We’re all in this together: Focus on community attenuates effects of pandemic-related financial hardship on reactance to COVID-19 public health regulations

There has been resistance to COVID-19 public health restrictions partly due to changes and reductions in work, resulting in financial stress. Psychological reactance theory posits that such restrictions to personal freedoms result in anger, defiance, and motivation to restore freedom. In an online study (N = 301), we manipulated the target of COVID-19 restrictions as impacting self or community. We hypothesized that (a) greater pandemic-related financial stress would predict greater reactance, (b) the self-focused restriction condition would elicit greater reactance than the community-focused restriction condition, (c) reactance would be greatest for financially-stressed individuals in the self-focused condition, and (d) greater reactance would predict lower adherence to social distancing guidelines. Independent of political orientation and sense of community, greater financial stress predicted greater reactance only in the self-focused condition; the community-focused condition attenuated this association. Additionally, greater reactance was associated with lower social distancing behavior. These findings suggest that economic hardship exacerbates negative responses to continued personal freedom loss. Community-focused COVID-19 health messaging may be better received during continued pandemic conditions.

Can you represent me? The influence of consumers' self-congruity on their brand loyalty behavior

PurposeThis study aimed to verify the impact of consumers' self-congruity on brand loyalty behavior when stock-out happens; the role of the psychological reactance theory as a mediator was assessed.Design/methodology/approachData collection was carried out in the form of a questionnaire survey. Data from 417 respondents were analyzed, and structural equation modeling was applied to test the hypotheses.FindingsThe findings revealed the positive significant impact of consumers' self-congruity on their brand loyalty behavior, and the mediating effect of psychological reactance between self-congruity and consumers' brand loyalty behavior.Practical implicationsThis study offers retailers/brand owners a deeper understanding of the remedy strategy needed to reduce the sales loss in their firms when stock-out happens.Originality/valueThis study provides a theoretical and empirical test on the influence of consumers' self-congruity on their brand loyalty behavior, bringing consumers' psychological reactance into the research as a mediating factor, thereby enriching the existing research on consumers' out-of-stock reactions.

The Nature and Role of Perceived Threats in User Resistance to Healthcare Information Technology

The efforts of the United States government in the past 15 years have included harnessing the power of health information technology (HIT) to improve legibility, lessen medical errors, keep costs low, and elevate the quality of healthcare. However, user resistance is still a barrier to overcome in order to achieve desired outcomes. Understanding the nature of resistance is key to successfully increasing the adoption of HIT systems. Previous research has showed that perceived threats are a significant antecedent of user resistance; however, its nature and role have remained vastly unexplored. This study uses the psychological reactance theory to explain both the nature and role of perceived threats in HIT-user resistance. The study shows that perceived helplessness over process and perceived dissatisfaction over outcomes are two unique instances of perceived threats. Additionally, the results reveal that resistance to healthcare information systems can manifest as reactance, distrust, scrutiny, or inertia. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

Effects of Website Credibility and Brand Trust on Responses to Online Behavioral Advertising

Online behavioral advertising that tracks user data has witnessed a dramatic increase in popularity. Using Psychological Reactance Theory, this study examines the effects of brand trust and website credibility on responses to behavioral advertising via privacy concerns. A 2 (brand trust: high vs. low) by 2 (website credibility: high vs. low) between-subjects experiment was conducted (N = 424). Results suggest that while brand trust influences purchase intention—as mediated via affective reactance—website credibility only exerts modest effects on the dependent variables. Implications for user perception factors and contextual factors—including ad effectiveness in the digital personalized marketing realm—are discussed.

Consumers' psychological reactance and ownership in in-game advertising

PurposeThe study explores the effect of game flow, game enjoyment and game customization on consumers' attitudes toward the game (ATG). It also examines the relationship between consumers' ATG and attitude toward the in-game advertising (IGA) brand.Design/methodology/approachThe study used SEM and PROCESS MACRO to analyze the results.FindingsThe study asserts the significant role of game flow, game customization and game enjoyment as antecedents of consumers' ATG. Furthermore, psychological ownership and perceived IGA invasiveness were found to be significant moderators between attitude toward game and attitude for the IGA brand.Originality/valueThe study examines how players’ attitude toward the game influences their attitude toward the IGA brand due to the player's ownership perceptions over the game and invasiveness perceptions for IGA. The study used psychological ownership and psychological reactance theory in the gamification context. The study findings present pertinent implications for game developers and brands interested in using IGA tools.

The Utility of Choice-Enhancing Language in Emergency Preparedness Messages: An Application of Psychological Reactance Theory

ABSTRACT Objective: This study uses psychological reactance theory as a framework for designing effective emergency preparedness messages. Psychological reactance is the motivational state that occurs when individuals perceive their freedom to be threatened. From the standpoint of persuasive message design, reactance is an undesirable outcome that should be avoided whenever possible. Methods: Participants (N = 174) were randomly assigned to view 1 of 2 emergency preparedness messages (choice-enhancing language [“the choice is yours”] vs choice-restricting language [“you must”]) in a between-subjects-posttest-only online survey experiment. Results: Structural equation modeling revealed that choice-restricting language resulted in greater freedom threat and subsequent reactance. Reactance resulted in a diminished attitude and subsequent intention to prepare an emergency kit. Conclusion: Public health practitioners would benefit from the inclusion of choice-enhancing language in their public communications, alongside the exclusion of choice-restricting language. Pretesting of messages is recommended to avoid eliciting reactance and subsequent boomerang effects.

When Counterarguing Becomes the Primary Task: Examination of Dogmatic Anti-Vaping Messages on Psychological Reactance, Available Cognitive Resources, and Memory

This study tested Psychological Reactance Theory and the Limited Capacity Model of Motivated Mediated Message Processing by examining participants’ (N = 155 young adult, ever-vapers) cognitive and affective responses to anti-vaping public service announcements (PSAs) featuring dogmatic or suggestive language. Ever-vapers in the dogmatic PSA condition were predicted to report greater perceived freedom threats, anger and counterarguments, and intentions to vape relative to ever-vapers in the suggestive PSA condition. This study also examined how counterarguing, as the cognitive component of psychological reactance, influences available cognitive resources and encoding of message content. The results indicated that ever-vapers in the dogmatic PSA condition reported significantly greater freedom threats and state psychological reactance but not intentions to vape relative to ever-vapers in the suggestive PSA condition. Moreover, counterarguing dogmatic anti-vaping PSAs resulted in fewer available cognitive resources for encoding as evidenced by slower Secondary Task Reaction Times (STRTs) and reduced encoding of message content. The results from this study provide considerable theoretical and practical implications while advancing the STRT measure.