Summary Course overview and assignments

CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY


TABLE OF CONTENT
COURSE OPENING.................................................................................................................................................................... 1

FUNDAMENTALS OF RESEARCH............................................................................................................................................... 2

EXPERIMENTAL RESEARCH DESIGN.......................................................................................................................................... 7

ASIGNMENT 1.......................................................................................................................................................................... 7

SELF CONTROL......................................................................................................................................................................... 8

ASSIGNMENT 2: MODERATION.............................................................................................................................................. 10

ASSIGNMENT 3: MEDIATION.................................................................................................................................................. 11

COSUMER SPENDINGS........................................................................................................................................................... 12

ASSIGNMENT: USE OF FIELD STUDY........................................................................................................................................ 16




COURSE OPENING
FACILITATIONS
 16.11 Consumer Choice

, 7.12 Social Context
 Group Assignment always on Friday and on Tuesday always the Facilitations
 90 mins, 30min Feedback + Discussion

The Facilitation must include:
- Central concepts of book and paper
- Some experiments and data
- Practical Applications
- Interactions with the class

GRADING:
 Facilitation (2x) 40%
 Individual Final Research Paper 60%
 Bonus Points for Participation in Experiments

TOPICS
 Dual Process
 Self-control
 Consumer Choice  Facilitation (16.11)
 Consumer Spending
 Consumer perception
 Social Context  Facilitation (7.12)

GROUP ASSIGNMENTS
 Not graded!
 Canvas upload and 5 min presentation

INDIVIDUAL RESEARCH PAPER
 Use three articles from the course and additional articles
 Topic can be one of the facilitations topics




FUNDAMENTALS OF RESEARCH
Wilson, Aronson & Carlsmith - “The art of lavatory experiment”

Internal validity: It refers to the confidence with which we can draw cause- and- effect conclusions
from our research results. To which extend is the dependent variable is caused by the independent
variables. Measures to take: Randomly assigned groups; same experimental conditions.

External validity: To which extend can we take the results from one research and generalize it to
other times, places, and people? In general, so many studies are conducted with students in a lavatory,
which decreases external validity because the sample is just not well chosen to represent a general
population. Students are above average intelligence, younger than the population, non-represented
socioeconomic backgrounds. To improve external validity we must keep an eye on the sample size,
participants, setting, environment.

, Construct validity: Construct validity refers to whether a scale or test measures the construct
adequately. An example is a measurement of the human brain, such as intelligence, level of emotion,
proficiency, or ability. Construct validity is valuable in social sciences, where there is a lot of
subjectivity to concepts.


Meyvis & V. Osselaer – “Increasing the Power of Your Study by Increasing the Effect Size”

They propose that, aside from increasing sample size, researchers can also increase power by boosting
the effect size. If done correctly, removing participants, using covariates, and optimizing experimental
designs, stimuli and measures can boost effect size without inflating researcher degrees of freedom.
Power: This is the probability of a test that we reject H0. In other words, it is the probability of
observing a significant effect given that the effect does exist.

Effect Size: We often informally gauge the size of the effect by looking at the F-value or the p-value,
yet these are poor indicators of the effect size as they depend on the sample size. Any difference, no
matter how small or practically in- significant, can be statistically significant if the sample size is large
enough. To calculate the power for a proposed study, one needs to assume about the effect size. One
possibility is to infer it from prior data collection,

Removing participants: We argue that it is often both legitimate and preferable to remove certain
participants from the analysis, as this may produce both a more powerful and a more accurate test of
the hypothesis. This does, however, require that the removal decisions are made correctly, without
introducing confounds or increasing researcher degrees of freedom.

Using Covariates: Whereas removing participants can in- crease the effect size both by reducing the
error term and by increasing the observed difference between conditions, including covariates does so
mainly by reducing the error term. Specifically, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) reduces the error term
by correcting for a variable that influences the dependent measure but is not of theoretical interest.

Lynch - “Reflections on the Replication Corner: In Praise of Conceptual Replications”

Several researchers have concluded that there is a replication crisis in the social sciences, raising new
questions about the trustworthiness of our evidence base. Replication papers are crucial for the field,
but on average they may be cited less than the regular-length articles in the same journals.




Moderation
In moderation, the effect can become stronger, weaker, or could
even disappear, or reverse in specific settings. You can analysis this
interaction effect with ANVOVA.
Example:
H1. Being hungry (X) vs. not hungry makes you eat more (Y)
H2: Being hungry (X) makes you eat more (Y) when food is tasty
(M).


Mediation
The effect of X on Y is caused by M. When the
relationship between X and M and M and Y is is positive
significant, you can assume that the relationship between X and Y is
also significantly positive. The mediator can be a belief or emotions,
etc.
Example:
H1. Being hungry (X) vs. not hungry makes you eat more (Y).
H2: Being hungry (X) makes you eat more (Y) due to craving
something sweet.