False Beliefs Can Shape Current Consumption
Author(s)
Antonia Mantonakis*,
Amanda Wudarzewski,
Daniel M. Bernstein,
Seema L. Clifasefi,
Elizabeth F. Loftus
Affiliation(s)
Department of Marketing, International Business and Strategy, Goodman School of Business, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada. Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada. Department of Psychology, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, Canada. Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behavior, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Psychology & Social Behavior, Criminology, Law & Society, Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, USA.
Department of Marketing, International Business and Strategy, Goodman School of Business, Brock University, St. Catharines, Canada. Department of Psychology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada. Department of Psychology, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, Canada. Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behavior, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Psychology & Social Behavior, Criminology, Law & Society, Cognitive Sciences, University of California, Irvine, USA.
ABSTRACT
In this study, we explore whether false beliefs about a past experience affect current consumption of wine by suggesting to participants that they either “Loved” or “Got Sick” from drinking white wine before age 20. Specifically, we report the consequences of false beliefs about wine, which could take the form of either increased or decreased wine consumption. In response to the suggestion, and similar to other false memory studies many participants became more confident that the suggested event occurred in their past. However, it was easier to influence participants’ consumption behavior when we used the “Loved” suggestion rather than the “Got Sick” suggestion. This finding has implications for marketers who use suggestions to influence product consumption by connecting consumers to their autobiographical memories.
Cite this paper
Mantonakis, A. , Wudarzewski, A. , Bernstein, D. , Clifasefi, S. & Loftus, E. (2013). False Beliefs Can Shape Current Consumption. Psychology, 4, 302-308. doi: 10.4236/psych.2013.43A044.
Mantonakis, A. , Wudarzewski, A. , Bernstein, D. , Clifasefi, S. & Loftus, E. (2013). False Beliefs Can Shape Current Consumption. Psychology, 4, 302-308. doi: 10.4236/psych.2013.43A044.
References
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Leboe (Eds.), Constructions of remembering and metacognition: Essays in honor of Bruce Whittlesea (pp. 40-50). Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. [32] Morewedge, C. K., Huh, Y. E., & Vosgerau, J. (2010). Thought for food: Imagined consumption reduces actual consumption. Science, 330, 1530-1533. doi:10.1126/science.1195701 [33] MADD (n.d.).The ABCs of BACs. URL (last checked 19 December 2012). http://www.madd.ca/media/docs/ABCs%20_of_BACs_FINALdoc.pdf [34] Neisser, U., & Fivush, R. (1994). The remembered self: Construction and accuracy in the self narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi.10.1017/CBO9780511752858 [35] Otgaar, H., Scoboria, A., & Smeets, T. (2012). Experimentally evoking nonbelieved memories for childhood events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, in Press. doi.10.1037/a0029668 [36] Pezdek, K., & Salim, R. (2011). Physiological, psychological and behavioral consequences of activating autobiographical memories. 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(2008). Suggesting childhood food illness results in reduced eating behavior. Acta Psychologica, 128, 304-309. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.03.002 [42] Scoboria, A., Mazzoni, G., Jarry, J., & Bernstein, D. M. (2012). Personalized, not general, suggestion affects false memory and suggestion-consistent behavior. Acta Psychologica, 139, 225-232. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2011.10.008 [43] Whittlesea, B. W. A. (1993). Illusions of familiarity. Journal of experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19, 1235-1253. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.19.6.1235
[1] Allison, R. I., & Uhl, K. P. (1964). Influence of beer brand identification on taste perception. Journal of Marketing Research, 1, 36-39. doi:10.2307/3150054 [2] Alter, A. L., & Oppenheimer, D. M. (2009). Uniting the tribes of fluency to form a metacognitive nation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 13, 219-235. doi:10.1177/1088868309341564 [3] Bartlett, F. C. (1932). Remembering: A study in experimental and social psychology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [4] Baumgartner, H., Sujan, M., & Bettman, J. R. (1992). Autobiographical memories, affect, and consumer information processing. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 1, 53-82. doi:10.1016/S1057-7408(08)80045-9 [5] Bernstein, D. M., Laney, C., Morris, E. K., & Loftus, E. F. (2005). False beliefs about fattening foods can have healthy consequences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 102, 13724-13731. doi:10.1073/pnas.0504869102 [6] Bernstein, D. M., Pernat, N., & Loftus, E. F. (2011). The false memory diet: False memories alter food preference. In V. R. Preedy, R. R. Watson, & C. R. Martin (Eds.), Handbook of behavior, food, and nutrition (pp. 1645-1663). New York: Springer. [7] Bernstein, D. M., Scoboria, A., & Arnold, R. (Unpublished data). Belief moderates the path from false memory to behavior. [8] Braun, K. A. (1999). Post experience advertising effects on consumer memory. The Journal of Consumer Research, 25, 319-334. doi:10.1086/209542 [9] Braun, K. A., Ellis, R., & Loftus, E. F. (2001). Make my memory: How advertising can change our memories of the past. Psychology & Marketing, 19, 1-23. doi:10.1002/mar.1000 [10] Burke, R. R., DeSarbo, W. W., Oliver, R. L., & Robertson, T. S. (1988). Deception by implication: An experimental investigation. Journal of Consumer Research, 14, 483-494. doi:10.1086/209130 [11] Cowley E., & Janus, E. (2004). Not necessarily better, but certainly different: A limit to the advertising misinformation effect. Journal of Consumer Research, 31, 229-235. doi:10.1086/383438 [12] Department of Justice (n.d.). Tobacco Act 1997. URL (last checked 19 December 2012). http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/PDF/T-11.5.pdf [13] Garry, M., Manning, C. G., Loftus, E. F., & Sherman, J. (1996). Imagination inflation: Imagining a childhood event inflates confidence that it occurred. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 3, 208-214. doi:10.3758/BF03212420 [14] Geraerts, E., Bernstein, D. M., Merckelbach, H., Linders, C., Raymaekers L., & Loftus, E. F. (2008). Lasting false beliefs and their behavioral consequences. Psychological Science, 19, 749-753. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02151.x [15] Holbrook, M. B. (1993). Nostalgia and consumption preferences: Some emerging patterns of consumer tastes. Journal of Consumer Research, 20, 245-256. doi:10.1086/209346 [16] Holbrook, M. B., & Schindler, R. M. (2003). Nostalgic bonding: Exploring the role of nostalgia in the consumption experience. Journal of Consumer Behavior, 3, 107-127. doi:10.1002/cb.127 [17] Hoegg, J., & Alba, J. W. (2007). Taste perception: More than meets the tongue. Journal of Consumer Research, 33, 490-498. doi.10.1086/510222 [18] Hyman, I. E., Husband, T. H., & Billings, J. F. (1995). False memories of childhood experiences. Applied Cognitive Psychology, 90, 181-197. doi:10.1002/acp.2350090302 [19] Hyman, I. E., & Pentland, J. (1996). The role of mental imagery in the creation of false childhood memories. Journal of Memory and Language, 35, 101-117. doi:10.1006/jmla.1996.0006 [20] Impaired Driving (n.d.). Fact sheet: Blood alcohol concentration. URL (last checked 19 December 2012). http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/safety/impaired/fact-sheet.shtml#bac [21] Jacoby, J., & Hoyer, W. D. (1982). Viewer miscomprehension of televised commercials: Selected findings. Journal of Marketing, 46, 12-26. doi:10.2307/1251357 [22] Janiszewski, C., & Chandon, E. (2007). Transfer appropriate processing, response fluency, and the mere measurement effect. Journal of Marketing Research, 44, 309-323. doi:10.1509/jmkr.44.2.309 [23] Kraut, R. E., &McConahay, J. B. (1973). How being interviewed affects voting: An experiment. The Public Opinion Quarterly, 37, 398-406. doi:10.1086/268101 [24] Kuwabara, K. J., & Pillemer, D. B. (2010). Memories of past episodes shape current intentions and decisions. Memory, 18, 365-374. doi:10.1080/09658211003670857 [25] Lakshmanan, A., & Krishnan, H. S. (2009). How does imagery in interactive consumption lead to false memory? A reconstructive memory perspective. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19, 451-462. doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2009.04.005 [26] Laney, C., Kaasa, S. O., Morris, E. K., Berkowitz, S. R., Bernstein, D. M., & Loftus, E. F. (2008). The red herring technique: A methodo-logical response to the problem of demand characteristics. Psychological Research, 72, 362-375. doi:10.1007/s00426-007-0122-6 [27] Laney, C., Morris, E. K., Bernstein, D. M., Wakefield, B. M., & Loftus, E. F. (2008). Asparagus, a love story: Healthier eating could be just a false memory away. Experimental Psychology, 55, 291-300. doi: 10.1027/1618-3169.55.5.291 [28] LaTour, K. A., & LaTour, M. S. (2010). Bridging aficionados’ perceptual and conceptual knowledge to enhance how they learn from experience. Journal of Consumer Research, 37, 688-697. doi:10.1086/655014 [29] Lee, L., Frederick, S., & Ariely, D. (2006). Try it, you’ll like it: The influence of expectation, consumption, and revelation on preferences for beer. Psychological Science, 17, 1054-1058. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01829.x [30] Loftus, E. F., & Pickrell, J. E. (1995). The formulation of false memories. Psychiatric Annals, 25, 720-725. [31] Mantonakis, A., Bernstein, D. M., & Loftus, E. F. (2011). Attributions of fluency: Familiarity, preference, and the senses. In P. A. Higham, & J. P. Leboe (Eds.), Constructions of remembering and metacognition: Essays in honor of Bruce Whittlesea (pp. 40-50). Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan. [32] Morewedge, C. K., Huh, Y. E., & Vosgerau, J. (2010). Thought for food: Imagined consumption reduces actual consumption. Science, 330, 1530-1533. doi:10.1126/science.1195701 [33] MADD (n.d.).The ABCs of BACs. URL (last checked 19 December 2012). http://www.madd.ca/media/docs/ABCs%20_of_BACs_FINALdoc.pdf [34] Neisser, U., & Fivush, R. (1994). The remembered self: Construction and accuracy in the self narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi.10.1017/CBO9780511752858 [35] Otgaar, H., Scoboria, A., & Smeets, T. (2012). Experimentally evoking nonbelieved memories for childhood events. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, & Cognition, in Press. doi.10.1037/a0029668 [36] Pezdek, K., & Salim, R. (2011). Physiological, psychological and behavioral consequences of activating autobiographical memories. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 1214-1218. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.05.004 [37] Pillemer, D. B. (2009). Twenty years after Baddeley (1988): Is the study of autobiographical memory fully functional? Applied Cognitive Psychology, 23, 1193-1208. doi:10.1002/acp.1619 [38] Plassman, H., O’Doherty, J. P., Shiv, B., & Rangel, A. (2008). Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105, 1050-1054. doi:10.1073/pnas.0706929105 [39] Raghunathan, R., Naylor, R., & Hoyer, W. (2006). The unhealthy = tasty intuition and its effects on taste inferences, enjoyment, and choice of food products. Journal of Marketing, 70, 170-184. doi:10.1509/jmkg.70.4.170 [40] Rajogopal, P., & Montgomery, N. V. (2011). I imagine, I experience, I like: The false experience effect. Journal of Consumer Research, 38, 578-594. doi:10.1086/660165 [41] Scoboria, A., Mazzoni, G., & Jarry, J. L. (2008). Suggesting childhood food illness results in reduced eating behavior. Acta Psychologica, 128, 304-309. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2008.03.002 [42] Scoboria, A., Mazzoni, G., Jarry, J., & Bernstein, D. M. (2012). Personalized, not general, suggestion affects false memory and suggestion-consistent behavior. Acta Psychologica, 139, 225-232. doi:10.1016/j.actpsy.2011.10.008 [43] Whittlesea, B. W. A. (1993). Illusions of familiarity. Journal of experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 19, 1235-1253. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.19.6.1235