Lecture 1 Regulatory Focus Theory

Question 1

Regulatory focus theory

Answer 1

Explains how people’s motivations to approach or avoid pain shape their behavior and decision making

Question 2

Promotion-focused

Answer 2

Seek growth, achievements and pleasure, focusing on advancing towards their ideals

Question 3

Prevention-focused

Answer 3

Concentrate on avoiding losses and fulfilling responsibilities, prioritizing security and adherence to rules

Question 4

Chronic orientation

Answer 4

Refers to a person’s long-term tendency to prioritize either promotion or prevention focus
It is orthogonal, meaning someone can have both promotion and prevention focus

Question 5

Temporal orientation

Answer 5

How these regulatory focus manifest at a specific time or in a particular situation
It is dependent, meaning one orientation will dominate at a given moment, influenced by context or external factors

Question 6

Authoritative parenting style

Answer 6

Encourage promotion-focus by support

Question 7

Authoritarian parenting style

Answer 7

Foster a prevention focus

Question 8

Promotion focus factors

Answer 8

Motivated by positive role models
More politically liberal
Activates areas linked to intuition and Reward sensitivity
Higher self-esteem
Process information eagerly
Independent self-view
Set personal goals

Question 9

Prevention focus factors

Answer 9

Motivated by criticism
Prioritise accuracy to speed
Detail-oriented
Focus on the details
Activates regions associated with self-awareness and social adaptation
Lower self-esteem
Interdependent
Value their role in social networks

Question 10

Research insights - consumer behavior

Answer 10

Promotion-focused: prefer luxury and are inspired by positive role models
Prevention-focused: value reliability, and are motivated by criticism

Question 11

Regulatory fit

Answer 11

The way people approach a goal matches their personal motivational style.
This alignment makes them feel “right” about what they’re doing, which increases their engagement and performance.
Promotion-focus: potential gains and rewards
Prevention-focus: avoiding risks and losses

Question 12

Transactional leaders

Answer 12

Prevention focused
Clarify tasks
Initiate structure
Maintain status quo
Improve productivity
Monitor and correct errors

Question 13

Transformational leaders

Answer 13

Promotion focused
Innovative
Optimistic
High expectations

Question 14

Experiment - product framing

Answer 14

Promotion-focus: willing to pay more when a product emphasized gains
Prevention-focus: willing to pay more when a product avoids losses

Question 15

Attempts to change/influence behavior can…

Answer 15

Induce a prevention focus
change inherently through uncertainty, risk, and potential losses

Question 16

There needs to be a fit between…

Answer 16

Product
Message
Framing
Individuals being influenced
The way they decide
Behavior of the influencer

Question 17

Motivational orientation differs systematically with…

Answer 17

Age (young people want to advance themselves, old people want to preserve their health)
Gender (women are more prevention focus than men)
Culture (collectivistic is more preventon focused)
Type of decision

Question 18

Resistance

Answer 18

People often resist change
Voters tend to stick with preferred political party

Question 19

Why do people resist change?

Answer 19

Reactance
Endowment
Distance
Uncertainty

Question 20

Reactance

Answer 20

Need for autonomy
‘When pushed, I push back’
Provide choices for people

Question 21

Example reactance

Answer 21

Tide Pod challenge
An online article encouraged people to eat tide pods as they look like candy
People wouldn’t stop eating them even though it was dangerous
Telling people not to eat them actually encouraged people to eat them more

Question 22

Solution reactance

Answer 22

Provide a menu, give people choices
Start with understanding

Question 23

Endowment

Answer 23

I prefer the status quo
People’s tendency to favor what they already have over other alternatives
Makes it difficult to change to something new

Question 24

Why?

Answer 24

Loss aversion
Switching costs (it takes a lot of effort to familiarise yourself with a new product, download new apps

Question 25

Solution to endowment

Answer 25

Show costs of inaction
Subtly guiding people into ‘burning their ships’ - obliged to switch to Microsoft 10 as Windows 7 was not supported anymore
Appeal to what people lost, but can regain again - ‘Make America Great Again’

Question 26

Distance

Answer 26

Refers to how far an idea, message, or proposal feels from what a person already believes or values
When something is too far from my backyard, I am less persuaded by it

Question 27

Social judgment theory

Answer 27

This theory explains that people’s attitudes or positions on a topic can be divided into three areas:

Latitude of Acceptance: Ideas or messages that are close to what a person already believes and are easily accepted.
Latitude of Rejection: Ideas or messages that are too different from what a person believes, and they will reject them immediately.
Latitude of Non-commitment: Ideas or messages that fall somewhere in the middle

Question 28

How to deal with distance?

Answer 28

Find the movable middle
For people who are further away: ask for less - Biden was chosen over Sanders because he is closer to the middle and Sanders was too left winged
Switch the field to an ‘unsticking point’

Question 29

Uncertainty

Answer 29

Outcome and probability of different outcomes is unknown

Question 30

Diffusion of orientation (Rogers)

Answer 30

Innovators: risk-takers and the first to try new things.
Early Adopters: influential and help spread the idea to others.
Early Majority: practical, waiting for the innovation to prove its worth.
Late Majority: adopts the innovation once it has become mainstream and widely accepted.

Question 31

Moderators of the level of resistance

Answer 31

Social pressure
Coercive marketing
Lack of trust in the brand
Change to established outcomes
Perceived risk and uncertainty

Question 32

Self-determination theory

Answer 32

Competence
Autonomy
Relatedness

Question 33

Evidence-based ideas to elicit promotion focus

Answer 33

Asking people for their desire and aspirations
People become more promotion-focused by viewing nature