2. Warren & Campbell (2014): What makes things cool? How autonomy influences perceived coolness

Question 1

research:

Answer 1

an experimental approach to examine the relationship between consumers’ inferences of autonomy and perceived coolness

Question 2

findings:

Answer 2

six studies find that behaviors expressing autonomy increase perceived coolness, but only when the autonomy seems appropriate

Question 3

autonomy seems appropriate when
3

Answer 3

a behavior diverges from a norm considered unnecessary or illegitimate
when the autonomy is bounded (i.e., deviations are small or occasional rather than large or perpetual)
when the consumer views social norms as being overly repressive

Question 4

consumers perceive objects (including brands and people) to be cool if that object is autonomous =

Answer 4

pursues its own motivations irrespective of the norms and expectations of others in an appropriate way

Question 5

coolness and desirability are not the same thing:

Answer 5

consumers prefer cool brands only when they want to stand out rather than fit in

Question 6

coolness =
4

Answer 6

socially constructed, a perception or attribute bestowed by an audience
subjective and dynamic, continuous and contextual
perceived to be a positive quality
requires more than the mere perception that something is positive or desirable

Question 7

coolness is best operationalized using a

Answer 7

consensual assessment technique by asking a group of consumers the extent to which they perceive something to be cool or uncool

Question 8

What distinguishes cool from good?

Answer 8

coolness seems to be related to autonomy, but the nature of this relationship is not clear

Question 9

autonomy

Answer 9

a willingness to pursue one’s own course irrespective of the norms, beliefs and expectations of others

Question 10

When is expressing autonomy cool? hypothesis

Answer 10

: the effect of autonomy on perceptions of coolness depends on whether autonomy seems contextually appropriate

Question 11

descriptive norms =
injunctive norms =

Answer 11

descriptive norms = what most people typically do in a particular context
injunctive norms = a cultural ideal or rule that people are expected to follow

Question 12

study 1 what method?

Answer 12

they manipulate norms by design of the bottle: familiar brand vs. unfamiliar brand, water bottle with lower divergence from normal shape vs. high divergence. The high divergence water bottle was perceived the coolest

Question 13

study 1 why was the divergent the coolest?

Answer 13

the autonomous product was perceived cooler irrespective of brand familiarity: the divergent bottle seemed cooler because participants inferred that the bottle was more autonomous (in an appropriate way) when its design diverged

Question 14

study 2 what was it about?

Answer 14

diverging from legitimate and illegitimate norms
when expressing autonomy by diverging from an injunctive norm, does that increase coolness?
manipulated divergence from the norm again, but they added a layer

Question 15

study 2 method 2

Answer 15

ad for a clothing brand that advocates wearing blue
situation 1: wearing white to honor a fallen soldier is the norm (legitimate norm)
situation 2: wearing white to honor a corrupt dictator (illegitimate norm)
coolness and autonomy happens when the brand is deviating from an illegitimate norm

Question 16

study 3 method

Answer 16

choice of three rock bands
low autonomy: ‘we write songs that appeal to mass audience, following current trends, mainstream tastes’
bounded autonomy: ‘write songs that feel right to us, see what is happening around us and try to incorporate this into songs that people can relate to’
extreme autonomy: ‘completely ignoring typical conventions and doing something totally different’

Question 17

study 3 result

Answer 17

extreme autonomy is not perceived well: we need to be autonomous but not too much

bounded autonomy is cooler than extreme autonomy

Question 18

study 4a:
study 4b:

Answer 18

study 4a: evaluating the coolness of four fashion brands, which showed low, moderate, high or extreme levels of autonomy
study 4b: evaluating the coolness of another person with variances in autonomy

Question 19

counter-culturalists

Answer 19

a form of micro-culture, people who tend to like divergence, who like to stand out

Question 20

4a/b result

Answer 20

people high in counter-culturalism like high divergence, people low in counter-culturalism prefer moderate divergence

Question 21

Study 5: when do consumers prefer cool brands?

Answer 21

it is likely that consumers use cool brands as a means for pursuing symbolic goals, such as signaling a desired identity trait

Question 22

study 5 examined whether

Answer 22

r a goal to signal autonomy versus conformity would lead to greater preference for cool brand

Question 23

study 5 demonstrated that

Answer 23

consumers prefer cool brands only when they want to express an autonomous identity

Question 24

study 5 different results autonomy and conformity

Answer 24

in contexts that encourage autonomy expression, consumers preferred a cool brand more than an uncool brand and as much as a classy brand
conversely, in contexts that encourage conformity, consumers did not prefer a cool brand to an uncool brand and preferred a classy brand to both. Thus, cool is not merely another way of saying something is desirable or liked

Question 25

The dynamic nature of coolness

Answer 25

the originally cool behavior can become the new norm if adopted by more people and then is replaced by the next cool trend, f.e. the band Green Day

Question 26

an important implication of the subjective and dynamic nature of coolness is that

Answer 26

cultivating a cool image may not be an optimal strategy for brands that want to sustain a position as a market leader rather than a niche player

Question 27

strategy for reducing risky behavior:

Answer 27

position risky behaviors as mainstream or to associate them with conformity

Question 28

What are the four defining properties of coolness?

Answer 28

socially constructed, subjective and dynamic, is positive, is more than just liking

Question 29

What distinguishes cool from good? >

Answer 29

inferred autonomy

Question 30

Do cool products diverge from norms? How was this proposition tested in study 1?

Answer 30

yes, empirical findings in study 1 show that

Question 31

Why did they manipulate familiarity? >

Answer 31

findings: it does not depend on what you already know from the brand

Question 32

Study 2: when is perceived coolness higher?

Answer 32

when you are deviating from an illegitimate norm

Question 33

Study 3: Which one of the three bands was perceived as the coolest and had the highest number of downloads?

Answer 33

bounded autonomy

Question 34

Autonomy has to do with two types of norms:

Answer 34

descriptive norms: what most people typically do in a particular context > deviation from this won’t lead to punishment
injunctive norms: a cultural ideal or a rule that people are expected to follow > much stronger norms