Myths and Truths about Mediation Analysis," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(2), pages 197-206, August.
    25. Yudkin, Daniel A. & Liberman, Nira & Wakslak, Cheryl & Trope, Yaacov, 2020. "Better off and far away: Reactions to others’ outcomes depends on their distance," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 13-23.
    26. Vicente Fretes Cibils & Teresa Ter-Minassian & J. Sebastián Scrofina & Federico Ortega & Germán Ríos & Alejandro Rasteletti & Arturo Ramírez Verdugo & Emilio Pineda & Jorge Martínez-Vázquez & Cristián, 2015. "Decentralizing Revenue in Latin America: Why and How," IDB Publications (Books), Inter-American Development Bank, number 88858 edited by Vicente Fretes Cibils & Teresa Ter-Minassian, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Geoffrey Fisher, 2021. "Intertemporal Choices Are Causally Influenced by Fluctuations in Visual Attention," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(8), pages 4961-4981, August.
    2. Yizhao Jiang, 2022. "The Influence of Payment Method: Do Consumers Pay More with Mobile Payment?," Papers 2210.14631, arXiv.org.
    3. Daniel Read & Christopher Y. Olivola & David J. Hardisty, 2017. "The Value of Nothing: Asymmetric Attention to Opportunity Costs Drives Intertemporal Decision Making," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(12), pages 4277-4297, December.
    4. Michael T Bixter & Samantha L McMichael & Cameron J Bunker & Robert Mark Adelman & Morris A Okun & Kevin J Grimm & Oliver Graudejus & Virginia S Y Kwan, 2020. "A test of a triadic conceptualization of future self-identification," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-39, November.
    5. Ashworth, Laurence & Darke, Peter R. & McShane, Lindsay & Vu, Tiffany, 2019. "The rules of exchange: The role of an exchange surplus in producing the endowment effect," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 11-24.
    6. Liang Huang & Rafay A. Siddiqui & Anastasiya Pocheptsova Ghosh, 2024. "More of the same: Painful payment methods decrease variety seeking," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 35(4), pages 533-545, December.
    7. Niklas Dreyer & Robert M. Gillenkirch, 2019. "Cash versus opportunity costs and revenues in bilateral bargaining," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 89(4), pages 357-383, June.
    8. Didi Alaoui, Mohamed & Valette-Florence, Pierre & Cova, Véronique, 2022. "How psychological distance shapes hedonic consumption: The moderating role of the need to justify," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 57-69.
    9. Qianwen Li & Ruyin Long & Hong Chen & Feiyu Chen & Xiu Cheng, 2019. "Chinese urban resident willingness to pay for green housing based on double-entry mental accounting theory," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 95(1), pages 129-153, January.
    10. Persson, Emil & Tinghög, Gustav, 2020. "Opportunity cost neglect in public policy," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 170(C), pages 301-312.
    11. Mrad, Mona & Cui, Charles Chi, 2020. "Comorbidity of compulsive buying and brand addiction: An examination of two types of addictive consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 399-408.
    12. Kareklas, Ioannis & Muehling, Darrel D. & King, Skyler, 2019. "The effect of color and self-view priming in persuasive communications," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 33-49.
    13. Sleesman, Dustin J., 2019. "Pushing through the tension while stuck in the mud: Paradox mindset and escalation of commitment," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 83-96.
    14. FeCheng Ma & Farhan Khan & Kashif Ullah Khan & Si XiangYun, 2021. "Investigating the Impact of Information Technology, Absorptive Capacity, and Dynamic Capabilities on Firm Performance: An Empirical Study," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, November.
    15. Cloarec, Julien, 2022. "Privacy controls as an information source to reduce data poisoning in artificial intelligence-powered personalization," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 144-153.
    16. XiaoJuan Zhang & Xiang Jinpeng & Farhan Khan, 2020. "The Influence of Social Media on Employee’s Knowledge Sharing Motivation: A Two-Factor Theory Perspective," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(3), pages 21582440209, July.
    17. Chang, Chia-Chi & Chen, Po-Yu, 2019. "Which maximizes donations: Charitable giving as an incentive or incentives for charitable giving?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 65-75.
    18. Xiaoke Yang & Yuanhao Huang & Xiaoying Cai & Yijing Song & Hui Jiang & Qian Chen & Qiuhua Chen, 2021. "Using Imagination to Overcome Fear: How Mental Simulation Nudges Consumers’ Purchase Intentions for Upcycled Food," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-21, January.
    19. Xitong Li & Jörn Grahl & Oliver Hinz, 2022. "How Do Recommender Systems Lead to Consumer Purchases? A Causal Mediation Analysis of a Field Experiment," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 33(2), pages 620-637, June.
    20. Henkens, Bieke & Verleye, Katrien & Larivière, Bart, 2021. "The smarter, the better?! Customer well-being, engagement, and perceptions in smart service systems," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(2), pages 425-447.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:jconsa:v:55:y:2021:i:1:p:254-273. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-0078 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.