dc.description.abstract | The major purpose of this dissertation is to explore how the contagion effect between food products in different situations influences consumer evaluations, through a series of eight experiments. Contagion theory is used to explicate the underlying process and contagion effect can be separated into positive contagion and negative contagion.
First, this dissertation seeks to examine how the food product contagion influences consumer evaluations by using three studies. We explore the effects of the number of products, Gestalt closure, and cognitive load on the contagion prime. The results of Study 1 indicate that consumers have stronger contagion effects on few food products (e.g., four dinner rolls and one fresh/non-fresh fruit on the tray) compared with a situation where there
are many products (e.g., nine dinner rolls and one fresh/non-fresh fruit on the tray). The results of Study 2 demonstrate that consumers can experience stronger contagion effects when items are arranged in a high degree of closure, such as dinner rolls and a fresh/non-fresh fruit displayed in a complete circle. The findings of Study 3 show that consumers under low cognitive load conditions have the ability to process a product context
and to experience stronger contagion effects.
Further, color feature plays an important role in a consumer context. Study 4 to 6 seek to explore how the contagion effect between food products placed on different color backgrounds influences consumer evaluations. Study 4 indicates that consumers experience
stronger contagion effects when a source is placed on an advancing color compared with a receding color. In addition, colors also show their mobile and dynamic features. The results of Study 5 show that the transference of the quality of a product might be increased when a source is placed on a dark color and a target is placed on a light color. This causes consumers
to experience stronger contagion effects. However, Study 6 demonstrates that a bright color causes people to experience stronger positive contagion effects, whereas a dark color causes people to experience stronger negative contagion effects.
Finally, across two studies conducted for this dissertation, it is evident that different moderators do play a role in the influence of food product contagion effects. The two studies focus on how mood states (happy, neutral, and sad) or product-related information (positive, unmeaning, and negative) moderate contagion prime (positive and negative) and package type (unsealed and sealed). Existing studies indicate that unsealed packages can enhance the extent of the contagion effects more than sealed packages. The results of Study 7 show that happy people experience stronger positive contagion effects than sad or neutral ones and that they also demonstrate stronger effects on unsealed packages compared with sealed packages. Conversely, sad people significantly enhance the extent of negative contagion effects and experienced stronger effects on unsealed packages. Study 8, however, reveal that people receiving positive product-related information experience stronger
positive contagion effects on unsealed packages, whereas people receiving negative product-related information show stronger negative contagion effects on unsealed packages. | en_US |