Skip to main content
Disciplines
Automotive Business IT + Informatics Construction + Real Estate Electrical Engineering + Electronics Energy + Sustainability Insurance + Risk Finance + Banking Management + Leadership Marketing + Sales Mechanical Engineering + Materials
Events
DE
EN
Books
Journals
Topic Page
Marketing
Start single access now
Access for companies
EXTENDED SEARCH
Log in
Top
Marketing Letters
Published in: Marketing Letters 4/2023

21-12-2022

Can power predict consumers’ preferences for aesthetic products? The moderating role of locus of control

Authors: Mengmeng Xu, Hongyan Jiang, Huimin Tan

Published in: Marketing Letters | Issue 4/2023

Log in

Activate our intelligent search to find suitable subject content or patents.

search-config
loading …

Abstract

In the real life, consumers perceived as either powerful or powerless may be equally likely to be attracted by aesthetic products. However, it is unclear when and why one’s power can lead to his or her preferences for aesthetic products in the prior literature. This study aims to address such research questions by introducing the moderating role of locus of control (LOC) in the impact of power on aesthetic product preferences. Three experimental studies were conducted to test the proposed hypotheses, and the findings suggest that high- (vs. low-) power individuals prefer aesthetic products under external control condition, whereas low- (vs. high-) power individuals prefer aesthetic products under internal control condition. Moreover, such observed effect is driven by self-expression (vs. self-enhancement) motivation under external (vs. internal) locus of control. Our research provides crucial implications for marketing practitioners to develop the market segmentation strategies and to design the advertising plans for aesthetic products.
previous article The adoption and disadoption of electric vehicles by innovators
next article The impact of commodity taxation on product variety: a multi-category investigation

Dont have a licence yet? Then find out more about our products and how to get one now:

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft+Technik" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 102.000 Bücher
  • über 537 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Automobil + Motoren
  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Elektrotechnik + Elektronik
  • Energie + Nachhaltigkeit
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Maschinenbau + Werkstoffe
  • Versicherung + Risiko

Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now

Springer Professional "Wirtschaft"

Online-Abonnement

Mit Springer Professional "Wirtschaft" erhalten Sie Zugriff auf:

  • über 67.000 Bücher
  • über 340 Zeitschriften

aus folgenden Fachgebieten:

  • Bauwesen + Immobilien
  • Business IT + Informatik
  • Finance + Banking
  • Management + Führung
  • Marketing + Vertrieb
  • Versicherung + Risiko




Jetzt Wissensvorsprung sichern!

inform now
Appendix
Available only for authorised users
Literature
Alexandrov, A., Lilly, B., & Babakus, E. (2013). The effects of social- and self-motives on the intentions to share positive and negative word of mouth. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 41(5), 531–546.CrossRef
Anderson, C., John, O. P., & Keltner, D. (2012). The personal sense of power. Journal of Personality, 80(2), 313–344.CrossRef
Barone, M. J., Bae, T. J., Qian, S., & D’Mello, J. (2017). Power and the appeal of the deal: How consumers value the control provided by pay what you want (PWYW) pricing. Marketing Letters, 28(5), 1–11.
Casta, C., Rohidi, T. R., Triyanto, T., & Karim, A. (2021). Production of aesthetic tastes and creativity education of Indonesian glass painting artists. Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research & Education, 21(2), 266–277.
Chaxel, A. S. (2016). Why, when, and how personal control impacts information processing: A framework. Journal of Consumer Research, 43(1), 179–197.CrossRef
Chen, S., Langner, C. A., & Mendoza-Denton, R. (2009). When dispositional and role power fit: Implications for self-expression and self-other congruence. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 96(3), 710–727.CrossRef
Chen, T., Li, F., & Leung, K. (2016). When does supervisor support encourage innovative behavior? Opposite moderating effects of general self-efficacy and internal locus of control. Personnel Psychology, 69(1), 129–138.CrossRef
De Bono & Kenneth, G. (1987). Investigating the social-adjustive and value-expressive functions of attitudes: Implications for persuasion processes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 52(2), 279–287.
De Clercq, D., Fatima, T., & Jahanzeb, S. (2021). Ingratiating with despotic leaders to gain status: The role of power distance orientation and self-enhancement motive. Journal of Business Ethics, 171, 157–174.CrossRef
Dubois, D., Rucker, D. D., & Galinsky, A. D. (2012). Super size me: Product size as a signal of status. Journal of Consumer Research, 38(6), 1047–1062.CrossRef
Elias, S. M. (2009). Restrictive versus promotive control and employee work outcomes: The moderating role of locus of control. Journal of Management, 35(2), 369–392.CrossRef
Galinsky, A. D., Gruenfeld, D. H., & Magee, J. C. (2003). From power to action. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85(3), 653–666.CrossRef
Giri, A. K. (2005). Power and self-cultivation: Aesthetics, development ethics and the calling of poverty. Asian Journal of Social Science, 33(1), 46–61.CrossRef
Gordon, A. M., & Chen, S. (2013). Does power help or hurt? The moderating role of self-other focus on power and perspective-taking in romantic relationships. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39(8), 1097–1110.CrossRef
Hagen, L. (2021). Pretty healthy food: How and when aesthetics enhance perceived healthiness. Journal of Marketing, 85(2), 129–145.CrossRef
Hagtvedt, H., & Patrick, V. M. (2008). Art infusion: The influence of visual art on the perception and evaluation of consumer products. Journal of Marketing Research, 45(3), 379–389.CrossRef
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Introduction to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A regression-based approach. Journal of Educational Measurement, 51(3), 335–337.
Honea, H., & Horsky, S. (2012). The power of plain: Intensifying product experience with neutral aesthetic context. Marketing Letters, 23(1), 223–235.CrossRef
Hoyer, W. D., & Stokburger-Sauer, N. E. (2012). The role of aesthetic taste in consumer behavior. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 60(1), 167–180.CrossRef
Kim, H. S., & Sherman, D. K. (2007). “Express yourself”: Culture and the effect of self-expression on choice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(1), 1–11.CrossRef
Kim, J. H., Shin, Y. C., & Lee, S. J. (2017). Built on stone or sand: The stable powerful are unethical, the unstable powerful are not. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(2), 437–447.CrossRef
Koo, D. M. (2009). The moderating role of locus of control on the links between experiential motives and intention to play online games. Computers in Human Behavior, 25(2), 466–474.CrossRef
Leder, H., & Nadal, M. (2014). Ten years of a model of aesthetic appreciation and aesthetic judgments: The aesthetic episode—developments and challenges in empirical aesthetics. British Journal of Psychology, 105(4), 443–464.CrossRef
Lemrova, S., Reiterova, E., Fatenova, R., Lemr, K., & Tang, L. P. (2014). Money is power: Monetary intelligence—love of money and temptation of materialism among Czech University students. Journal of Business Ethics, 125(2), 329–348.CrossRef
Lynch, B. P., & van Dellen, M. R. (2020). A multi-motive framework for predicting variability in self-enhancement. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 14(10), 1–18.CrossRef
Lynch, L., Patterson, M., & Bheacháin, C. N. (2020). Visual literacy in consumption: Consumers, brand aesthetics and the curated self. European Journal of Marketing, 54(11), 2777–2801.CrossRef
Rotter, J. B. (1954). Social learning and clinical psychology. American Journal of Psychology, 68(4), 698.
Rotter, J. B. (1966). Generalized expectancies for internal verses external control of reinforcement. Psychological Monographs: General and Applied, 80(1), 1–28.CrossRef
Rucker, D., & Galinsky, A. (2008). Desire to acquire: Powerlessness and compensatory consumption. Journal of Consumer Research, 35(2), 257–267.CrossRef
Rucker, D. D., Galinsky, A. D., & Dubois, D. (2012). Power and consumer behavior: How power shapes who and what consumers value. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(3), 352–368.CrossRef
Rucker, D. D., Hu, M., & Galinsky, A. D. (2014). The experience versus the expectations of power: A recipe for altering the effects of power on behavior. Journal of Consumer Research, 41(2), 381–396.CrossRef
Schnitzlein, D. D., & Stephani, J. (2016). Locus of control and low-wage mobility. Journal of Economic Psychology, 53, 164–177.CrossRef
Schwartz, S. J., & Waterman, A. S. (2006). Changing interests: A longitudinal study of intrinsic motivation for personally salient activities. Journal of Research in Personality, 40(6), 1119–1136.CrossRef
See, K. E., Morrison, E. W., Rothman, N. B., & Soll, J. B. (2011). The detrimental effects of power on confidence, advice taking, and accuracy. Organizational Behavior & Human Decision Processes, 116(2), 272–285.CrossRef
Shin, S., & Ki, E. J. (2020). Attribution and attributional processes of organizations’ environmental messages. International Journal of Market Research, 63(5), 576–596.CrossRef
Sigelman, C. K. (2013). Age differences in perceptions of rich and poor people: Is it skill or luck? Social Development, 22(1), 1–18.CrossRef
Snyder, M., & Debono, K. G. (1985). Appeals to image and claims about quality: Understanding the psychology of advertising. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49(3), 586–597.CrossRef
Spiller, S. A., Fitzsimons, G. J., Lynch, J. G., Jr., & Mcclelland, G. H. (2013). Spotlights, floodlights, and the magic number zero: Simple effects tests in moderated regression. Journal of Marketing Research, 50(2), 277–288.CrossRef
Steed, L., & Symes, M. (2009). The role of perceived wealth competence, wealth values, and internal wealth locus of control in predicting wealth creation behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39(10), 2525–2540.CrossRef
Sundar, A., Cao, E. S., & Machleit, K. A. (2020). How product aesthetics cues efficacy beliefs of product performance. Psychology & Marketing, 37(9), 1246–1262.CrossRef
Teyssier, S., Etilé, F., & Combris, P. (2015). Social- and self-image concerns in fair-trade consumption. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 42(4), 579–606.CrossRef
Thomas, V. L., Fowler, K., & Saenger, C. (2020). Celebrity influence on word of mouth: The interplay of power states and power expectations. Marketing Letters, 31(4), 105–120.CrossRef
Townsend, C., & Sood, S. (2012). Self-affirmation through the choice of highly aesthetic products. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(2), 615–628.CrossRef
Venkatesh, A., & Meamber, L. A. (2008). The aesthetics of consumption and the consumer as an aesthetic subject. Consumption Markets & Culture, 11(1), 45–70.CrossRef
Vilches-Montero, S., Nik Hashim, N. M. H., Pandit, A., & Bravo-Olavarria, R. (2018). Using the senses to evaluate aesthetic products at the point of sale: The moderating role of consumers’ goals. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 40, 82–90.CrossRef
Waterman, A. S., Schwartz, S. J., & Conti, R. (2008). The implications of two conceptions of happiness (hedonic enjoyment and eudaimonia) for the understanding of intrinsic motivation. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9(1), 41–79.CrossRef
Weiner, B. (2000). Intrapersonal and interpersonal theories of motivation from an attributional perspective. Educational Psychology Review, 12, 1–14.CrossRef
Wilcox, K., Kim, H. M., & Sen, S. (2009). Why do consumers buy counterfeit luxury brands? Journal of Marketing Research, 46(2), 247–259.CrossRef
Wong, J., Lalwani, A. K., & Wang, J. J. (2022). The interactive effect of power and self-construal on consumers’ preferences for brand-logo size. Journal of Business Research, 150, 279–296.CrossRef
Wu, L., Mattila, A. S., Wang, C. Y., & Hanks, L. (2016). The impact of power on service customers’ willingness to post online reviews. Journal of Service Research, 19(2), 224–238.CrossRef
Zou, D., Jin, L., He, Y., & Xu, Q. (2014). The effect of the sense of power on Chinese consumers’ uniqueness-seeking behavior. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 26(1), 14–28.CrossRef
Metadata
Title
Can power predict consumers’ preferences for aesthetic products? The moderating role of locus of control
Authors
Mengmeng Xu
Hongyan Jiang
Huimin Tan
Publication date
21-12-2022
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Marketing Letters / Issue 4/2023
Print ISSN: 0923-0645
Electronic ISSN: 1573-059X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-022-09661-4

Other articles of this Issue 4/2023

Marketing Letters 4/2023 Go to the issue

OriginalPaper

Cued-recall asymmetries: the case of brand names and logos

OriginalPaper

Platform break-even market share

OriginalPaper

Need to evaluate as a predictor of creating and seeking online word of mouth

OriginalPaper

CEO inside-debt compensation and strategic emphasis

OriginalPaper

Role of music tempo in choosing from large and small choice sets: insights from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

OriginalPaper

The impact of commodity taxation on product variety: a multi-category investigation