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The Examination of Threat and Affiliative Tendencies through Pronoun Usage in Relation to Consumer Evaluations

DiGioia, Sarah M.
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1246473015

Abstract Details

2009, Master of Arts in Psychology, Cleveland State University, College of Science.
This study further examines the relationship between threat and affiliative tendencies. Under threat, there is a tendency to embrace others in efforts to reduce threat and uncertainty. This study explores whether product advertisements that use inclusive pronouns (e.g., we, our) lead products to be perceived as more attractive/valuable under threat (compared to low threat). Therefore, this study employs a 2 (threat: low vs. high) X 2 (ad reference frame: inclusive pronouns vs. 3rd person) between-subjects design. Data from 145 university student participants were collected. To manipulate threat, participants were told they would be taking part in a learning exercise and were “randomly” assigned the role of the “learner”, while a participant in another room would act as the “teacher” who would administer the punishment/reinforcement (e.g., sound blasts) to the “learner”. Participants viewed one of two versions of an advertisement for a hypothetical product. We expect that participants in the inclusive pronoun condition will evaluate the product more positively and that the positive impact of inclusive pronoun use will be stronger under high levels of threat. Analyses for the primary hypotheses revealed some support and many exploratory analyses revealed significant results.
Ernest Park, PhD (Committee Chair)
Brian Blake, PhD (Committee Member)
Michael Horvath, PhD (Committee Member)
84 p.
Psychology
threat; affiliation; inclusive pronouns; product evaluations

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • DiGioia, S. M. (2009). The Examination of Threat and Affiliative Tendencies through Pronoun Usage in Relation to Consumer Evaluations [Master's thesis, Cleveland State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1246473015

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • DiGioia, Sarah. The Examination of Threat and Affiliative Tendencies through Pronoun Usage in Relation to Consumer Evaluations. 2009. Cleveland State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1246473015.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • DiGioia, Sarah. "The Examination of Threat and Affiliative Tendencies through Pronoun Usage in Relation to Consumer Evaluations." Master's thesis, Cleveland State University, 2009. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=csu1246473015

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

csu1246473015
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© 2009, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Cleveland State University and OhioLINK.