4. Self-Referencing

Question 1

Self-Referencing

Answer 1

• Creation of a relationship between product and target group (managerial perspective)

Mental processes: Consumers refer information contained in stimuli to themselves and link them with memory contents. This leads to another meaning of the stimulus (perceptual perspective).

Question 2

Imagery

Answer 2

Imagery:

• Mental process in which an external stimulus (e.g. an advertising, a call to action or an exercise) activates autobiographical memory contents or leads the recipient to develop fantasies (imaginations) which influence the reaction to the stimulus

Imagery Processing: Creation of mental Images

Question 3

Types of Self-Referencing

Answer 3

Question 4

Self-Referencing Cues

Answer 4

Question 5

Consequences of Self-Referencing

Answer 5

• Spontaneous perception that oneself is targeted (self-targetedness)
• High amount of cognitive resource is allocated to process the stimulus (you are more attentive and interested)
• Information is processed more intensely (e.g. brand name, arguments, quality signals) 

• Recipients can develop self-related thoughts 


Question 6

Theoretical Explanations (Self-Referencing):

Three Perspectives

Answer 6

Imagery-based approach:

Particularly relevant when self-referencing is triggered by the following cues:

„Illusion of self-integration “: „Imagery-Instructions”: „Plausibility of the scene “

(1) Theory of Grounded Cognitions (Barsalou 2008)

• The kind of stimulus presentation eases the mental simulation.
• Illusion of self-integration can trigger the imagination of how the possession/usage (of a product) „looks like“.

(2) Imagery Processing (Unnava/Burnkrant 1991)

• More sensory information is retrieved from memory (haptic impressions, e.g. how a steering wheel feels…). This increases the probability that someone can imagine the possession/usage of the product.

(3) Availability-Valence-Hypothesis

• Mental image and its valence (positive vs. negative) is important for the impact of persuasion; the valence with the highest cognitive availability is the most important one when a decision is made.

(4) Emotional Contagion

• “The tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize movements, expressions, postures, and vocalizations with those of another person and, consequently, to converge emotionally”

(5) Dual-Coding-Theory (Paivio, 1986, 1991, 2007)


• Verbal and nonverbal information cues are processed, encoded, stored and retrieved for
• subsequent use in two distinct but referentially interconnected memory systems

Question 7

Theoretical Explanations (Self-Referencing):

Three Perspectives

Answer 7

Self-worth-based approach:

Particularly relevant when self-referencing is triggered by the following cue:

“Peripheral stimuli, that activate similarity perceptions”

(1) Balance-Theory (Heider 1958) and Festinger (1957)

• Individuals like consistent evaluations of simultaneously presented or related stimuli
• Consistent structures → pleasant → are maintained

• Inconsistent stimuli → cognitive dissonances → are reduced through adaption of particular evaluations

Example:

The picture combined with the slogan makes it likely that a recipient feels that the mobile is for him/her. As a person judges her-/himself positively, consequently, the relation between the recipient and the mobile will become more positive, and e.g., switch from neutral to positive.

Question 8

Theoretical Explanations (Self-Referencing):

Three Perspectives

Answer 8

Perception of ownership:

Particularly relevant when self-referencing is triggered by the following cue:

„Illusion of self-integration“

(1) Loss-aversion: Prospect-Theory (Kahneman/Tversky 1979)


• Losses (view of owner: not being able to use the product) are regretted stronger than gains (view of non-owner: being able to use the product) are evaluated positively.

(2) Endowment-Effect (Thaler 1980)


• Imagine oneself as an owner leads to a strong feeling of not wanting to give the object away whereas a non-owner must decide whether he wants the product at all

Example:

The ad makes you feel like you own the Porsche. Most people never owned or drove a Porsche and might find that unlikely to ever happen. But if you once felt as the owner of a Porsche, it is likely that you don’t want to lose it. You feel that the Porsche is yours and connect with it emotionally.