This article examines the bases children of different ages use to categorize products. Data from children ages 4 to 10 indicate that the use of perceptual attributes as a basis for categorizing products decreases with age, whereas the use of underlying attributes to categorize products increases...

We examine the role of high self-accountability emotions in enhancing compliance with fear appeals. In two field experiments, we find that relative to straight fear appeals (negative) or adding hope (positive), which ascribes low accountability to the self, action-facilitative coping,...

In the course of daily encounters with other consumers, an individual may be incidentally exposed to various brands. We refer to these situations as incidental consumer brand encounters (ICBEs). This research examines how ICBEs influence brand choice. Four studies provide evidence that repeated...

We propose that consumers purchase brands in part to construct their self-concepts and, in so doing, form self-brand connections. We focus on reference groups as a source of brand meaning. Results from two studies show that brands with images consistent with an ingroup enhance self-brand...

This article investigates the effect of mimicry on consumer product consumption and appraisal. We propose and test two paths via which mimicry may influence product preferences. In the mimicking consumer path, we suggest that individuals automatically mimic the consumption behaviors of other...

We examine how making mortality salient affects consumer choices. We develop a new theoretical framework predicting when consumer behaviors will be more (less) indulgent when mortality is salient, arguing that individuals focus more of their limited self-regulatory resources on domains that are...