When Being in a Positive Mood Increases Choice Deferral

Jordan Etkin, Anastasiya Pocheptsova Ghosh, Darren DahlEditor and Aparna LabooAssociate Editor

Journal of Consumer Research, 2018, vol. 45, issue 1, 208-225

Abstract: Consumers’ choices are often accompanied by unrelated incidental moods. The positive mood caused by receiving a compliment, for example, may persist when one is choosing what service to book or which product to buy. How might being in a positive mood affect consumers’ subsequent, unrelated choices? The present research demonstrates that being in a positive mood can make consumers more likely to defer choice. Four studies show that when choosing requires trade-offs between important choice attributes, being in a positive (vs. neutral) mood makes choosing more difficult and therefore increases the likelihood of deferring choice altogether. The findings further understanding of how incidental factors shape choice processes and outcomes and the role of emotions in decision making.

Keywords: choice; choice deferral; choice difficulty; positive mood; trade-offs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:45:y:2018:i:1:p:208-225.

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Journal of Consumer Research is currently edited by Bernd Schmitt, June Cotte, Markus Giesler, Andrew Stephen and Stacy Wood

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