Choice Consequences of Consumer Creativity:Implications for Firm Marketing and Consumer Welfare

Description

With the growing prevalence of online marketing promotions with a creativity theme, firms become more interested in the effects of these creative activities on consumers’ cognitions and behaviors, e.g., choices. This study explores how creativity influences consumers’ openness towards unfamiliar offerings and novel brand extensions. We further explore how creativity affects mindset concreteness, and subsequently influences consumers’ reinforcement intentions in making sequential choices.We will conduct a series of lab and field experiments to test our predictions. Study 1 tests whether creative consumers are more likely to embrace novel products. Study 2 explores how creativity enhances consumers’ acceptance of novel brand extensions. Study 3 investigates how creativity reinforces consumers’ intentions to “stay on target” in sequential choices, when the first choice is beneficial. Study 4 investigates how creativity can generate positive affect, which helps replenish consumers’ self-control resources; leading to the reduction of dysfunctional consumer behaviors such as overeating.