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Political conservatism and variety‐seeking
Author(s) -
Fernandes Daniel,
Mandel Naomi
Publication year - 2014
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.2013.05.003
Subject(s) - variety (cybernetics) , counterintuitive , conservatism , ideology , normative , politics , social psychology , psychology , product (mathematics) , positive economics , political science , economics , epistemology , law , philosophy , geometry , mathematics , artificial intelligence , computer science
Abstract In this research, we document and explain a counterintuitive effect of political ideology on variety‐seeking. Although political conservatives have a higher desire for control, which exerts a negative effect on variety‐seeking, they also have a stronger motivation to follow social norms, which exerts a positive effect on variety‐seeking. Three studies demonstrate that conservatism is positively related to variety‐seeking due to social normative concerns and rule out an alternative explanation of heightened self‐expressive motives among conservatives. This research provides preliminary evidence of how political ideology may explain differences in product choices.