THREE ESSAYS ON CONSUMER SELF-CONTROL AND RESTRICTIONS

My dissertation consists of three papers on two interrelated topics of consumer restrictions and self-control. Consumers might require to exert self-control when they feel the conflict between their immediate reward and long-term benefit (Hoch and Loewenstein 1991). For example, having financial restrictions require consumers to show higher self-control to save money or spend less on vice products, or having dietary restrictions involve self-control to avoid(choose) the unhealthy(healthy) food. In my dissertation, I explore firstly, the effect of duration of financial restrictions on self-control; secondly, the effect of evaluation modes on self-control; and thirdly the effect of duration of restrictions on information processing. The first paper of my dissertation heeded the call of Hamilton et al. (2018) to better understand the temporal aspect of having financial restrictions by investigating the effect of duration of financial restrictions (i.e. short-term vs. long-term financial restriction) on self-control. Across four main studies and one supplementary study (i.e. one archival data and four experiments), this paper shows longer duration of financial restrictions leads to higher self-control in the financial domain (i.e. higher saving and lower impulsive spending) and in unrelated domains (e.g. higher preference for healthy over unhealthy food). This paper contributes to the research on financial restrictions and self-control by distinguishing between short-term and long-term restrictions to show how they affect different forms of self-control behavior (i.e. indulgence, impulsivity and unplanned behavior) and provides practical implications for managers and policy makers (e.g. financial institutes). The second paper of my dissertation studies the effect of evaluation mode on choice of healthy and unhealthy food. In six main studies and one supplementary study (i.e. online and lab experiments), this research demonstrates that joint evaluation might enhance self-control (i.e. higher relative choice of healthy to unhealthy food) compared to separate evaluation. The result of this research suggests that for most of the food that consumers eat, taste is perceived as easier to evaluate than healthiness. As a result, consumers are more likely to rely on taste (i.e. easy-to-evaluate attribute) in the separate evaluation mode and choose the tasty unhealthy food, whereas joint evaluation mode allows consumers to compare the health information (i.e. difficult-to-evaluate attribute), and hence shifts their preferences to the healthier option. Two alternative explanations of ease of justification and goal highlight are ruled out. This paper contributes to the literature on consumer choice and self-control and provides some practical implications for retailors and companies that are interested in promoting(decreasing) healthy(unhealthy) eating. The third paper of my dissertation investigates the effect of duration of restrictions on information processing by distinguishing between temporary and permanent restrictions (e.g. physical or dietary restriction). Across four studies in the field (i.e. hospital, supermarket, diet center and gluten-free store), this research shows that people with permanent(temporary) restrictions are more likely to build higher(lower) construal about their restriction and hence have a more abstract(concrete) mind-set. Furthermore, this research shows that people who experience a permanent restriction (e.g. gluten allergy or diabetes) perceive more control, and hence do not attend to details about their restrictions, that results in a more abstract mind-set, compared to those who experience restriction temporarily. Construal level is measured by using action identification measure, product categorization and shelf format preferences. This paper contributes to the research on construal level and restriction and provides managerial implications for specialty retailers (e.g. gluten-free stores vs. diet store.