6. Khan & Dhar (2006): Licensing effect in consumer choice

Question 1

licensing effect

Answer 1

when people allow themselves to do something bad (e.g. immoral) after doing something good (e.g. moral) first

Question 2

licensing

Answer 2

when our previous action boosts self-concept, which gives us permission to indulge

Question 3

Hypothesis

Answer 3

prior expression of an intent that helps establish an altruistic self-concept is more likely to liberate the person to make self-indulgent choices

Question 4

Study 1:

Answer 4

the effect of an altruistic decision on the preference between a luxury and a necessity

Question 5

Study 1 conditions + task + result

Answer 5

licensing condition: imagine that you had volunteered to spend three hours a week doing community service, asked them to choose: 1) teaching children in a homeless shelter 2) improving the environment
control condition: no volunteer work
choice task: imagine that you are at a mall that is having a sale. Choose between a pair of designer jeans and a vacuum cleaner (you could afford only one at the moment). Both items were priced at 50$
result > significantly more people in the license condition chose the designer jeans

Question 6

Study 2:the non-conscious effect of a prior licensing task

Answer 6

choice between times that belong to the same product category but differ in luxury (two pairs of sunglasses)
separates the two tasks with an unrelated filler task
same results as study 1

Question 7

Study 3: donation amount

Answer 7

licensing effect on donation amount
among those who chose to donate, donations were significantly lower in the licensing condition than in the control condition

Question 8

Study 4: the effect of attribution manipulation on the licensing effect

Answer 8

same as study 1, with an additional condition: the external attribution condition > providing participants with an external reason to perform the community service
‘imagine that you had been asked by the traffic police department to do four hours of community service for six weeks for having committed a driving violation’
attributing the virtuous intent to an external cause through attribution manipulation, the licensing effect disappeared

Question 9

Study 5: the mediating effect of a changing self-concept on the relative preference for a luxury item

Answer 9

same as study 1, with measuring self-assessment
‘I am compassionate’, ‘I am sympathetic’, ‘I am warm’, ‘I am helpful’
preference rating: ‘most likely to buy the vacuum cleaner’ (1) to ‘most likely to buy the designer jeans’ (7)
results: participants rated themselves more positively in the license condition, and the relative preference for designer jeans was higher in the license condition, self-concept mediated this

Question 10

self-control lapses

Answer 10

the tendency to succumb to impulse, seek immediate pleasure, and avoid discomfort at the expense of long-term interests

Question 11

Nudge

Answer 11

the choice architecture that alters people’s behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives