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Existing literature on consumer behavior has argued that an individual’s regulatory orientation interacts with message framing. If there is a match between regulatory orientation (promotion versus prevention) and message framing, this results in positive attitudes toward a given advertisement. Conversely, if there is a mismatch, the effect is opposite, i.e., attitudes toward that advertisement are less positive and less favorable. This research extends the term of compatibility by examining how regulatory focus moderates the impact of two aspects of message framing (attribute framing and risky choice framing) on customer perceptions. It also examines whether regulatory fit is created when there are interactions between individuals’ regulatory orientation and message framing and how the fit changes customer perceptions about a message. Specifically, this dissertation provides answers to the following questions: (1) does regulatory fit take place when regulatory focus is compatible with two aspects of message framing (attribute and risky choice)?; (2) does regulatory fit take place when one aspect of message framing (attribute) is compatible with the other (risky choice)?; and (3) how do customer perceptions change if customers experience regulatory fit? The results show that the effects of utilitarian attributes and national brands are dominating and that both promotion- and prevention-oriented customers have higher perceptions of these attributes and brands. The findings of this study have both theoretical and practical implications. Theoretically, this study should enhance our understanding of regulatory focus theory. Practically, the results should provide marketers with more insights into the correlation between message framing and regulatory orientation and the effect of fit on message persuasion, enabling them to develop more effective marketing strategies.

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Since Higgins presented regulatory fit theory in 2000, over 200 studies have demonstrated that regulatory fit processes moderate both information processing and outcome responses substantially. However, scholars characterize regulatory fit diversely and manipulate the definition. Researchers have highlighted this issue and recommended further investigations to clarify regulatory fit heterogeneity, which is derived from two sources: conceptual viewpoints of regulatory fit and methods for regulatory fit induction (Aaker, 2006; Avnet, 2006; Cesario, 2008; Pham, 2009). This study decomposes manipulation heterogeneity for researching regulatory fit from the experimental methodology viewpoint. Rather than providing a summary of existing methods, this study proposes a critical moderator embedded in these techniques, which objectifies the regulatory fit concept using a calculable index. The proposed index can be used to predict the strength of the regulatory fit effect, and explain manipulation heterogeneity when researching regulatory fit.

Research indicates that planning helps consumers in their goal pursuit, but little is known about how and when such beneficial effects change with regulatory fit – fit between consumers’ regulatory orientation and goal pursuit means. Results of three studies show that 1) the benefits of forming implementation intentions, or planning details such as when, where, how, and how long to perform goal-directed actions and attain consumer goals are stronger in regulatory nonfit situations (study 1), and 2) implementation intentions can be viewed as goal pursuit means and be part of the regulatory fit formulation to show the “value from fit” effect on instrumental behavior and goal attainment (studies 2 and 3). Specifically, study 1 showed that consumers in regulatory nonfit situations are more likely to perform instrumental behavior and have higher goal attainment by forming implementation intentions than consumers in regulatory fit situations. This research also provides empirical evidence of the notion of “value from fit” to the regulatory fit literature, that is, the mediating role of motivation intensity in the regulatory fit-instrumental behavior and regulatory fit-goal attainment linkages in studies 2 and 3.

Recent work has shown that the regulatory fit between global approach/avoidance goals and the local approach/avoidance mechanisms of goal pursuit influence cognition and behavior in predictable ways. A regulatory fit leads to an increase in motivation and engagement relative to a regulatory mismatch. The increase in engagement can lead to an increase in cognitive flexibility on cognitively demanding tasks. This work is composed of three inter-related studies that examine how the fit between global performance incentives and local mechanisms of goal pursuit influence decision-making and categorization. In Study 1 I examine how the interaction between global performance incentives and local goal pursuit mechanisms influences decision-making strategies in an experience-based decision-making paradigm. In this paradigm decision-making strategies can be classified as more exploratory or more exploitative. I find that participants in a regulatory fit would exhibit more exploratory decision-making patterns than participants in a regulatory mismatch. In Study 2 I examine how social pressure is related to approach and avoidance-based performance incentives using two types of category-learning tasks. I test the hypothesis that increasing performance pressure will induce an avoidance-based prevention focus which then interacts with the local mechanism of goal pursuit employed in the task (maximizing points gained or minimizing points lost). Participants either perform an explicit, rule-based category-learning task, or an implicit information-integration category-learning task. Behavioral and model-based analyses support the hypothesis that social pressure induces a prevention focus. When the pressure-induced prevention focus aligns with the local goal-pursuit mechanism participants perform better on the rule-based task, but worse on the information-integration task. Study 3 examines the effects of social pressure on categorization in highly-trained participants. Participants performed over 2500 training trials of either a rule-based or an information-integration category-learning task, and then performed another 640 trials after half received a manipulation designed to raise social pressure. Performance was worse on both the rule-based and information-integration task for participants who were under high social pressure compared to participants under low social pressure. The results from all three projects suggest that motivational incentives have a large effect on cognitively demanding tasks. / text

The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of combining implementation intentions (II) and regulatory fit in the context of two important health goals: increasing leisure time physical activity and decreasing leisure time sedentary behaviour. Implementation intentions specify exactly how, when, and where a behaviour will occur and can be an effective method of increasing goal enactment. Regulatory fit occurs when a goal or strategy used to achieve the goal matches an individual’s regulatory orientation. University students (N = 180) were randomly assigned to a goal (increase activity/decrease screen time) and an experimental condition (II/non-II). Participants formed a goal to increase their physical activity or decrease their screen time over the following four weeks according to their random assignment. Participants’ commitment to their goal was monitored over the course of the study. The II group also formed a detailed plan regarding how they would accomplish their goal. Regulatory fit was determined based on group assignment and score on the regulatory focus questionnaire. Physical activity and screen time were assessed with self-report questionnaires. Follow-up occurred online four weeks after baseline. Data were analyzed separately by goal type using linear regressions to examine the effects of regulatory fit, experimental condition, and goal commitment on the behaviour variables. The regulatory fit manipulation was not successful. Among those with the physical activity goal, no significant effects emerged for the experimental variables. Among those with the screen time goal and in the fit, II group, stronger goal commitment tended to be associated with increased participation in moderate physical activity, β = .17, t(22) = .94, p = .36. Also, participants who set II for the screen time goal and were committed to this goal tended to report less screen time than participants with lower goal commitment (β = -.40, t(69) = -2.05, p = .05). Findings provide preliminary insight into the effectiveness of II and the importance of goal commitment in interventions aiming to reduce sedentary behaviour. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2010-07-02 11:32:18.716

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Regulatory fit (Higgins 2000) has, thus far, only been tested using regulatory focus theory (Cesario, Higgins, & Scholer, 2008); this study contributes to the current literature by testing the generality of the fit principle using goal orientation. I will test the effect of fit on corrective feedback utilization. I predict that experiencing regulatory fit between goal orientation and goal pursuit strategies will lead to: 1) higher behavioral utilization of feedback, and 2) feedback recall. Self-monitoring will be included as an exploratory variable to assess whether level of self-monitoring will affect the aforementioned outcomes. Results indicated that individuals experiencing regulatory fit between goal orientation and feedback framing exhibited greater variety and frequency of feedback recommended behaviors overall. No fit effects were found for feedback recall. Self-monitoring was not impacted by goal orientation or feedback framing. / Master of Science