Negativity and Positivity Biases in Product Evaluations: The Impact of Consumer Goals and Prior Attitudes

Evidence consistent with selective hypothesis testing, but inconsistent with extant theories of the negativity and positivity effects is provided, and four experiments are conducted to systematically test this explanation against the extant theories of negativity and positivity effects. Results indicate that selective hypothesis testing is a viable explanation of negativity and positivity effects, and that its effects occur independently of the other theories in the literature. Results also shed light on how consumer goals and their prior attitudes influence product evaluations. Contributions, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Business Administration

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2015

Author dc:creator

• Lalwani, Ashok Kumar

Contributors dc:contributor

• Kent Monroe

• Psychology, Social

Language dc:language

eng

Identifier

(MiAaPQ)AAI3242907

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/84550