Should I stay or should I go? Mood congruity, self-monitoring and retail context preference

This article extends the discussion of congruity or the preference by consumers for alternatives similar to themselves 1) by examining the effect in a retail context and, 2) by considering the moderating role of self-monitoring, or the tendency to regulate one's mood in line with the social con...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of business research 2007-06, Vol.60 (6), p.640-648
Main Authors: Puccinelli, Nancy M., Deshpande, Rohit, Isen, Alice M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Congruence
Consumer behavior
Consumer behaviour
Environment
Mood
Preferences
Retail
Retail trade
Self-management
Self-monitoring
Services
Shopping
Social psychology
Studies
Utilities
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Summary:This article extends the discussion of congruity or the preference by consumers for alternatives similar to themselves 1) by examining the effect in a retail context and, 2) by considering the moderating role of self-monitoring, or the tendency to regulate one's mood in line with the social context, on congruity. Two experiments find that when low self-monitors imagine a context that differs in valence from their mood, they feel more distinctive from the environment while high self-monitors do not. The feelings of low self-monitors, in turn, seem to lead them to prefer contexts that are congruent in valence with their mood. High self-monitors on the other hand prefer a context that differs in valence from their mood. It is argued that high self-monitors seek a mood-incongruent context to achieve normative regulation of their mood. The implications of these results for retail atmospherics are discussed.
ISSN:0148-2963
1873-7978
DOI:10.1016/j.jbusres.2006.06.014