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sample of 480 undergraduate university students from a large southern university (264
females and 216 males with a mean age of 20.9 years and aged between 18 and 24) were
randomly assigned to one of the conditions and were paid $5 for their participation.
Pretests and Stimuli
A pretest was conducted with 87 participants to develop the experimental stimuli (the
pretest participants were excluded from the four main experiments). The pretest showed a
moderate level of consumer familiarity with the chosen products (notebooks, pens,
batteries and baseball caps), with minimum variance. Based on the pretest results, this
study gathered products from the market as experimental stimuli so the experiment would
better reflect actual market conditions.
Stimuli
The stimuli for the study were batteries, pens, notebooks and baseball caps. Each
participant was asked to view advertisements showing the regular price ($2, $4, $6, $8)
and the promotional price. The promotional prices were manipulated to end in either zero
($1.60, $3.60, $5.60, $7.60) or nine ($1.59, $3.59, $5.59, $7.59). The experimental
designs are all shown in Table 1.
Emotion Induction
The emotion induction method used to manipulate the emotions and memories of the
participants in the two groups was first adapted from the processes carried out by Smith
and Ellsworth (1985), with the same procedure being followed for the inducement of
positive (happy) and negative (sad) emotions. The participants in the control group were
not manipulated in either a positive or a negative way. During the emotion induction
procedure, the participants were initially asked to recall a past experience or event that
activated a particular emotion (happy or sad), after which six general questions about that
particular experience were asked. For example, the participants were told the following to
induce happiness.
I want you to think of a past situation or event during which you felt happy. Picture
this situation in your mind. Try to remember as vividly as you can what this past pleasant
situation was like: think of what happened to make you feel happy, and what it felt like to
be happy in this particular situation. Tell me when you are ready and have this pleasant
situation in your mind, and I will ask you questions about it.