| 研究実績の概要 |
I conducted two behavioral lab experiments at the University of Hawaii at Manoa, US. Study One was designed to demonstrate the premise of my proposed theoretical framework, that hedonic goods evoke abstract thinking styles. Based on the existing literature that links abstract thinking styles to greater psychological distances, I also predicted that hedonic goods should shift the focus to a greater distance. Study Two was designed to show that people imagined hedonic items at a greater distance.
Study One was conducted with 104 participants. Half the participants were randomly assigned to the "hedonic" ("utilitarian") condition, and were asked to discuss the "enjoyment and experiential”("utility and practical") value one would get from various consumer products. Our data demonstrated that people in the "hedonic" group scored higher on an established scale for measuring the level of abstraction in thinking, and provided support for my hypothesis that hedonic goods evoke abstract thinking styles.
Study Two involved 93 participants. A sentence completion task demonstrated that people imagined hedonic events such as parties and vacations at greater temporal and spatial distances than utilitarian events such as conferences and business trips. This supported my hypothesis that hedonic goods shift the focus to greater psychological distances.
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| 現在までの達成度 (区分) |
現在までの達成度 (区分)
2: おおむね順調に進展している
理由
I am designing more studies to explore the moderating effect of guilt on my proposed and demonstrated main effect of psychological distance on hedonic choice. For some people and/or in some situations items with hedonic qualities can become primarily a source of guilt than joy. For example, a chocolate cake would be an otherwise hedonic good, but for someone who has just sworn to abstain from sweets, that same cake could become more about guilt than about joy. In such cases, greater distances should hinder rather than promote choice.
One study will compare neutral participants against people on a diet. A dessert item should be a hedonic good for the neutral group, but primarily a source of guilt for the dieters. Psychological distance will be activated by presenting the dessert item as being imported from a foreign country (for the greater distance condition) or from a local farm (for the closer distance condition). The prediction is that in the neutral group, the dessert item will be preferable when it is imported from afar, but among the dieters the directionality should reverse, and the dessert item should be preferable from a local source.
Based on these studies (including the aforementioned Studies One and Two), I will prepare a manuscript for submission to a top tier peer reviewed academic journal.
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| 今後の研究の推進方策 |
The studies that I have conducted thus far demonstrate that (1) hedonic goods evoke abstract thinking styles (Study One), and hedonic goods shift the focus to greater psychological distances (Study Two). A separate Study Three that I conducted as a field study shows that activating greater social distances increased the purchase of hedonic items.
In an extension of this research, I plan to investigate the moderating role of "guilt." In the absence of guilt, our proposed and demonstrated effect of activated abstract thinking on hedonic choice should obtain. However I predict that when guilt about consuming hedonic goods is heightened, abstract thinking should hinder rather than promote choice.
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