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Who I am and how I think: The impact of self‐construal on the roles of internal and external reference prices in price evaluations
Author(s) -
Chen Cathy Yi
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
journal of consumer psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.433
H-Index - 110
eISSN - 1532-7663
pISSN - 1057-7408
DOI - 10.1016/j.jcps.2009.05.012
Subject(s) - interdependence , self construal , social connectedness , psychology , construal level theory , cognition , social psychology , cognitive psychology , neuroscience , political science , law
Drawing from self‐construal studies on cognitive styles as well as reference price literature, this research investigates the impact of independent versus interdependent self‐construal on consumers' use of internal reference prices (IRPs) and external reference prices (ERPs) during price evaluations. Three experiments reveal that IRPs have a larger impact on price evaluations for participants who are primed with an independent (vs. interdependent) self‐construal, whereas ERPs have a larger impact for participants who are primed with an interdependent (vs. independent) self‐construal. The differential impact of self‐construal on the use of IRPs and ERPs seems to be mediated by a generalized, perceived sense of connectedness/separateness. Implications on reference price research, self‐construal and cognitive styles are discussed.