Predicting consumer behavior with two emotion appraisal dimensions: Emotion valence and agency in gift giving

a r t i c l e i n f o Decades of emotion research have demonstrated the unique influences of many specific emotions on consumer behaviors. These countless numbers of emotion effects can make it difficult to understand the role of emotions in consumer behavior. The current research introduces a parsimonious framework that can predict the effects of emotions on the consumer behavior of gift giving with just two appraisal dimensions: valence and agency. A series of studies examining gift giving reveals that positive emotions exert positive effects on gift giving, independent of their agency. In contrast, agency does predict the effects of negative emotions on gift giving. Negative self-caused emotions increase gift giving, whereas negative other-caused emotions decrease gift giving. These findings seem to hold for inactive and active emotions, and for uncertain and certain emotions. Together, these findings make a unique theoretical and empirical contribution to the understanding of emotions in gift giving. Moreover, it provides a pragmatic framework for both academics and practitioners. Over the last couple of decades, numerous studies have shown how specific emotions can influence consumer behaviors. For example, we currently know that feelings of anger may motivate consumers to complain about a company (Nyer, 1997), that feelings of pride can encourage people to buy public display products (Griskevicius, Shiota, & Nowlis, 2010), and that dissatisfied customers experiencing regret may switch to a different service provider (Zeelenberg & Pieters, 2004). With at least twenty emotions that play a role in marketing settings (Richins, 1997), it can be difficult for marketing academics and practitioners to identify and understand the influences of all these emotions on consumer behaviors. It is uncertain whether it is necessary to distinguish between similar emotions such as regret and disappointment, or shame and guilt when examining the influences of emotions on consumer behaviors. research proposes that it is possible to predict the influences of emotions for at least some consumer behaviors on the basis of a limited number of emotion appraisal dimensions. According to most scholars, emotions can be defined with a restricted number of cognitive or emotion appraisal dimensions. These include, for example, whether the emotion is positive or negative (valence), whether the outcomes are certain or uncertain (certainty), and whether the person feels powerful or powerless Emotion valence (the extent to which an emotion is positive or negative) and emotion agency (the extent to which an emotion is …