The Effects of Power on Consumer Decision Strategies: The Mediating Role of Behavioral Approach-Inhibition Tendency and the Moderating Role of Gender

Mianlin Deng; Wendian Shi; Hejia Chen; Xiao Li

doi:10.2147/PRBM.S386917

The Effects of Power on Consumer Decision Strategies: The Mediating Role of Behavioral Approach-Inhibition Tendency and the Moderating Role of Gender

Psychol Res Behav Manag. 2022 Dec 30:15:3931-3953. doi: 10.2147/PRBM.S386917. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mianlin Deng¹, Wendian Shi¹, Hejia Chen¹, Xiao Li^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychology, School of Education, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China.
² School of Society & Culture, Party School of Ningxia Committee of C.P.C, Yinchuan, People's Republic of China.

Abstract

Purpose: Previous studies on consumer decision strategies have focused on the process or outcomes of decision-making using different decision strategies. Relatively little is known about the factors (especially decision makers' characteristics) influencing the use of different decision strategies. This study examined the effects of power on consumer decision strategies and the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: Studies 1 (N = 128) and 2 (N = 130) examined multiple- and binary-option situations, respectively. Participants' power was manipulated with a writing task and their consumer decision strategies were assessed through the selection tasks of restaurants and beach resorts. Study 3 (N = 326) further explored the mediator of approach-inhibition tendency and the moderator of gender in the relationship between power and consumer decision strategies. Participants' chronic sense of power, approach-inhibition tendency, and purchasing strategies were measured using questionnaires.

Results: Powerful (vs powerless) individuals prefer to use a direct selection (vs exclusion) strategy, regardless of whether they face multiple or binary choices. An increased approach (vs inhibition) tendency explains why elevated power promotes the use of the direct selection strategy. Moreover, gender plays a moderating role. Specifically, the mediation effect of approach (vs inhibition) tendency on the relationship between power and the preference for the direct selection (vs exclusion) strategy is stronger for males than for females.

Conclusion: This study extends previous research on power and consumer decision strategies by clarifying that the effects of power on consumer decision strategies are primarily driven by high power (but not by low power). Furthermore, by examining the mediator of approach-inhibition tendency and the moderator of gender, this study promotes a deeper understanding of how power affects consumer decision strategies and for whom the effect is more salient. Besides, the present research has contributions to the approach-inhibition theory of power and the literature on gender differences in consumer behavior, and has practical implications for business marketing.

Keywords: behavioral approach; behavioral inhibition; consumer decision strategy; decision-making strategy; gender difference; power.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (grant number: 31900780) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (grant number: 2019M661575).