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The impact of reduced visibility caused by air pollution on construal level
Author(s) -
Ding Ying,
Zhong Jiaqi,
Guo Guoqing,
Chen Fengchao
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
psychology and marketing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.035
H-Index - 116
eISSN - 1520-6793
pISSN - 0742-6046
DOI - 10.1002/mar.21427
Subject(s) - visibility , mindset , construal level theory , categorization , psychology , perspective (graphical) , set (abstract data type) , air pollution , empirical research , social psychology , marketing , computer science , geography , business , ecology , mathematics , meteorology , artificial intelligence , statistics , biology , programming language
Although ample research has recognized air pollution as a severe threat to human health and emotion, little research has been conducted on its impact on consumers' information‐processing style. This study explores the effect of reduced visibility caused by air pollution on the construal level adopted by consumers. Specifically, we document how low visibility caused by air pollution makes people more inclined to adopt an abstract mindset, whereas high visibility on a clean day makes people more inclined to adopt a concrete mindset. Across a set of three field studies and one laboratory experiment, we employ alternate measures of construal level: behavioral identification index (Studies 1 and 4) and categorization task (Study 2). Our research provides empirical evidence of the proposed effect and rules out alternative explanations. Additionally, as a downstream consequence, reduced visibility due to air pollution causes individuals to favor desirability over feasibility in product trade‐offs (Study 3). Our findings shed new light on construal level theory from an ecological perspective and provide meaningful marketing suggestions.