Week 2 - Causality & Consistency

Question 1

Attribution

Answer 1

Ascribing causes to social events

Posible causes:
* The self
* Another person
* Circumstances/chance

Question 2

Causal attribution

Answer 2

It is raining.
John is happy.
His wife made cheesecake

(illusory correlations will happen: e.g. we don’t know why John is happy, maybe he doesn’t like cheesecake but he does like rain etc.)

Question 3

Wegner’s theory of mental causation

Answer 3

Causation cannot be directly observed (Hume)

Therefore: causation is an inference and can be biased

1. Priority:
   * Thoughts need to occur just before action (-outcome)
2. Consistency
   * Thoughts need to be consistent with the action (-outcome)
3. Exclusivity
   * Are other potential causes present

Leads to illusion of control in gambling behavior

Question 4

Bem’s Self-Perception Theory

Answer 4

Self-attributions:
* People derive their motives, attitudes, and emotions (self-definition), from observing their own behavior

Over-rewarding behavior is bad for intrinsic motivation

Question 5

Perceived Consumer Effectiveness

Answer 5

1. Consumers are more likely to act when they feel that their behavior will make a difference
2. Similar to self-efficacy, perceived behavioral control, internal locus of control

Question 6

What is the effect of guilt on the customer

Answer 6

A negative emotion associated with problem-focused coping, leading consumers to avoid feeling guilty in the future, and repair previous wrongdoing (internal causal attribution = ‘I did this!’)

Question 7

What is the effect of pride on the customer

Answer 7

A positive emotion associated with a sense of achievement and self-worth, motivates people to behave responsibly in the future (internal causal attribution = ‘I did this!’)

Question 8

What was the effect of guilt and pride on sustainable consumption choices?

Answer 8

Experienced guilt and pride results in more sustainable purchase intentions

Because they increase Perceived Consumer Effectiveness; people feel responsible

Both guilt and pride prevent the ability to reduce cognitive dissonance by denying responsibility

Question 9

Foot-in-the-Door Effect

Answer 9

Explanation in terms of self attribution:
* Self-image is adjusted after agreeing to first small request
* With second, big request people act accordingly to their adjusted self-image

Question 10

Self-serving bias

Answer 10

Motivation vs cognition

We expect our actions to have positive consequences, because that is what we aim for

Negative consequences are unexpected and trigger a search for causes in the environment

Question 11

Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 11

Underestimate the situation

Overestimate person

People underestimate the influence of the situation on behavior

People overestimate the degree to which behavior has a dispositional cause

Question 12

What are the implications of the Fundamental Attribution Error

Answer 12

1. Helps identifying consumer profiles and target audiences (ignoring context)
2. Stigma (e.g. people living in poverty)
   * Influence on policy
   * Do not judge too soon; consider the context

Use system 2 to consider the context as well

Question 13

When does Fundamental Attribution Error occur less?

Answer 13

1. Moral behavior
2. Negative mood
3. Accountability
4. Dependence upon target person
5. Collectivist cultures

These are all part of systematic processing (system 2)

Question 14

What is the Actor-Observor Effect

Answer 14

The Fundamental Attribution Error mainly occurs for the behavior of others and less for our own behavior

Question 15

Benign Violation Theory (norm violation and humor)

Answer 15

Theory used in prankvertising

Violation must impose physical or psychological threat

Violation must occur in safe and playful context

An interpretative process should help reconcile violation and sense of safety (i.e. wrong but okay)

Question 16

Prankvertising and morality

Answer 16

1. Norm violations (surprises) likely trigger moral reasoning
   * Balancing of risks and benefits
2. Both perceptions of fear and morality can be generated by system 1
3. Conflicts between risks and benefits call for reflection by system 2

Question 17

What makes a succesful prankvertisement

Answer 17

1. Low fear
2. And/or high meaningfulness

Morality –> humor –> brand attitude

Question 18

Confirmation bias

Answer 18

Finding, remembering and interpreting evidence in line with your ideas and ignoring contradictory evidence

Question 19

Implications of confirmation bias

Answer 19

1. In criminal justice and investigation, confirmation bias is also called tunnel vision = ‘is this person guilty?’
2. Lack of falsification in science
3. Marketers tailor messages that resonate with consumers’ existing viewpoints
4. Investors focus excessively on information that reinforces their opinions about an investment

Question 20

Why do people often find confirmation for their expectations?

Answer 20

1. Positive testing = looking for evidence to support your idea
   * Limited capacity
   * Negative testing is much less efficient
   * Negative info is less valuable (the absence of evidence does not equal the evidence of absence)
   * Satisficing
   * Anchoring and adjustment
2. We also stimulate confirmative behavior in others (self-fulfilling prophecy)

Question 21

Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

Answer 21

An expectation or belief that can influence your behaviors, thus causing that belief to come true

Question 22

Illusory correlation

Answer 22

When we see a correlation between two variables when they aren’t actually associated