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The idea that a significant portion of what consumers do, feel, and think is driven by automatic (or “implicit”) cognitive processes has sparked a wave of interest in the development of assessment tools that (attempt to) capture cognitive processes under automaticity conditions (also known as “implicit measures”). However, as more and more implicit measures are developed, it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumer scientists and marketing professionals to select the most appropriate tool for a specific research question. We therefore present a systematic overview of the criteria that can be used to evaluate and compare different implicit measures, including their structural characteristics, the extent to which (and the way in which) they qualify as “implicit,” as well as more practical considerations such as ease of implementation and the user experience of the respondents. As an example, we apply these criteria to four implicit measures that are (or have the potential to become) popular in marketing research (i.e., the implicit association test, the evaluative priming task, the affect misattribution procedure, and the propositional evaluation paradigm).

A replication of Boush’s exploratory study provides further evidence about how advertising slogans prime evaluations of brand extensions. Two hypotheses are investigated. First, that a brand extension will be rated as more similar to existing family‐branded products if the advertising slogan primes attributes that the brand extension shares with existing products than if the slogan primes attributes that the brand extension does not share with the existing family‐branded products. Second, given a positively evaluated brand, a brand extension will be evaluated more positively if the advertising slogan primes features that the extension shares with existing family‐branded products than if the slogan primes attributes that the brand extension does not share with existing family‐branded products. The research shows priming can play an important role in supporting or undermining a brand extension strategy by drawing attention to attributes either that a new product has in common with existing products or that conflict with existing products.

This paper proposes that categorization flexibility, operationalized as the cognitive capacity that cross-categorizes products in multiple situational categories across multiple domains, might favorably influence a consumer’s evaluation of unconventional options.

Experimental research design is used to test the theory. An exploratory study first establishes the effect of categorization flexibility in a non-food domain. Study 1 documents the moderating role of decision domain, showing that the effect works only under low- (vs high-) consequence domain. Studies 2A and 2B further refine the notion by showing that individuals can be primed in a relatively higher categorization flexibility frame of mind. Study 3 demonstrates the interactive effect of categorization flexibility and adventure priming in a high-consequence domain. Study 4 integrates the interactive effects of decisions with low- vs high-consequence, adventure priming and categorization flexibility within a single decision domain of high consequence.

Consumers with higher- (vs lower-) categorization flexibility tend to opt for unconventional choices when the decision domain entails low consequences, whereas such a result does not hold under decision domain of high consequences. The categorization flexibility effects in case of low-consequence decision domain holds true even when consumers are primed to be categorization flexible. Furthermore, with additional adventure priming, consumers show an increased preference for unconventional options even under a decision domain with high consequence.

This study could not examine real purchase behavior as results are based on cross-sectional, behavioral intention data. In addition, it did not examine the underlying reason for presence of cross-domain categorization flexibility index.

The results suggest that stimuli may be tailored to consumers in ways that increase the salience and the perceived attractiveness of unconventional choices. Further, data reinforce the notion of cross-categorical interrelations among different domains, which could be leveraged by marketers.

This study represents the first documentation of the potential ways by which unconventional product choice might be a function of individuals’ categorization flexibility level across different types of decision domains. The findings yield implications that are novel to both categorization and consumer decision-making literature.

The phenomenon of creativity spans research topics across Marketing and Consumer Behavior. Interest in, and research on, creativity has grown over the past several decades. With this heightened attention comes the question of how best to conceptualize and measure creativity. This question is addressed by reviewing the conceptualizations and measures used in the psychological study of creativity. From this review, we build a framework by which to analyze papers from the Journal of Consumer Research and the Journal of Marketing Research. Based upon this analysis, we provide recommendations and best practices for future research. Of particular importance, we recommend the use of convergent problem-solving tasks in combination with ratings of novelty and usefulness reported separately. Such measures allow one to distinguish between instances of effective-creativity (when an idea is both novel and useful) and instances of quasi-creativity (when an idea is novel but lacks usefulness). The importance of the framework to research and analysis beyond the experimental paradigm is discussed.

Historically, research in organizational behavior has denied and even denounced the presence and impact of emotions in the workplace. Today, after little more than 10 years of research on emotions in the workplace, organizational behavior scholars look to emotions as an important determinant of nearly every facet of workplace behavior. From interpersonal behavior, to team performance, and strategic decision-making in top management teams, researchers have argued that the role of emotions is fundamental to our understanding of these organizational processes. Research on emotions in the workplace has had a fast and furious growth, facilitated by a lack of critical reflection upon the limits of bounded emotionality as a framework for understanding individuals’ actions in organizations. It is undeniable that emotions influence some facets of organizational behavior. But the questions of interest in this chapter are, in which areas of organizational behavior do emotions play a critical role in the determination of individual and organizational outcomes and under what conditions?

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of shared cognitive frames, in particular, that of institutional logics, on the deployment and use of performance measurement systems (PMSs) in the public sector.

Using novel priming techniques derived from behavioral and social psychology, three institutional logics – the public, market-managerial and professional logics – are differentially surfaced in three independent experimental groups. The influence of these primed institutional logics on performance measurement use preferences are then empirically assessed using appropriate analysis of variance techniques.

Contrary to theoretical predictions, the paper reveals logic congruence regarding some uses of PMSs in the public sector, and divergence regarding others. Individuals applying a public logic were more likely to propose performance measurement use for strategic planning or strategic alignment; while those applying a professional logic were more likely to propose performance measurement use for learning, compared to otherwise primed individuals.

Considering the sample size and the novelty of the priming tools, it is feasible that other potentially significant effects may have been missed.

The paper addresses a gap in literature regarding the influence of shared cognitive frames on performance measurement use in public sector organizations. The paper further presents priming techniques embedded within an experimental design as an appropriate method for the micro-level study of attitudes, preferences and judgments in the public sector.

This chapter provides an in-depth understanding of the cognitive processes that facilitate creativity from a multi-level perspective. Because cognitive processes are viewed as residing within the individual and as an individual-level phenomenon, it is not surprising that a plethora of research has focused on various cognitive processes involved in creative production at the individual level and the factors that may facilitate or hinder the successful application of these processes. Of course, individuals do not exist in a vacuum, and many organizations are utilizing teams and groups to facilitate creative problem solving. We therefore extend our knowledge from the individual to the team level and group level, providing more than 50 propositions for testing and discussing their implications for future research.

Managers are increasingly faced with situations that call for creative ways to engage consumers and employees. With online and offline options available for creative problem solving, consumers are constantly engaging with brands to provide different solutions to everyday problems. There are numerous contextual factors that influence creative output, external primes (distal vs proximal) being one of them. This research attempts to find the boundary conditions such as cognitive load, expectations of performance feedback and optimism that interact with environmental primes to influence quality and quantity of creativity. Doing so would help managers create conditions that can enhance creative output.

Three experiments were conducted; the first tests the interactive effect of primes and cognitive load, and the second involves the enhancing effect of expectation of performance feedback. Given that cognitive load depresses creativity and expectation of performance feedback enhances creativity, the third study finds whether optimism enhances the effects of distal primes under high cognitive load condition.

Study 1 demonstrates that the boundary factor of cognitive load moderates the relative difference between proximal and distal primes: cognitive load depresses the enhancing effects of distal primes. Study 2 demonstrates that expectation of performance feedback can enhance the effectiveness of distal primes to a greater extent than proximal primes. Study 3 suggests that highly optimistic individuals can overcome the depressing effects of cognitive load when exposed to distal primes and expectation of performance feedback.

The research demonstrates the environmental conditions that influence creative output in problem solving.

This research attempts to highlight the importance of contextual factors in influencing creativity. In the process, this research highlights the interactive forces that deter or enhance creativity so that managers can provide optimal conditions that enhance creative output for their employees and consumers.

This article reviews selected literature on the causes and effects of mood. Theoretical mechanisms for explaining the mood phenomenon are also considered. Finally, some practical implications are discussed and specific recommendations are made for research that will advance our understanding of the mood phenomenon and provide useful information to managers.