When do I ponder? The role of elaboration in counterfactual thinking
Date
2023-07-13
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Consumer Behaviour
Abstract
The counterfactual thought such as “If only I had…” has a powerful impact on people's subsequent behavioral intentions. The literature has documented what may happen with CFT. But little has been done to investigate how CFT produces these effects. In this research, three studies provided evidence to show that elaboration rather than priming is the mechanism for CFT to have an effect on behavioral intentions; and the factors such as argument strength, outcome severity, and goal valence may interfere with such counterfactual effects. These theoretical contributions to the CFT literature offer important managerial implications and help marketers determine optimal persuasion strategies to influence consumers' information processing style.
Description
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Sivaraman, A., Ford, W., & Sundaram, S. (2023). When do I ponder? The role of elaboration in counterfactual thinking. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2217, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2217. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited. © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This article will be embargoed until 07/13/2025.
Keywords
counterfactual thinking, elaboration, goal priming, goal strength, argument, strength, goal framing
Citation
Sivaraman, A., Ford, W., & Sundaram, S. (2023). When do I ponder? The role of elaboration in counterfactual thinking. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.2217