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The Sweet Escape: Effects of Mortality Salience on Consumption Quantities for High- and Low-Self-Esteem Consumers

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  • Naomi Mandel
  • Dirk Smeesters

Abstract

This research demonstrates that exposure to death-related stimuli can increase consumers' amounts of purchasing and consumption. We demonstrate that consumers who have been recently reminded of their own impending mortality wish to purchase higher quantities of food products (and actually eat higher quantities) than do their control counterparts. This effect occurs primarily among low-self-esteem consumers. We explain our findings in terms of escape from self-awareness. Low (but not high) self-esteem participants overconsume in response to a mortality salience activation as a means to escape from self-awareness. We also address alternative explanations for these effects. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Suggested Citation

  • Naomi Mandel & Dirk Smeesters, 2008. "The Sweet Escape: Effects of Mortality Salience on Consumption Quantities for High- and Low-Self-Esteem Consumers," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(2), pages 309-323, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:35:y:2008:i:2:p:309-323
    DOI: 10.1086/587626
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    Cited by:

    1. Liu, Xing (Stella) & Wan, Lisa C. & Yi, Xiao (Shannon), 2022. "Humanoid versus non-humanoid robots: How mortality salience shapes preference for robot services under the COVID-19 pandemic?," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    2. Kovatsch, Sarah Franziska, 2020. "Giving in Unilaterally Risky Dictator Games: A Model of Allocation Decisions Under Existential Threat," Junior Management Science (JUMS), Junior Management Science e. V., vol. 5(1), pages 35-49.
    3. Junjun Cheng & Yimin Huang & Bo Chen, 2024. "Are We Becoming More Ethical Consumers During the Global Pandemic? The Moderating Role of Negotiable Fate Across Cultures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 191(4), pages 757-776, May.
    4. Orazi, Davide C. & Yi Mah, Kit & Derksen, Tim & Murray, Kyle B., 2023. "Consumer escapism: Scale development, validation, and physiological associations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    5. Wei Song & Taiyang Zhao & Ershuai Huang, 2022. "How Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Affect People’s Willingness to Pay for Health in the Short and Long Term? A Longitudinal Study during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic in China," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-11, January.
    6. Kim, Jungkeun, 2020. "Impact of the perceived threat of COVID-19 on variety-seeking," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 108-116.
    7. Joëlle Vanhamme & Adam Lindgreen & Gülen Sarial-Abi, 2023. "Luxury Ethical Consumers: Who Are They?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 805-838, March.
    8. Ata Jami, 2016. "Healthy Reflections: The Influence of Mirror-Induced Self-Awareness on Taste Perceptions," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 57-70.
    9. Shuyang Wang & Yun Liu & Yingying Du & Xingyuan Wang, 2021. "Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Consumers’ Impulse Buying: The Moderating Role of Moderate Thinking," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-19, October.
    10. Wang, Wangshuai & Raghunathan, Rajagopal & Gauri, Dinesh K., 2022. "Powerlessness, variety-seeking, and the mediating role of need for autonomy," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 98(4), pages 706-723.
    11. S. Venus Jin & Ehri Ryu, 2022. "“The greedy I that gives”—The paradox of egocentrism and altruism: Terror management and system justification perspectives on the interrelationship between mortality salience and charitable donations ," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 414-448, March.
    12. Fransen, Marieke L. & Smeesters, Dirk & Fennis, Bob M., 2011. "The role of social presence in mortality salience effects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 29-33, January.
    13. Liu, Richie L. & Sprott, David E. & Spangenberg, Eric R. & Czellar, Sandor & Voss, Kevin E., 2018. "Consumer preference for national vs. private brands: The influence of brand engagement and self-concept threat," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 90-100.
    14. Cozac, Marina & Mende, Martin & Scott, Maura L., 2023. "Consumer preferences for fuel snacks at the intersection of caregiving stress and gender," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    15. Zhou, Ling & Wang, Tao & Zhang, Qin & Mou, Yupeng, 2013. "Consumer insecurity and preference for nostalgic products: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(12), pages 2406-2411.
    16. Hyunjoo Im & Naeun Lauren Kim & Ha Kyung Lee, 2022. "Why did (some) consumers buy toilet papers? A cross‐cultural examination of panic buying as a maladaptive coping response to COVID‐19," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 391-413, March.
    17. Rishtee K Batra & Tanuka Ghoshal & Gita JoharEditor & Derek RuckerAssociate Editor, 2017. "Fill Up Your Senses: A Theory of Self-Worth Restoration through High-Intensity Sensory Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(4), pages 916-938.
    18. Gilboa, Shaked & Seger-Guttmann, Tali & Partouche-Sebban, Judith, 2022. "Increasing customer loyalty and WOM in an age of terror: Cross-cultural development and validation of the customers’ reactions to terror scale (CRTS)," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    19. I. Lens & M. Pandelaere & L. Warlop, 2009. "The Role of Materialism in the Endowment Effect," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 09/578, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.

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