TY - JOUR
T1 - Engaging in a culturally mismatched thinking style increases the preference for familiar consumer options for analytic but not holistic thinkers
AU - Koo, Minkyung
AU - Shavitt, Sharon
AU - Lalwani, Ashok K.
AU - Chinchanachokchai, Sydney
N1 - Funding Information:
Preparation of this paper was supported by Junior Faculty Grant from the Department of Business Administration at the Gies College of Business awarded to Minkyung Koo, as well as grant # 1R01HD053636-01A1 from the National Institutes of Health , grant # 0648539 from the National Science Foundation , grant # 63842 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation , and a grant from the University of Illinois Campus Research Board to Sharon Shavitt, and a grant from the University of Illinois CIBER to Minkyung Koo and Sharon Shavitt. We are grateful to Angela Lee, Hila Reimer, Danit Ein-Gar, Xuefeng Liu, Alison Jing Xu, Jimmy Wong, and members of the University of Illinois marketing seminar group for their helpful comments on this research.
Funding Information:
Preparation of this paper was supported by Junior Faculty Grant from the Department of Business Administration at the Gies College of Business awarded to Minkyung Koo, as well as grant #1R01HD053636-01A1 from the National Institutes of Health, grant #0648539 from the National Science Foundation, grant #63842 from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and a grant from the University of Illinois Campus Research Board to Sharon Shavitt, and a grant from the University of Illinois CIBER to Minkyung Koo and Sharon Shavitt. We are grateful to Angela Lee, Hila Reimer, Danit Ein-Gar, Xuefeng Liu, Alison Jing Xu, Jimmy Wong, and members of the University of Illinois marketing seminar group for their helpful comments on this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - Our research examines the likelihood of choosing a well-known brand or product (e.g., global brands, national chain stores) relative to a new one (e.g., niche brands, local stores). Six studies examine the asymmetric consequences of engaging in an analytic or holistic thinking style that mismatches the dominant thinking style associated with one's cultural background. Our studies show that engaging in a culturally mismatched (versus matched) thinking style enhances the subsequent appeal of familiar consumer options and the likelihood of choosing them when making consumer decisions. However, this effect is observed only for those with a dominant analytic thinking style, not for those with a dominant holistic thinking style. This asymmetry emerges because analytic thinking is characterized by a greater intolerance of incongruity such that a mismatched experience is likely to be less well tolerated by analytic than holistic thinkers. Our studies suggest that this asymmetric effect on the preferences for familiar options is driven by a motivation to reduce psychological discomfort associated with a mismatched experience. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the effects of matched/mismatched thinking experiences on audiences of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds.
AB - Our research examines the likelihood of choosing a well-known brand or product (e.g., global brands, national chain stores) relative to a new one (e.g., niche brands, local stores). Six studies examine the asymmetric consequences of engaging in an analytic or holistic thinking style that mismatches the dominant thinking style associated with one's cultural background. Our studies show that engaging in a culturally mismatched (versus matched) thinking style enhances the subsequent appeal of familiar consumer options and the likelihood of choosing them when making consumer decisions. However, this effect is observed only for those with a dominant analytic thinking style, not for those with a dominant holistic thinking style. This asymmetry emerges because analytic thinking is characterized by a greater intolerance of incongruity such that a mismatched experience is likely to be less well tolerated by analytic than holistic thinkers. Our studies suggest that this asymmetric effect on the preferences for familiar options is driven by a motivation to reduce psychological discomfort associated with a mismatched experience. The findings highlight the importance of understanding the effects of matched/mismatched thinking experiences on audiences of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds.
KW - Brand loyalty
KW - Brand switching
KW - Culture
KW - Familiarity seeking
KW - Thinking styles
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2020.03.004
DO - 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2020.03.004
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85090927620
SN - 0167-8116
VL - 37
SP - 837
EP - 852
JO - International Journal of Research in Marketing
JF - International Journal of Research in Marketing
IS - 4
ER -