The Role of Arousal in Congruity-Based Product Evaluation

19 Pages·2014·0.61 MB·English

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The Role of Arousal in Congruity-Based
Product Evaluation
THEODORE J. NOSEWORTHY
FABRIZIO DI MURO
KYLE B. MURRAY
New products are often incongruent with consumer expectations. Researchers
haveshownthatconsumersprefermoderatelyincongruentproducts,whilebeing
adversetoextremelyincongruentproducts.Evidencefromthreestudiessuggests
thatthisphenomenonishighlyinfluencedbyaconsumer’sstateofarousal.Spe-
cifically,lowarousaldecreasespreferenceformoderateincongruitywhileincreas-
ingpreferenceforextremeincongruity,whereashigharousaldecreasespreference
foranyformofincongruity.Underlyingtheseeffectsarediscreteemotionalstates
brought on by a physiological response to incongruity. Varying arousal subse-
quently varies the severity of the emotion, be it negative (anxiety) or positive
(curiosity), which in turn varies evaluations for the product. This suggests that
creatingexcitementaroundaproductlaunchmaybegoodforincrementalinno-
vation,butitmaynotbeagoodideaforsomethingtrulyinnovative.
I
magine approaching Apple’s newest concept for the Extantresearchsuggeststhatthelevelofincongruitybe-
iWatch (“an advanced wearablecomputerintheformof tween an object and its associated schema can influence a
a bracelet that could double as a watch”; Kosner 2013). person’s evaluations of the object (Cohen and Basu 1987;
Indeed, this watch would be incongruent with one’s nor- Fiske 1982; Meyers-Levy and Tybout 1989; Srull 1981;
mativeexpectationsforwhatawristwatchoughttobe.The Sujan 1985). It has been argued that this occurs because,
question is whether consumers would like it.Nowimagine allelsebeingequal,peoplelikethingsthatconformtotheir
approaching the new iWatch in a store crowded by people, expectations (Mandler 1982). However, congruent objects
with loud music playing and balloons flying everywhere. arenotparticularlyengaging,andthustheaffectiveresponse
Would that make a difference? At the heart of this thought tocongruityisoftenmildbutpositive;incongruentobjects,
experiment is the concept of arousal. on the other hand, stimulate arousal and thus motivate in-
dividualstoengageintheactofdiscovery(Mandler1982).
Thisprocessfollowsaninverted-Ufunction,suchthatmod-
TheodoreJ.NoseworthyisanassociateprofessorofmarketingandCa-
nadaResearchChairinEntrepreneurialInnovationandthePublicGoodin erateincongruitycanleadtomorepositiveaffectthancon-
theSchulichSchoolofBusinessatYorkUniversity,99IanMacdonaldBoul- gruity because people enjoy resolving incongruity without
evard,Toronto,ONM3J1P3,Canada([email protected]).Fa- prompting a fundamental shift in their schematic expecta-
brizioDiMuroisanassistantprofessorofmarketingintheDepartmentof tion,whereasextremeincongruitycanleadtonegativeaffect
BusinessandAdministration,UniversityofWinnipeg,515PortageAvenue, because it requires individuals to develop an entirely new
Winnipeg,MB,CanadaR3B2E9([email protected]).KyleB.Murray
schema or dramatically alter an existing schema (Meyers-
isaprofessorofmarketingandWinspearseniorfacultyfellowintheAlberta
Levy and Tybout 1989). This inverted-Ufunctionhasbeen
SchoolofBusinessattheUniversityofAlberta,116Street,Edmonton,AB,
adoptedinmarketingtoexplainpreferencefornewproducts,
CanadaT6G2R6([email protected]).Theauthorswouldliketothank
or extensions, that are only moderately incongruent with
theNOESIS:Innovation,Design,andConsumptionLaboratory.Thisresearch
was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of consumer expectations (regarding the schemacongruityef-
Canada(SSHRCinsightsgrantno.430202heldbythefirstauthor)andthe fect,seeJhang,Grant,andCampbell2012;MaozandTybout
Petro Canada Young Innovators Award (held by the third author). Please 2002; Meyers-Levy and Tybout 1989; Noseworthy, Cotte,
directcorrespondencetoTheodoreNoseworthy. andLee2011;PeracchioandTybout1996;Stayman,Alden,
and Smith 1992).
LauraPeracchioandDarrenDahlservedaseditorsandMegCampbell
servedasassociateeditorforthisarticle. It was originally speculated that the relationship between
schemaincongruityandaffectintensityistheresultofphys-
ElectronicallypublishedSeptember5,2014
iological arousal (Mandler 1982). Specifically, the ability to
000
(cid:2)2014byJOURNALOFCONSUMERRESEARCH,Inc.●Vol.41●December2014
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000 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH
resolve moderate incongruity leadstoanoptimalphysiolog- function of the severity of the schematic violation. There-
ical response that manifests in a positive emotional state, fore, moderate incongruity (i.e., when a new object can be
whereastheinabilitytoresolveextremeincongruityleadsto assimilated into an existing schema) should result in mild
a more intense physiological response that manifests in a physiologicalarousalandthusmanifestapositiveemotional
negative emotional state (Mandler 1982). This is consistent response.Conversely,extremeincongruity(i.e.,whenanew
with the finding that resolving incongruity canincreasetask object must be accommodated either by reconfiguring an
satisfaction(MaozandTybout2002)andthatresolutionme- existing schema or by developing an entirely newschema)
diatestheaffectiveresponsetoincongruity(Jhangetal.2012). should result in a more intense physiological arousal and
However,despiteevidencethatresolutioncanaugmenteval- thus manifest an equally intense emotionalresponse(Man-
uations, researchers have yet to examine Mandler’s under- dler1982).Mandlerwentontoarguethattheresultingaffect
lying rationale for why this occurs, that is, theroleofphys- in situations of extreme incongruity will often benegative,
iological arousal in framing emotional intensity. Consistent “given the absence of structural congruity that could lead
withMandler’s(1982)conceptualization,wedefineemotional to a positive evaluation” (23). Thus, although extreme in-
intensity as an individual’s affective experience of arousal congruity does not always result in negativeaffect,itoften
(e.g.,curiosityoranxiety;DiMuroandMurray2012;Russell, willininstanceswhenpeoplestruggletomakesenseofthe
Weiss,andMendelsohn1989)andarousalasthephysiolog- object.
ical response (e.g., change in heart rate or galvanic skin re- Asignificantamountofresearchinmarketinghasexplored
sponses;Pham1996;SanbonmatsuandKardes1988).Man- Mandler’s seminal hypothesis (Aggarwal and McGill 2007;
dler’s (1982) point about physiological arousal is important CampbellandGoodstein2001;Jhangetal.2012;Maozand
because it raises the distinct possibility that evaluations for Tybout2002;Meyers-Levy,Louie,andCurren1994;Meyers-
incongruitymaybehighlysusceptibletoanythingthatalters LevyandTybout1989;Noseworthyetal.2011;Noseworthy
a consumer’s physiological state. andTrudel2011;PeracchioandTybout1996;Staymanetal.
In exploring this prediction, we make several important 1992).Researchershaveconsistentlyreplicatedtheinverted-
theoreticaladvances.First,wefindthattheschemacongruity Urelationshipbetweentheseverityofincongruityandacon-
effect corresponds with a physiological response to incon- sumer’s affective judgments, while identifying numerous
gruitythatmanifestsasstatecuriositywhenconsumerscan boundary conditions such as perceived risk (Campbell and
successfullyresolvetheincongruityandstateanxietywhen Goodstein 2001), prior category affect/processing goals
resolution becomes too taxing. Second, we show that in-
(Goodstein 1993), taste (Stayman et al. 1992), dogmatism
cidental changes in a consumer’s state of arousal prior to
(Meyers-LevyandTybout1989),priorknowledge(Peracchio
seeing an incongruent product can alter the physiological
and Tybout 1996), involvement (Maoz and Tybout 2002),
responseandresultingemotionalintensity(beitpositiveor
and experiential processing (Noseworthy and Trudel 2011).
negative).Specifically,loweringstatearousaldiminishesthe
What has yet to be studied is Mandler’s foundational belief
physiological response to incongruity and thus decreases
that the inverted-U relationshipispredicatedonarousal.We
evaluationsformoderateincongruitywhileincreasingeval-
define arousal in this context in line with Mandler’s (1982)
uationsforextremeincongruity.Highlevelsofstatearousal,
original conceptualization of theautonomicnervoussystem,
however,haveanegativeeffectonevaluationsforalltypes
as a visceral physiological response that functions involun-
ofincongruity.Critically,alteringstatearousaldoesnotalter
tarily below the level of awareness.
consumers’ ability to resolve incongruity; it merely alters
We argue that implicit in Mandler’s hypothesis is the
consumers’ emotional intensity when successfully or un-
notion that varying a consumer’s state of arousal prior to
successfullydoingso.Takenasawhole,ourresultssuggest
viewing an incongruent product may alter evaluations for
that the schema congruity effect has much to do with the
incongruity without altering the resolution process. Infact,
arousingnatureofincongruityandthusthatevaluationsfor
Mandler’s central thesis was predicated on all else being
incongruentproductsarecontingentuponaconsumer’sstate
equal. He acknowledged that the value of familiarity is, in
of arousal.
a sense, devoid of meaning: “It arises entirely out of the
structureofthevaluedevent,notoutofitsrelationtoother
CONCEPTUAL BACKGROUND
knowledge” (Mandler 1982, 28). He further acknowledged
The schema congruity effect, which isalsoknownasthe that this is a primitive system and thus the emotional re-
Mandler hypothesis or the moderate incongruity effect, is sponsethatresultsfromresolvingincongruitycouldindeed
predicated on a dynamic relationship between arousal and vary with external forces. This is particularly important in
affective judgment (Mandler 1982; Meyers-Levy and Ty- themarketingcontextbecausephysiologicalarousalisoften
bout 1989). Mandler argued that schema incongruity acti- influenced by contextual factors that extend beyond the
vates the autonomic nervous system, which, in turn, deter- schematic structure of the object or event (Di Muro and
mines the intensity of emotion or affect. Whether the Murray 2012; Sanbonmatsu and Kardes 1988).
emotional outcome is positive or negative will depend, to Mandler was not the first to propose an inverted-U re-
a large extent, on one’s ability to resolve the incongruity. lationshipbetweenarousalandemotionalintensity.Berlyne
Hemaintainedthattheintensityofemotionisafunctionof (1960, 1974) theorized that preference for an object is de-
the degree of physiological arousal, which, in turn, is a terminedbytheextenttowhichtheobjectproducesaphys-
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NOSEWORTHY, DI MURO, AND MURRAY 000
iologicalresponse. UnlikeMandler,whoattributedpositive STUDY 1
value to the resolution process, Berlyne attributed positive
value to the properties of the object itself. In particular, Toreiterate,theobjectiveofstudy1wastotestthebasic
Berlyne posited that arousal functions as an additive effect prediction that a person’s state of arousalwillinteractwith
derived from an object’s collative properties (e.g., novelty, incongruent product evaluations. Specifically, we predict
complexity, incongruity), psychophysical properties (e.g., thatconsumerswillevaluateamoderatelyincongruentprod-
intensity, pitch, hue, brightness), and ecological properties uctlessfavorablywhentheyareinalowarousedstatethan
(e.g., meaning, associations). A critical component of Ber- ifatamoderate(control)levelofarousal.Conversely,con-
lyne’s (1960, 1966) theory was that the arousal resulting sumerswillevaluateanextremelyincongruentproductmore
from these properties can interact with a person’s state of favorably when they are in a low aroused state than if ata
arousal. moderatelevelofarousal.Critically,ifwearecorrectabout
CentraltoBerlyne’s(1960)thesiswastheideathatarousal the role of state arousal, low arousal should not hinder a
from an incongruent object manifests as state-derived curi- person’sabilitytoassociateschema-relevantinformationto
osity, which, in turn, motivates individuals to explore the the target. Thus, the results will not be due to differences
source of incongruity. Berlyne believed that curiosity was a in attention, but more so because arousal is altering the
consequenceofconceptualconflictthatresultsfromdoubtor physiological response to incongruity (something we elab-
theperplexingnatureofseeinganincongruentobject.How- orate on further in study 2).
ever, he also believed that if someone was in a low aroused
state to begin with (e.g., boredom), they may seek out this Method
conflictasameansofpeakingtheircuriosity(Berlyne1960,
1966). Thus, according to Berlyne, low arousal should not Participants and Design. Students at the University of
hinderone’smotivationtoattendtoincongruity.Buildingon Guelph(Np144;46%females;M p19.7)participated
age
thiswork,Mandler(1982)agreedthatincongruitycanevoke in this study in exchange for course credit, and they were
curiosity and interest, but he argued that this will only lead randomly assigned to one of six conditions in a 2 (arousal:
topositiveaffectwhentheincongruitycanberesolved;when low vs. moderate) # 3 (product congruity: congruent vs.
theincongruitycannotberesolved,the“unavailabilityofap- moderatelyincongruentvs.extremelyincongruity)between-
propriateperceptions,thoughts,andactions”willoftenman- subjectsfactorialdesign.Thetargetproductchosenforthis
ifestasstate-derivedanxiety(Mandler(1982,23).Ofcourse, study wassoftdrinks.Thesoftdrinkcategorywasselected
curiosity and anxiety are distinct emotions. Both are inher- not only because it was relevant to the sample but also for
entlyarousing;whatdistinguishesthemisthevalenceoftheir two additional reasons: first, soft drinks have featured ex-
affective state, and this valence is ultimately what gets at- tensively in the congruity literature (Campbell and Good-
tributed to the target. stein 2001; Meyers-Levy and Tybout 1989; Noseworthy et
Despitethewealthofliteratureexploringtheschemacon- al.2011;NoseworthyandTrudel2011;Staymanetal.1992);
gruity effect, and in particular how resolutioncanaugment and, second, Campbell and Goodstein (2001, 443) offered
productevaluations,priorworkhasyettoexploreMandler’s a precise description of their manipulation of moderate in-
(1982) rationale for why this happens. This is critical be- congruity(e.g.,“aplasticsingle-servingbottlewithadrink-
ingvalveonthelid”),whichNoseworthyandTrudel(2011)
cause if Mandler is correct about the role of physiological
operationalized visually. In this study we use the exact ad-
arousal and emotional intensity, it may be that incidental
vertisementsfromNoseworthyandTrudel’s(2011)webap-
changes in one’s state of arousal will weaken or even in-
pendices (see app. A).
tensify the emotional response to incongruity without al-
tering the resolution process. Specifically, we predict that,
Procedures and Dependent Measures. Prior to viewing
relative to a moderate (control) level of arousal, putting the soft drink ad, arousal was manipulated following pro-
consumersinalowstateofarousalwilldiminishevaluations ceduresthathaveprovensuccessfulinisolatingarousalfrom
for moderate incongruity but enhance evaluations for ex- valence (Bradley et al. 2001). Participants were told they
treme incongruity (study 1). We believe this will occur be- would be looking at several photographs to help them get
cause low arousal dampens the physiological response to energized (relaxed). Several pictures were drawn from the
incongruity and thus lowers both the positive affect that International Affective Picture System (IAPS; Lang, Brad-
resultsfromresolvingtheincongruityaswellasthenegative ley, and Cuthbert 1999) and were selected to be similar in
affect that results from the inability to resolve the incon- rated hedonic valence (pleasantness) but necessarily varied
gruity (study 2). Finally, wepredictthatputtingconsumers inratedarousal.Carewastakentoensurethatthemoderate
in a high state of arousal will diminish evaluationsforany arousal condition was no different than a pretestedcontrol.
form of incongruity because it compounds the emotional This was important given that prior work supporting the
intensity, leading to a more negative affective state (study schemacongruityeffectdidsowithoutmanipulatingarousal
3). Should the results manifest as expected, they will have up front. Therefore, the moderate condition operatedlikea
significant implications not only for how marketers tailor control while affording the benefit of holding the experi-
the release of new products but also for current theoretical mental procedures constant across conditions.
accounts. Each picture was presented for 6 seconds. The entireset
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000 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH
randomly cycled while individuals continuously updated beverage concept (e.g., real fruit juice; adopted from Mey-
their arousal level using a continuous response technique ers-Levy and Tybout 1989) to serve as false alarms.Given
(Eich and Metcalfe 1989). The techniquerequiredthatpar- that people can successfully resolve moderate incongruity,
ticipants indicate the progressive change in their arousal latencies may be higher but participants should be quite
level along an adjustable semantic differential scale, with accurate at mapping schema-relevant information. Con-
(cid:2)50 as very relaxed, (cid:3)50 as veryexcited,and0asneither versely, given that people tend not to resolve extreme in-
relaxed nor excited. Participants were told to stop moving congruity,latenciesanderrorratesshouldincreasesubstan-
thesliderbarwhentheyfeltnofurtherchangesintheirlevel tially. Critically, if our theorizing is correct, these effects
of excitement (relaxation). Once participants’ arousal level should not vary by arousal.
plateaued(i.e.,oncetheystoppedmovingthedialforlonger
than 5 seconds), the software automatically informedthem Results
thattheywereabouttoviewanewsoftdrink.Thesoftdrink
ManipulationCheck:ProductCongruity. Ananalysisof
category was explicitly communicated priortoviewingthe
target typicality (a p .69) as a function of arousal and
adinordertoactivatetheappropriateschema(Meyers-Levy
product congruity yielded only a main effect of product
andTybout1989).Thesoftwarethenimmediatelyswitched
congruity (F(2, 138) p 34.75, p ! .001). Pairwise com-
to theadvertisement.Participantsviewedtheadfor30sec-
parisonsconfirmedthatparticipantsperceivedthecongruent
onds.
softdrinktobemoretypical(Mp5.13)thanthemoderately
Once the ad had been reviewed, participants were asked
incongruent soft drink (M p 4.41; F(1, 138) p 9.60, p !
toreporttheiraffectivestatewhileviewingthepicturesusing
.005), which in turn was more typical than the extremely
the Affect Grid (Russell et al. 1989), a graphical scale that
incongruent softdrink (M p 3.19; F(1, 138) p26.56,p!
simultaneously assesses mood valence and arousal (an-
.001). No other effects were significant (p 1 .28).
chored: 1 p low; 9 p high). Participants then rated their
Next, the LAT results were analyzed. The general pre-
feelings while viewing the pictures (anchored: 1 p not at
diction was that individuals would be more prone to errors
all;7pverystrongly).Theitemswere:“Ihadunpleasant
and would take longer to associate prototypical features as
feelings while viewing the pictures”; “The pictures made
theseverityoftheincongruityincreased.Errorsaredefined
me feel happy”; “I was disgusted by the pictures”; “The
asjudgmentsthatareatoddswiththeevokedschema(e.g.,
picturesmademefeelgood”;“Iwasfearfullookingatthe
selecting noncarbonated when explicitly told the targetisa
pictures”; “Thepicturesmademefeelbad”;“Thepictures
softdrink).Tocircumventtheproblemofrawlatencieshav-
mademefeelangry”;“Thepicturesmademefeeljoyful”;
ing a skewed distribution, response times were log-trans-
“Ihadpleasantfeelingswhilelookingatthepictures”;and
formed. For the sake of interpretation, all means are listed
“The pictures made me feel sad” (adapted from Pham et
in milliseconds. The analysis of participants’ response la-
al. 2001). Participants then completed a randomized 10-
tencies revealed only a main effect of product congruity
item questionnaire (anchored: 1 p not at all; 7 p ex-
(F(2, 138) p 8.88, p ! .001). Pairwise comparisons con-
tremely). Seven items captured participants’ overall atti-
firmed that participants took marginally longer toassociate
tude toward the product (left a favorable impression, is
prototypicalattributeswiththemoderatelyincongruentsoft
likeable, is appealing, is desirable, is of good quality, in-
drink (M p 3,071) than the congruent soft drink (M p
terested in trial, is a high-performance product), and the
2,516; F(1, 138) p 2.86, p p .091) and that they took
remainingthreecapturedparticipants’perceivedtypicality
longertoassociateprototypicalattributeswiththeextremely
(iscommon,islikely,matchesexpectations;Campbelland incongruent soft drink (M p 3,891) than the moderately
Goodstein 2001). incongruent softdrink (M p 3,071; F(1, 138) p6.22,p!
Finally, to confirm the extent to which participants were
.05). As expected, these effects did not vary by arousal (p
able to associate schema-relevant information, a Latency 1 .27).
Association Task (LAT) was administered. The LAT is a A similar pattern was observed in participants’ accuracy
measureofrelativestrengthofassociationbetweenconcepts rates. Using a nonparametric Signal Detection Analysis
orobjectsinmemory.Forexample,participantswereasked (Snodgrass and Corwin 1988), the attributes that were cor-
topress“A”withtheirlefthandasquicklyaspossiblewhen rectly associated with the congruity target (hits) and those
an advertisement, appearing in the middle of the screen, that were wrongly associated (false alarms) were used to
matched the word carbonated, which appeared in the top calculateanindex(A(cid:2);seeapp.C).Priortothiscalculation,
left (right) of the screen, or press “L” with theirrighthand hit and false alarm rates were corrected using a log-linear
ifthetargetobjectmatchedthewordnoncarbonated,which transformationtoaccountforundefinedz-scoresof0and1
appeared in the top right (left) of the screen. The ads were (Snodgrass andCorwin1988).TheA(cid:2)indexvariedfrom.5
madeupofprototypicalexemplarsofthesoftdrinkcategory to 1, with .5 indicating very poor schematic mapping and
(e.g.,Coke,Sprite,etc.)aswellasnonprototypicalmembers 1indicatingperfectschematicmapping.Consistentwiththe
of the superordinate beverage category (e.g., Aquafina, latency and typicality results, there was a main effect of
Sunkist,etc.).Thesoftdrinkfromthemainstudyrandomly productcongruity(F(2,138)p8.56,p!.001).Participants
cycled through the set. The features were made up of pro- werejustasaccuratewhenassociatingthesoftdrinkattrib-
totypical claims (hits) and claims fitting the superordinate utes to the congruent soft drink as to the moderately in-
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NOSEWORTHY, DI MURO, AND MURRAY 000
congruent soft drink (M p .828 vs. M p .786; p Discussion
Cong Mod.Inc
p.18).Thisisconsistentwiththeideathatconsumerscan
successfully assimilate moderate incongruity. However, as The results of study 1 confirm that evaluations for in-
predicted, participants were more prone to error when as- congruity are highly influenced by a person’s state of
sociating soft drink attributes to the extremely incongruent arousal. Specifically, low arousal decreased preference for
softdrinkrelativetothecongruentsoftdrink(M p.828; moderate incongruity and mitigated the strong aversion to
Cong
F(1,138)p16.49,p!.001)orthemoderatelyincongruent extreme incongruity, and it did so without altering partici-
soft drink (M p .702; F(1, 138) p 7.39, p ! .01). pants’abilitytoassociateschema-relevantinformation.The
Ext.Inc
These results suggest that regardless of state arousal, par- questiongoingforwardiswhetherlowarousalisinhibiting
ticipants struggled to link the product with the activated a physiological response to incongruity, and if so, whether
schemaastheseverityoftheschematicviolationincreased. it is altering a person’s emotional state. This question is
important because, as mentioned, researchers have yet to
ManipulationCheck:ArousalandAffect. Consistentwith explore Mandler’s (1982) notion of physiological arousal
prioruseoftheIAPStoisolatearousal(Bradleyetal.2001), and emotional intensity. Thus, given that Mandler argued
participants reported being more excited in the moderate for an autonomic physiological response that occurs below
arousalcondition(Mp16.60)andmorerelaxedinthelow the level of awareness, there is a need to employ a direct
arousal condition (M p (cid:2)14.18; F(1, 138) p 67.89, p ! measure of physiological arousal. Finally, Jhang and col-
.001). No other effects approached significance (p 1 .15). leagues (2012) showed that perceptions of typicality are
To confirm the distinction between arousal and affect, an distinct from measures of schematic resolution. Although
analysis of the affect grid illustrated that the moderate- we theorized that state arousal would have little influence
arousal pictures induced higher levels of reported arousal on a person’s ability to resolve incongruity, there isaneed
(M p 6.36) than did the low-arousal pictures (M p 4.90; to directly explore the resolution process. Study 2 was de-
F(1, 138)p 25.86, p ! .001).However,thetwocategories signed with these objectives in mind.
ofpicturesinducedsimilarfeelingsofpleasantness(M p
Low
6.79 vs. M p 6.60; p p .37). This was reflected in STUDY 2
Moderate
participants’affectivereactionstowardtheexperience(ap
.77); participantsweregenerallypositivewhenviewingthe The core objectives of study 2 were (1) to replicate the
pictures (M 1 5 out of 7), and this did not varybyarousal, key results from study 1, (2) to explore Mandler’s (1982)
congruity, or their interaction (p 1 .10). Therefore, as in- notion that there is a physiological response to incongruity
tended,thetwopicturecategoriesinduceddifferentfeelings thatcorrespondswithchangesinaperson’semotionalstate,
of arousal but no difference in the valence of the affective and(3)totestcriticallywhethervaryingaperson’sstateof
state. arousalaltersevaluationsforincongruitybymoderatingthe
emotional response to incongruity without influencing the
TargetEvaluations. Ananalysisoftargetevaluations(a resolution process. Specifically, we predict that mild phys-
p .94) as a function of arousal and product congruity iologicalarousalandstate-derivedcuriositywillcorrespond
yieldedasignificantinteraction(F(2,138)p5.25,p!.01). withpositiveevaluationsformoderateincongruity,whereas
Simple effects revealed that product evaluations varied by relatively more intense physiological arousal and state-de-
the level of incongruity in the moderate arousal condition rived anxiety willcorrespondwiththenegativeevaluations
(F(2, 138) p 11.98, p ! .001), but not in the low arousal forextremeincongruity. Wepredictthatbyloweringaper-
condition (M p 4.03 vs. M p 3.88 vs. M p son’sstateofarousal,wewillinhibitboththephysiological
Cong Mod.Inc Ext.Inc
3.76,p1.37).ConsistentwithMandler’s(1982)inverted-U responseandtheresultingemotionalintensity,thereforede-
prediction, participants in the moderate arousal condition creasing evaluations for moderate incongruity and increas-
evaluated the moderately incongruent soft drink more fa- ing evaluations for extreme incongruity.
vorably (M p 4.54) than both the congruent soft drink (M
p 3.81; F(1, 138) p 5.75, p ! .05) and the extremely Method
incongruent softdrink (M p 3.05; F(1, 138) p23.95,p!
.001), and they evaluated the extremely incongruent soft ParticipantsandDesign. Participants(Np144;52.1%
drink less favorably (M p 3.05) than the congruent soft females; M p 29.8) were recruited through web adsand
age
drink (M p 3.81; F(1, 138) p 6.23, p ! .05). In support public posters and were paid $15 for participating in the
of our core predictions, planned contrasts confirmed that study.Eachindividualwasrandomlyassignedtooneoffour
participants evaluated the moderately incongruent product conditions in a 2 (incongruity: moderate vs. extreme) # 2
more favorably when their arousal level was moderate (M (arousedstate:lowarousalvs.control)#3(stimulusonset:
p 4.54) rather than low (M p 3.88; F(1, 138) p 4.76, p incongruent vs. congruent #1 vs. congruent #2) mixed fac-
! .05), whereas they evaluated the extremely incongruent torial design. Incongruity and aroused state served as the
product more favorably when their arousal was low (M p between-subjects factors, whereas stimulus onset servedas
3.76) rather than moderate (M p 3.05; F(1, 138) p 5.47, the within-subjects factor.
p ! .05). No other contrasts approached significance (p 1 To test the robustness of the incongruity manipulation,
.30). twoconceptualreplicationswerenestedwithinthestimulus
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000 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH
onset condition. Thus, in total there were three manipula- calibratetheGSRequipmentpriortocommencingthestudy.
tions of moderate incongruity and three manipulations of In fact, the calibration task served to manipulate arousal.
extreme incongruity (one for each attribute). As illustrated Participants in the control condition were instructed to put
in figure 1, this design allowed for the congruity manipu- on a pair of noise cancellation headphones and wait while
lations to be compared within as well as between subjects. the lab technician calibrated the equipment. In the low
For example, some participants evaluated Black Tea (con- arousal condition, Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor played
gruent), Carbonated Milk (extremely incongruent),andVi- throughtheheadphones,andparticipantswereinstructedto
tamin-fortified Orange Juice (congruent), whereas others relax while the lab technician calibrated the equipment. A
evaluated Black Tea (congruent), Carbonated Water (con- pretest (n p 44) using the affect grid confirmed that the
gruent), and Vitamin-fortified Vodka (extremely incongru- lowarousal manipulationinducedsimilarfeelingsofpleas-
ent). Designing the study in this manner allowed for the antness (M p 3.33 vs. M p 3.06; p p .27) but
Low Control
physiological measures taken after each incongruent onset different feelings of arousal (M p 2.21 vs. M p
Low Control
tobecomparedtotwocongruentonsets,whichinturnwere 3.11;t(42)p(cid:2)2.90,p!.01).Thegoalwastorefrainfrom
compared to a 30-second baseline leading into the study. highpositiveaffect,giventhenotableinfluenceofcognitive
flexibility on preference for extreme incongruity (Jhang et
Stimuli. The stimuli for this study were adopted from
al. 2012). The calibration task ran for exactly 3 minutes.
Jhang and colleagues(2012).Thestimuliwereselectednot
The track looped for the duration in the low arousal con-
only because they were previously validated but also be-
dition.
causetheywereattribute-specificandnotcategory-specific:
Upon completing the calibration task, a 30-second base-
the color black, the feature carbonated, and the claim vi-
linemeasureofphysiologicalarousalwastaken.Participants
tamin-fortified(seefig.1).Keepingthemanipulationattrib-
then immediately proceeded to the main task,whichbegan
ute specific afforded the ability to test a physiological re-
byinformingparticipantsthattheywouldbeevaluatingsev-
sponse to incongruity within subjects without sensitizing
eraldifferentproducts.Threeproducts(i.e.,thewithin-sub-
participantstoanyoneparticularproductschema.Theonly
jects stimulus onset condition) then appeared in random
deviation from Jhang and colleagues (2012) was that we
order. Each product appeared for 30 seconds. Participants
included images to go along with the written descriptions
filled out a brief electronic questionnaire following each
(see app. B). The written descriptions remained unaltered.
appearance. The skin conductance responses (SCRs) were
This was done following a pretest (n p 25) that indicated
sampled for the duration of the task. The key comparison
that participants were consistently tuning out back-to-back
was the 1 second to 5 second window after each stimulus
written descriptions but that they remained engaged when
onset relative to the 30-second baseline leading into the
they could both read about and see the product.
study (see app. D for details of the GSR procedure).
ProceduresandDependentMeasures. Participantswere
brought into a behavioral lab where a lab technician ad- Psychometric Measures. Thequestionnaireconsistedof
ministered a prescreening questionnaire under the guise of the product evaluation and perceived typicality measures
screeningforphysicalandpsychologicalhealth.Infact,the discussed in study 1. Then to explore whether incongruity
prescreening captured several trait variables, which served alters one’s emotional state, and whether statearousalsub-
as a baseline to assess state emotional changes (see psy- sequently intensifies or attenuates these emotions, partici-
chometric measures). After completing the prescreening, pants responded to the state component of the State-Trait
participantswereinformedthatwewouldbemeasuringtheir Personality Inventory (STPI; Spielberger and Reheiser
physiologicalresponsetodifferentproductsusingagalvanic 2009).Asmentioned,thetraitcomponentwasadministered
skin response (GSR) system. during prescreening. The STPIwasincludedspecificallyto
Thestudybeganwithaguisethatthelabtechnicianmust capture participants’ state curiosity and state anxiety. The
FIGURE1
EXAMPLEOFSTIMULUSONSETCONDITIONFORSTUDY2(BLOCKEDANDRANDOMIZEDWITHINSUBJECTS)
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NOSEWORTHY, DI MURO, AND MURRAY 000
10-item trait curiosity subscaleassessedgeneraltendencies Incongruity Resolution. A rANOVA with product con-
tolearnnewthingsandexperiencefeelingsofinterest(e.g., gruity and arousal as the between-subjects factors and the
“I am curious”; “I am stimulated”; anchored: 1 p almost two-itemresolutionmeasuretakenaftereachstimulusonset
never; 4 p almost always), whereas the 10-item state cu- as the repeated measure (r range p .76 to .87) yielded a
riosity scale asked participants to “indicate how you feel significant incongruity # stimulus onset interaction (F(2,
right now; that is, at this moment when thinking of the 280) p 113.32, p ! .001). Simple effects confirmed that
product” (e.g., “curious,” “inquisitive”; anchored: 1 p not participantsfounditeasiertomakesenseofthemoderately
at all; 4 p very much so). Similarly, the 10–item trait incongruentproducts(Mp4.95)thantomakesenseofthe
anxietyscalemeasuredparticipants’generaltendencytofeel extremely incongruent products (M p 2.31; F(1, 140) p
anxious (e.g., “I am nervous and restless,” “I am a steady 251.07, p ! .001). However, in support of the notion that
person”;anchored:1palmostnever;4palmostalways), consumers can successfully resolve moderate incongruity,
whereas the 10-item state anxiety scale measured partici- participantsfounditjustaseasytomakesenseofthemod-
pants’currentstateofanxiety(e.g.,“tense,”“nervous”;an- erately incongruent products as the congruent products (p
chored: 1 p not at all; 4 p very much so). 1 .26). Once again, the three-way interaction was not sig-
Finally, participants were asked to indicate their ability nificant (p p .66). Thus, the ease or difficulty with which
toresolvetheincongruityontwo7-pointitemsthatcaptured participants made sense of incongruity did not vary by
the extent to which the new product made sense to them arousal.
(makesnosense/makessense)andwhethertheyunderstood Tofurtherexaminetheresolutionprocess,wefocusedon
the rationale of the product (disagree/agree; Jhang et al. theopen-endedquestiontoseewhetherparticipantsexplic-
2012). After seeing all three stimuli and filling out each itlymadesenseofthestimuli.Followingasimilarprocedure
separatequestionnaire,participantswerethenaskedtotype as used by Jhang and colleagues (2012), two independent
theiropen-endedopinionaboutwhethertheincongruityma- coders blind to the hypotheses coded the open-ended re-
nipulationdoesordoesnotmakesense(e.g.,“Whatdidyou sponses into three categories. All responses showing suc-
think about the Vitamin-Fortified Coffee?”; adapted from cessful resolution were coded as 1 (e.g., “I could see the
Jhangetal.2012).Boththethought-listingexerciseandthe [vitamin-fortified] coffee appealing to people who are
measureofresolutionservedasconfirmationofwhetherthe pressed for time in the morning and need to supplement
changes in state arousal altered the resolution process.The theirbreakfastwhilestillgettingtheirfix”),responsesshow-
questionnaire concluded with basic demographic informa- ingunsuccessfulresolutionwerecodedas–1(e.g.,“I’mnot
tion. sure if this [adding vitamins to coffee] would tastegood”),
and any responses that did not pertain to the resolution
process were coded as 0 (e.g., “I don’t like coffee!”). The
Results two coders had 78% agreement; all outstanding disagree-
mentswereresolvedthroughdiscussion.Theresultsyielded
Manipulation Check: Perceived Typicality. Two sepa- only a main effect of congruity. Specifically, participants
rate one-way ANOVAs crossing the three moderately in- were more likely to indicate resolving the moderately in-
congruent replications and the three extremely incongruent congruent products (M p .18) than the extremely incon-
replicationsrevealednosignificantdifferencesinperceived gruentproducts(Mp(cid:2).31;F(1,140)p16.11,p!.001).
typicality by arousal (p 1 .10). There was, however, con- The interaction between arousal and incongruity was not
siderable variance around the vitamin-fortified attribute. significant(pp.91).Furthermore,therewasnosignificant
Nevertheless,theoperationalizationwaskeptconsistentwith difference in the number of thoughts provided across the
Jhang and colleagues (2012), and given there was no sta- arousal conditions (p 1 .37). Taken as whole, the results
tistical difference by arousal across the replications, they suggestthatarousaldidnotinfluencetheresolutionprocess.
were collapsed.
Arepeatedmeasuresanalysisofvariance(rANOVA)with TargetEvaluations. ArANOVAwithproductcongruity
arousal and product congruity as the between-subjects fac- and arousal as the between-subjects factors and the three
torsandthethreetypicalitymeasurestakenaftereachstim- evaluation measures taken after each stimulus onset as the
ulus onset as the repeated measure (a range p .68 to .71) repeatedmeasure(arangep.90to.93)yieldedasignificant
yielded a significant incongruity # stimulus onset inter- three-way interaction (F(1.95, 280) p 4.01, p ! .05; df
action (F(2, 280) p 12.45, p ! .001). Simple effects con- modifiedwiththeHuynh-Feldtadjustmentforlackofsphe-
firmedthatparticipantsperceivedtheextremelyincongruent ricity). The nature of the interaction was such that the re-
products tobelesstypical(Mp2.45)thanthemoderately lationship between product congruity and stimulus onset
incongruent products (M p 3.46; F(1, 140) p 41.09, p ! variedbyarousal.Specifically,asillustratedintable1,mul-
.001);however,bothwereseenaslesstypicalthanthecon- tivariate simple effects confirmed that control participants
gruent products (M p 5.47, M p 5.28; p ! .001). evaluatedtheextremelyincongruentproductslessfavorably
Cong1 Cong2
Critically, the three-way interaction was not significant (p (M p 3.68) than the congruent products (M p 4.96, p
Cong1
p .98). Therefore, the stimuli altered perceived typicality ! .005; M p 4.63, p ! .05) while evaluating the mod-
Cong2
as intended, and this did not vary by the arousal manipu- erately incongruent products more favorably (M p 5.36)
lation. thanthecongruentproducts(M p4.39,p!.01;M
Cong1 Cong2
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000 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH
TABLE1
MEANSANDSTANDARDDEVIATIONSFORSTUDY2
Lowarousal Moderate(control)arousal
Congruent Congruent Congruent Congruent
Incongruent onset onset Incongruent onset onset
Incongruitycondition Baseline onset #1 #2 Baseline onset #1 #2
Moderateincongruity:
Typicality 3.57 5.57 5.31 3.33 5.60 5.15
(.82) (.77) (.93) (.98) (.85) (1.03)
Resolution 5.10 5.13 5.07 4.82 5.17 5.10
(1.13) (.86) (1.04) (1.22) (.85) (.95)
Evaluations 4.65 4.25 4.52 5.36 4.39 4.64
(1.01)a (1.09) (1.12) (1.29)a (1.16) (1.18)
Arousal(SCRs) 2.02 2.01 1.98 1.97 2.21 2.55 2.25 2.24
(1.05) (.52) (1.01) (.80) (1.04) (1.01)c (.91) (1.12)
Curiosity* 2.96 2.99 3.03 3.32 3.03 3.08
(.68)d (.62) (.64) (.60)d,e (.59) (.43)
Anxiety* 2.04 2.00 1.99 2.11 2.09 2.08
(.47) (.45) (.40) (.46)f (.44) (.41)
Open-ended Unsuccessful Neither Successful Unsuccessful Neither Successful
response resolution resolution resolution resolution
Codingforresolution (Codedp(cid:2)1) (Codedp1) (Codedp(cid:2)1) (Codedp0) (Codedp1)
Percent 22.2 36.1 41.7 19.4 44.4 36.2
Mp.19 Mp.16
(.79) (.74)
Extremeincongruity:
Typicality 2.52 5.29 5.33 2.38 5.44 5.31
(.88) (.89) (.87) (1.05) (.94) (.94)
Resolution 2.31 5.07 5.18 2.30 5.14 5.13
(.83) (1.16) (1.15) (.75) (.86) (1.08)
Evaluations 4.36 4.47 4.52 3.68 4.96 4.63
(1.42)b (1.07) (1.34) (1.89)b (1.15) (1.41)
Arousal(SCRs) 1.95 1.98 1.97 1.99 2.34 3.23 2.54 2.38
(.56) (.44) (.71) (.70) (.94) (.92)c (.97) (.92)
Curiosity* 3.09 2.92 2.97 2.99 3.03 3.02
(.76) (.67) (.64) (.50)e (.52) (.54)
Anxiety* 2.09 2.03 1.98 2.37 2.09 2.08
(.36)g (.37) (.36) (.47)f,g (.43) (.43)
Open-ended Unsuccessful Neither Successful Unsuccessful Neither Successful
response resolution resolution resolution resolution
Codingforresolution (Codedp(cid:2)1) (Codedp0) (Codedp1) (Codedp(cid:2)1) (Codedp0) (Codedp1)
Percent 38.9 52.8 8.3 47.2 36.1 16.7
Mp(cid:2).32(.63) Mp(cid:2).30(.75)
NOTE.—Standarddeviations are reportedinparentheses.Theincongruityconditionrepresentsthetypeofincongruityintroduced.Thesu-
perscriptsrepresentthekeysignificantpairwisecomparisons.
*Meanswithadjustedcovariatefortraitcuriosity(Mp2.98)andtraitanxiety(Mp2.05).
p4.64,p!.05).Thispatternisconsistentwiththeschema line)verifiedthelowarousalmanipulationwithasignificant
congruity effect. Once again, this pattern did not manifest between-subjects effect ofarousal(F(1,140)p14.17,p!
inthelowarousalcondition(p1.12).Aspredicted,planned .005).Specifically,participantswerelessarousedinthelow
contrasts confirmed that low arousal dropped participants’ arousal condition (relative to the control) acrosseachstim-
evaluations for the moderately incongruent products (M ulus onset (p ! .05), including the baseline (M p 1.98
wphi4le.6i5ncvres.asMinCgonptroalrtpicip5a.n3t6s;’Fev(1al,u1a4ti0o)nspfor4t.h3e5,exptr!em.0eL5loyw) vs. MControl p 2.27; F(1, 140) p 3.53, p ! .05).LoTwhis main
effect was qualified by a significant three-way interaction
incongruentproducts(M p4.36vs.M p3.68;F(1,
Low Control (F(2.83,385)p3.09,p!.05).Thenatureoftheinteraction
140) p 3.97, p ! .05). In the analyses that follow, we dig
was such that physiological arousal varied by incongruity
deeper into the physiological and resulting emotional re-
in the control condition (F(2.72, 190)p 7.40, p ! .01)but
sponse underlying this pattern of results.
not in the low arousal condition (p p .94).Specifically,in
Physiological Arousal. A rANOVA with product con- the control condition, the incongruent onset significantly
gruity and arousal as thebetween-subjectsfactors,andpar- enhanced physiological arousal (M p 2.90) relative to the
ticipants’SCRsastherepeatedmeasure(includingthebase- baseline(Mp2.27;F(1,70)p81.03,p!.001)andrelative
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NOSEWORTHY, DI MURO, AND MURRAY 000
tobothcongruentonsets(M p2.40;F(1,70)p44.55, waslow(95%CI:(cid:2).106,.063).ThissuggeststhatMandler
Cong1
p!.001;M p2.31;F(1,70)p53.69,p!.001).This (1982)wascorrectbothabouttheroleofcuriosityformod-
Cong2
pattern was fully suppressed in the low arousal condition erate incongruity and the role of anxiety for extreme in-
(p 1 .74). Planned contrasts within the control condition congruity.Critically,aspredicted,lowarousalextinguished
revealedthatparticipantsweregenerallymorearousedwhen the emotional intensity of both of these effects and subse-
viewing the extremely incongruent products (M p 3.23) quently dampened their influence on evaluations.
thanwhenviewingthemoderatelyincongruentproducts(M
p 2.55; F(1, 140) p 14.96, p ! .001). This lends support Discussion
forMandler’s(1982)notionthatthephysiologicalresponse
to extreme incongruity is more severe than for moderate The findings from study 2 are the first to test Mandler’s
incongruity. The next step was to isolate the specific emo- (1982)predictionthattheabilitytoresolveincongruitycor-
tions that correspond to these different levels of arousal. responds with a mild physiological response thatmanifests
in state-derived curiosity, whereas the inability to resolve
Emotional State. Controlling for trait curiosity, a r- incongruity corresponds with a more intense physiological
ANCOVA with arousal and product congruity as the be- response that manifests in state-derived anxiety. As pre-
tween-subjects factors and state curiosity as the repeated dicted, reducing participants’ arousal level suppressed the
measure (a range p .89 to .92) yieldedasignificantthree- physiological response as well as the resulting emotional
way interaction (F(1.89, 278) p 3.36, p ! .05). The trait states,whichsubsequentlyloweredevaluationsformoderate
covariate was also significant (F(1, 139) p 8.24, p ! .01). incongruity and raised evaluationsforextremeincongruity.
Planned contrasts revealed that participants in the control Thefindingthatlowarousal(relativetothecontrol)altered
condition were more curious about the moderately incon- evaluations is notable because it did not influence the res-
gruent product (M p 3.32) than either the extremely in- olution process. Instead, it seemed that evaluations were
congruent product (M p 2.99; F(1, 139) p 4.43, p ! .05) being altered in line with the valence of the emotion that
or the two congruent products (p ! .05). Similarly, partic- was being inhibited.
ipantsweremorecuriousaboutthemoderatelyincongruent Despite the absolute means for anxiety being relatively
productinthecontrolcondition(Mp3.32)thaninthelow low (significance driven by low SDs from participants re-
arousal condition (M p 2.96; F(1, 139) p 5.94, p ! .05). sponding at the bottom of the scale), the observation that
No other effects were significant (p 1 .25). anxietycorrespondswithanaversiontoextremeincongruity
A second rANCOVA, controlling for trait anxiety with raisesanotherinterestingquestion:Whatabouthigharousal?
state anxiety as the repeated measure (a range p .95 to If this is truly about physiological arousal interacting with
.96), yielded a marginally significant three-way interaction discrete emotional states, then heightened arousal should
(F(1.96,272)p2.93,pp.056).Thetraitanxietycovariate compound the anxiety for extreme incongruity, but would
was significant (F(1, 139) p 6.44, p ! .05). Planned con- it create anxiety for moderate incongruity? Study 3 was
trastsrevealedthatparticipantsinthecontrolconditiondis- designed to answer these questions.
played a greater state of anxiety after being exposed tothe
extremelyincongruentproduct(Mp2.37)thanafterbeing
STUDY 3
exposedtoeitherthemoderatelyincongruentproduct(Mp
2.11; F(1, 139) p 6.78, p ! .05) or the two congruent The objective of study 3 was to use a physiological ma-
products (p ! .05). Similarly, participants were more anx- nipulation to explore the influence of high arousaloneval-
iousabouttheextremelyincongruentproductinthecontrol uations of incongruity. Extant research has linked high
condition(Mp2.37)thaninthelowarousalcondition(M arousaltostressortension(HasherandZacks1979;Thayer
p 2.09; F(1, 139) p 8.02, p ! .01). No other effects ap- 1978, 1986). When arousal becomes too severe, it often
proached significance (p 1 .31). manifestsasanxiety(ThayerandCarey1974;Malmo1957).
Todeterminewhetherdiscreteemotionalstatesaccounted Given that Mandler(1982) regardedschemaincongruityas
for the variations in participants’ evaluations of the incon- aformoftensionbroughtonfromaphysiologicalresponse,
gruent stimuli, the data from the incongruent onset were thereisthequestionwhethercompoundingthistensionwith
isolatedandamediated-moderationanalysiswasconducted high incidental arousal will result in anxiety and thus neg-
(Hayes2012;Model8;bootstrappedwith5,000draws).As ativeevaluationsforanyformofincongruity.Critically,this
predicted, therewasaconditionalindirecteffectofproduct may occur even when consumers can still successfully re-
incongruity (coded: (cid:2)1 p moderate incongruity, 1 p ex- solve the incongruity.
tremely incongruent) through both state curiosity and state Mandler (1975) argued that attention is more selective
anxietyonparticipants’evaluationsoftheincongruentprod- whenpeopleareinahighlyarousedstatebecausethefeed-
ucts. Specifically, state curiosity mediated evaluations for back from the heightened autonomic nervous system be-
moderateincongruitywhenstatearousalwasmoderate(95% comes salient and thus competes with other cues for the
CI:(cid:2).153,(cid:2).006),butnotwhenstatearousalwaslow(95% limitedattentionalcapacity.Thisneednotsuggestthathigh
CI: (cid:2).029, .123). Conversely, state anxiety mediated eval- arousal will inhibit resolution. In fact, using a dual-task
uationsforextremeincongruitywhenstatearousalwasmod- paradigm, researchers have found that under high arousal
erate (95% CI: (cid:2).247, (cid:2).010), but not when state arousal conditions, performance on secondary tasks tends to dete-
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000 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH
riorate, whereas performance on primary tasks remainsthe ProceduresandDependentMeasures. Participantswere
same and in some instances can actually improve (Bacon prescreenedforhealthissuespriortotakingpartinthestudy.
1974; Easterbrook 1959). It is in this respect that high Due to random assignment, all participants were informed
arousal can actually focus attention (Pham 1996; Sanbon- ofthepossibilityofengaginginstrenuousphysicalexercise.
matsu and Kardes 1988). Therefore, given the correlation Individuals were explicitly told that participation was vol-
between arousal and anxiety, and given the finding from untary and that they should stop if they felt the task might
study2thatstatearousalinteractswithstimulusarousal,we be harmful.
predict that incongruity will lead to negative evaluations Upon entering the behavioral lab, participants’ resting
when state arousal compounds stimulus arousal. Specifi- heart rate was captured using a pulse plethysmograph (see
cally,wepredictthatlowstatearousalwilllowerevaluations app. D). The task began with a lab technician calculating
for moderate incongruity and raise evaluations for extreme participants’ maximum heart rate. Extant research suggests
incongruity.However,weexpectthathighstatearousalwill thatmaximumheartratecanbepredictedbyagealoneand
lowerevaluationsforallformsofincongruity,regardlessof is independent of gender and physical activity status (Ta-
the resolution process. naka,Monahan,andSeals2001).Thiswasimportantgiven
that peak performance on an exercise task canvarywidely
Method depending on a person’s age. Given the age range in the
current study, maximal heart rate was computed using the
ParticipantsandDesign. Participants(Np290;43.8%
formula 220 – age (Tanaka et al. 2001).
females; M p 25.2) were recruited through web adsand
age Following the preliminary calculation, participants were
public posters and were paid $10 for participating in the
randomly assigned to one of the three physiological con-
study. Each individual was randomly assigned to one of
ditions.Inthelowarousalcondition,participantssatwithout
nine conditions in a 3 (physiological arousal:lowvs.mod-
cyclingonanergometerfor10minuteswhileactivelytrying
erate vs. high) # 3 (extension congruity: congruent vs.
to calm their resting heart rate. In the moderate arousal
moderately incongruent vs. extremely incongruent) be-
condition, participants cycled on the ergometer for 10
tween-subjectsfactorialdesign.Themanipulationofincon-
minutes while actively trying to maintaintheirheartrateat
gruity was adopted from Meyers-Levy and colleagues
50%oftheirmaximumheartrate.Thiswasdonefollowing
(1994), who matched company brand names to different
evidencethatexercisearound60%ofone’smaximumheart
product extensions to elicit different levels of incongruity.
ratebecomeshighlyarousing(Schmidt,Mussel,andHewig
Consistent with the schema congruity hypothesis, the au-
2013). Finally, in the high arousal condition, participants
thorsfoundthatconsumersfavoredmoderatelyincongruent
cycledontheergometerfor10minuteswhileactivelytrying
extensions while showing an aversion to extremely incon-
to maintain their heart rate at 70% of their maximumheart
gruent extensions.
rate (the aerobic zone). In linewith priorwork,meanheart
InstepwithMeyers-Levyandcolleagues(1994),apretest
rate was assessed again in the last 5 minutes of each con-
(np40)wasconductedbycreatingadsformagazinesthat
dition (Schmidt et al. 2013). A pretest (n p 43), using the
linked the Coppertone brand—a company brand name as-
affect grid and participants’ heart rateintermsofbeatsper
sociatedwithsunscreeningproducts—tospecifictopicsthat
minute (bpm), confirmed that the three arousal manipula-
represent ostensibly different levels of congruity (app. C).
tions varied both participants’ self-report psychological
The ad descriptions were constructed to be identical in
arousal(M p3.33vs.M p5.36vs.M p6.37;
length(180words)andtobeassimilaraspossibleincontent Low Moderate High
p ! .01) and actual physiological arousal (M p 48.41
and structure. Participants were asked to rate how likely Low
bpm[similartomeditation]vs.M p86.75bpm[sim-
each magazine would beofferedbyCoppertone(anchored: Moderate
1pextremelyunlikely,9pextremelylikely).Theresults ilar to brisk walking] vs. MHigh p 133.75 bpm [similar to
confirmed that Coppertone releasingamagazineonhowto jogging];p!.001),butthatitledtonosignificantdifference
apply skin lotion was seen as more congruent (M p 7.80) inmoodvalence(MLowp5.93vs.MModeratep6.55vs.MHigh
than Coppertone releasing a magazine on the benefits of p 6.36; p 1 .10).
Vitamin D (M p 4.13, p ! .01), which in turn wasseenas Immediatelyfollowingtheexercisetask,participantswere
more congruent than Coppertone releasing a magazine on givenabookletwhilesittingontheergometer.Thisallowed
how to prepare steak (M p 1.77, p ! .005). Presumably, ustocontinuemonitoringparticipants’heartratewhilethey
linking Coppertone to extensions that directly or indirectly viewed the stimuli. The booklet included an Amazon ad
relate to a by-product of thesun (VitaminD)takesconsec- promoting a newly released Coppertone magazine, which
utively greater steps to assimilate. To be sure, participants wasaccompanied byaquestionnaire.Thequestionnairein-
were asked to indicate how many mental steps would be cluded the previously discussed measures of product eval-
neededtomakesenseoftheextensions(anchored:0pfew uations, schema resolution (both the two-itemmeasureand
steps;5pmanysteps;Jhangetal.2012).Asexpected,the theopen-endedresponsediscussedinstudy2),andtheSTPI.
moreincongruenttheextension,themorementalstepspar- Furthermore, instead of perceived typicality as a manipu-
ticipants required to make sense of it (M p 0.98 vs. lation check, post-evaluation perceptionsof fit betweenthe
Lotion
M p 2.26 vs. M p 3.20; p ! .05). The results con- Coppertone brand and the book extension was assessed on
Vit-D Steak
firmed the manipulation of incongruity. a9-pointsemanticdifferentialscale(verygoodfit/verybad
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