School of Business
Revealing obstacles to the consumer imagination
Document Type
Article
Abstract
The research proposes that the consumer imagination combines information about a current sensory stimulus (product) with triggered episodic memories to use as inputs in making product evaluations. Two studies reveal that the consumer imagination can be suppressed when preferred haptic sensory information is missing and when a situation is unambiguous, reducing the need for relying on episodic memory. The research findings support the general notion that the consumer imagination enhances purchase intentions compared to considering product attributes because the imagination enables consumers to integrate the information in a more efficient way. In both studies, perceived ownership mediates the effect. Contributions to theory and practical implications are provided. © 2014 Society for Consumer Psychology.
Publication Title
Journal of Consumer Psychology
Publication Date
1-1-2014
Volume
24
Issue
3
First Page
363
Last Page
372
ISSN
1057-7408
DOI
10.1016/j.jcps.2014.01.003
Keywords
consumer imagination, episodic and semantic memory
Repository Citation
Spears, Nancy and Yazdanparast, Atefeh, "Revealing obstacles to the consumer imagination" (2014). School of Business. 88.
https://commons.clarku.edu/faculty_school_of_management/88
