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.

EXPRESS: The Influence of Social Norms on Consumer Behavior: A Meta-Analysis

Social norms shape consumer behavior. However, it is not clear under what circumstances social norms are more versus less effective in doing so. This gap is addressed through an interdisciplinary meta-analysis examining the impact of social norms on consumer behavior across a wide array of contexts involving the purchase, consumption, use, and disposal of products and services, including socially approved (e.g., fruit consumption, donations) and disapproved (e.g., smoking, gambling) behaviors. Drawing from reactance theory and based on a cross-disciplinary data set of 250 effect sizes from research spanning 1978–2019 representing 112,478 respondents from 22 countries, the effects of five categories of moderators of the effectiveness of social norms on consumer behavior are examined: (1) target behavior characteristics, (2) communication factors, (3) consumer costs, (4) environmental factors, and (5) methodological characteristics. The findings suggest that while the effect of social norms on approved behavior is stable across time and cultures, their effect on disapproved behavior has grown over time and is stronger in survival and traditional cultures. Communications identifying specific organizations or close group members enhance compliance with social norms, as does the presence of monetary costs. The authors leverage their findings to offer managerial implications and a future research agenda for the field.

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 role of perceived threat to freedom of choice in children's preference for scarcity

The present research investigated the role of perceived threat to freedom of choice in children’s development of preference for scarcity. In two experiments, 5- to 7-year-olds assisted a fictional agent in choosing between relatively scarce versus abundant toys in a “virtual shop.” Experiment 1 investigated the role of extremity of scarcity in children’s preference for scarcity, while Experiment 2 investigated the role of the presence of competition. These two factors were anticipated to activate perceived threat to freedom to choose the scarce objects, resulting in motivational arousal to choose the scarce objects. Overall, a preference for scarcity increased with age. When threat to freedom of choice was induced, 7-year-olds showed a robust preference for scarcity in both experiments. The findings are discussed in the context of reactance theory and other factors influencing children’s patterns of responses, including prosociality. This research contributes to our understanding of children’s use of statistical information. Key words: scarcity, threat to freedom of choice, psychological reactance

The role of perceived threat to freedom of choice in children's preference for scarcity

The present research investigated the role of perceived threat to freedom of choice in children’s development of preference for scarcity. In two experiments, 5- to 7-year-olds assisted a fictional agent in choosing between relatively scarce versus abundant toys in a “virtual shop.” Experiment 1 investigated the role of extremity of scarcity in children’s preference for scarcity, while Experiment 2 investigated the role of the presence of competition. These two factors were anticipated to activate perceived threat to freedom to choose the scarce objects, resulting in motivational arousal to choose the scarce objects. Overall, a preference for scarcity increased with age. When threat to freedom of choice was induced, 7-year-olds showed a robust preference for scarcity in both experiments. The findings are discussed in the context of reactance theory and other factors influencing children’s patterns of responses, including prosociality. This research contributes to our understanding of children’s use of statistical information. Key words: scarcity, threat to freedom of choice, psychological reactance

Obedience Pressure vs. Peer Pressure: An Explanation of Muslims’ Religious Role in Budgetary Slack

Introduction/Main Objectives: The performance of individuals in organizations is generally evaluated based on their success at achieving targets. Furthermore, the role of the budget has a major effect on individual behavior in the preparation of the budget, by allowing unethical actions (budgetary slack). Background Problems: There are a few studies that measure the difference in the influence of social pressure between superiors and peers on individual’s behavior in the organizational budgeting process. On the other hand, there are inconsistencies in the results of the research into the role of religiosity in the creation of budgetary slack. Novelty: To explain why people are not influenced by social pressures to create budgetary slack, we use the Psychological Reactance Theory. We argue that religiosity is one factor that influences people in making decisions about participative budgeting. Religiosity is believed to be able to influence one's personal values, so it impacts on one's judgment and determination of whether a thing is good or bad. Research Methods: This study uses an experimental research method on 65 undergraduate accounting students and a 2x2 factorial design consisting of two factors, social pressure (obedience pressure and peer pressure) and religiosity (high and low). Finding/Results: The results show that religiosity is proven to play an important role in the budget decision-making process, futhermore it minimizes the occurrence of budgetary slack. Conclusion: Individuals who have high religiosity are proven to be better able to avoid creating budgetary slack compared to individuals who have low religiosity, when receiving pressure from superiors and peers. This result has implications for organizational stakeholders dealing with employee recruitment or in the organization's management control system, as religiosity is an important factor that must be prioritized.