Peas in a Pod? Essays on Gratitude and Pride Effects on Consumer Judgment and Decision Making

Abstract

Dominant research in affect and decision making has considered positive emotions to be relatively undifferentiated. However, emerging research suggests that different, discrete positive emotions (e.g., happiness, pride, gratitude, hope, contentment) varying in their appraisals and themes might lead to differential influences on judgment and decision making. Given this progression in the literature, it is important to build a more nuanced understanding of the effects of discrete positive emotions. This thesis thus, aims to contribute to the emerging literature on discrete positive emotions by examining the effects of gratitude and pride gratitude across a variety of contexts. While both emotions are positive, they differ on the appraisal dimension of self-responsibility. That is, individuals who feel grateful (vs. pride) are less (vs. more) likely to perceive themselves as the focal responsible agent of a positive outcome. This in turn, can lead to unique downstream effects. Across three important, yet distinct domains, we examine the conditions under which gratitude and pride can lead to similar or divergent influences on consumer behaviour. The first essay finds that while gratitude (vs. pride) differentially increases the effectiveness of other-focused appeals, gratitude and pride are similarly effective in promoting self-focused appeals. The second essay tests and finds distinct gratitude and pride effects on the acceptance of consumer unethical behaviour, especially when a firm has a negative reputation. The final essay demonstrates that gratitude is more effective than pride in motivating responsible alcohol consumption. Taken together, these essays test various theoretically grounded moderators and mediators of emotion effects and provide a more holistic understanding of positive emotions, in general and of gratitude and pride effects, in particular. Moreover, our findings suggest important implications for marketers, policy makers as well as consumers, in order to both, better understand distinct influences of various positive emotions and devise more effective strategies to improve consumer welfare.