"Heart strings and purse strings" revisited: A preregistered replication and extension

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• The Appraisal-Tendency Framework posits that emotions with similar valence have distinct effects based on appraisal profiles.
• Incidental disgust and sadness influence spending differently, with disgust reducing and sadness increasing spending on new products.

Purpose of the Study:

• To replicate and extend findings on how incidental disgust and sadness affect spending decisions.
• To empirically test the mediating roles of emotion-induced motivational goals and arousal.

Main Methods:

• Replicated a seminal study (N=403) on emotion and spending, using improved measurements and a new location.
• Conducted a pilot study (N=169) to identify measures for testing mediating processes.
• Examined the influence of sadness and disgust on choice prices and the role of arousal.

Main Results:

• Sadness, compared to disgust and neutral conditions, increased choice prices, mediated by the "change circumstances" motivational goal.
• The theorized effect of disgust (reducing spending via "expel and avoid") was not replicated.
• Arousal's role in emotion-driven spending was also investigated.

Conclusions:

• Findings support the Appraisal-Tendency Framework for sadness but not disgust in pricing decisions.
• Offers insights into the "misery-is not miserly" effect and the endowment effect.
• Highlights the importance of specific motivational goals in understanding emotion-behavior links.