Low Need For Cognition Research Articles

Need for cognition and active information search in small student groups

In a sample of 213 students organized in 44 groups this study tests the impact of need for cognition on active information search by using a multilevel analysis. The results show that group members with high need for cognition seek more advice in task related issues than those with low need for cognition and this pattern of information exchange is stronger for different gender social interaction than with the same gender social interaction.

The effects of online reviews on purchasing intention: The moderating role of need for cognition

The Internet has provided a competitive platform for online marketing, and online shopping has become an important part of daily life for consumers who view online reviews as an effective channel of acquiring product information before making purchase decisions. Based on the elaboration likelihood model (ELM; Petty & Cacioppo, 1981, 1986), in the present study the effects of online reviews on purchasing intention are explored using need for cognition as a moderator. Findings that emerge from the results are: Firstly, when online reviews are high quality this has a positive effect on the purchasing intention of online shoppers. Secondly, when there are a high number of online reviews this positively affects the purchasing intention of online shoppers. Finally, shoppers with a high need for cognition take the central route in attitude change, but shoppers with a low need for cognition tend to adopt the peripheral route in forming attitude. Marketing implications are suggested.

Cancer Recurrence Worry, Risk Perception, and Informational-Coping Styles Among Appalachian Cancer Survivors

Despite a growing literature on the psychosocial impact of the threat of cancer recurrence, underserved populations, such as those from the Appalachian region, have been understudied. To examine worry and perceived risk in cancer survivors, Appalachian and non-Appalachian cancer patients at an ambulatory oncology clinic in a university hospital were surveyed. Appalachians had significantly higher worry than non-Appalachians. Cancer type and lower need for cognition were associated with greater worry. Those with missing perceived risk data were generally older, less educated, and lower in monitoring, blunting, and health literacy. Additional resources are needed to assist Appalachians and those with cancers with poor prognoses (e.g., liver cancer, pancreatic cancer) to cope with worry associated with developing cancer again. More attention for cancer prevention is critical to improve quality of life in underserved populations where risk of cancer is greater.

The moderating effects of need for cognition on drivers of customer loyalty

Purpose – While satisfaction, value, image, and credibility are commonly assumed to drive customer loyalty, there is nevertheless reason to question whether their effects vary across groups of consumers. This paper seeks to explore how individuals with contrasting need-for-cognition (NFC) levels differ in using memory-based information when forming behavioral intentions towards a current service provider. Design/methodology/approach – The authors tested the hypotheses by means of survey data from customers of retail banks, and applied two-group analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the moderating effects of NFC. Findings – Satisfaction positively affects loyalty for high NFCs, but not for low NFCs. Image is insignificant in both groups. Value positively affects loyalty for low NFCs, but not for high NFCs. Credibility has a positive effect for low NFCs, but not for high NFCs. Research limitations/implications – The limited sample size affects the power of the test methodology, but Chow-tests of regression models gave similar results. Further research should test the model in other contexts to enhance external validity. Practical Implications – To develop more effective customer strategies, both researchers and practitioners need to understand how different types of consumers attend to and utilize information when forming behavioral intentions. The standard practice of surveying customer satisfaction and loyalty typically requires the consumer to make a memory-based judgment. Originality/value – Previous research has primarily focused on how consumer demographics moderate satisfaction-loyalty links. This paper includes additional drivers of loyalty, and assesses moderation by a personality trait (NFC) not previously used in satisfaction-loyalty research. The results indicate that a consumer ' s dispositional tendency to think and elaborate (more or less) can bias survey results.

Gender differences in the meanings consumers infer from music and other aesthetic stimuli

Music can convey two meanings: one referential that consists of descriptive associations, and another embodied that is purely hedonic. We reasoned that consumer characteristics such as one's gender and Need for Cognition (NFC) can affect which meaning(s) of ad background music people use when forming product perceptions. Yet, are such meanings and their use unique to music, or could they extend to other forms of aesthetics? Two studies explore these issues, revealing parallel outcomes when background materials contain either music or graphic art designs: high (low) NFC males are sensitive to only referential (embodied) meaning, whereas females use both meanings.

What Do Others’ Reactions to News on Internet Portal Sites Tell Us? Effects of Presentation Format and Readers’ Need for Cognition on Reality Perception

The present experiment investigated if and how other readers’ reactions to news on Internet portal sites affect individuals’ perceptions of public opinion, assessments of media influence, and their personal opinion. In so doing, others’ responses were shown as either individual comments or aggregate approval ratings of the article, and the individual’s need for cognition (NFC) was considered as a potential moderator of their relative effects. High NFC individuals relied more on the approval ratings than individual postings in estimating media influence on general public, but low NFC individuals’ presumption about media influence remained unaltered, regardless of how others’ reactions were presented. However, exposure to dissenting comments led both high and low NFC individuals to perceive the public opinion as more discrepant from the news position, with no corresponding effect for approval ratings. Others’ comments significantly affected participants’ personal opinion, but only for those less prone to engage in analytical thinking.

Need for Cognition and the process of lie detection

Four experiments investigated the influence of Need for Cognition on the process of lie detection. According to the basic assumptions of dual process models, only higher Need for Cognition leads to the use of verbal information when making judgments of veracity. People with lower Need for Cognition predominantly use stereotypical nonverbal information for their judgments. In both Experiments 1 and 2, participants saw a film in which nonverbal cues (fidgety vs. calm movements) and verbal cues (low vs. high plausibility) were manipulated. As predicted, when Need for Cognition was lower, only the nonverbal cues influenced participants' judgments of veracity. In contrast, participants with higher Need for Cognition also used the verbal cues. Experiments 3 and 4 tested the hypothesis that higher Need for Cognition leads to better discrimination of truthful from deceptive messages. Both experiments found that participants with higher Need for Cognition achieved higher accuracy at classifying truthful and deceptive messages than participants with lower Need for Cognition.

Why I am less persuaded than you: People's intuitive understanding of the psychology of persuasion

People generally assume that others are more influenced than the self (the third person perception or TPP). To further understand this perception we investigated people's intuitive understanding of how persuasion works. Participants rated themselves or others on traits reflecting risk and immunity from persuasion (e.g., weak- and strong-mindedness) and need for cognition (NFC). They then rated how much they or others would be influenced by some advertisements. Results showed that participants associated perceived low NFC and high levels of weak-mindedness with influence. Perceived self–other differences in these variables mediated the TPP. Also, perceived NFC explained the role of self-enhancement in the TPP. People's intuitive understanding of persuasion therefore resembles the elaboration likelihood model on the role it grants to NFC.

Learning to Click

The incorporation of personal response system (PRS) clickers into teaching pedagogy has created implications for teaching practice and student satisfaction. Using a current undergraduate business student population, the authors measure student attitudes and preferences and identify student performance outcomes relating to the use of PRS clickers. Study results validate the broad applicability of this technology by showing positive student attitudes, learning experiences, and the mitigation of barriers toward acceptance of this technology. Importantly, measures of student performance correlate to self-reported learning outcomes realized through using PRS clickers. The study also finds evidence that PRS clickers benefit those students who are frequently disadvantaged in the classroom. Specifically, students with a low need for cognition or facing cultural barriers are shown to have a better learning experience when using clicker technology. The article concludes with recommendations on applying PRS clicker technology to teaching practice and identifies areas for future investigation.

The effects of source likeability and need for cognition on advertising effectiveness under explicit persuasion

Abstract While there is evidence that an endorser's likeability plays a determining role in the advertising effectiveness of explicit persuasive appeals, this paper examines the impact of the need for cognition (NFC) as a moderator of this relationship. We find that this effect holds, as predicted, for individuals with lower NFC, but not for those with higher NFC. Furthermore, the effects of explicit persuasion and the endorser's likeability on evaluations of products or services by lower‐NFC consumers were found to be mediated by the attribution of self‐interest. In contrast, advertising effectiveness for higher‐NFC consumers was predictable only by the valence of their cognitive responses to the product. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Ease of Counterfactual Thought Generation Moderates the Relationship Between Need for Cognition and Punitive Responses to Crime

Punitive responses to crime have been linked to a relatively low need for cognition (NFC). Sargent's (2004) findings suggest that this relationship is due to a relatively complex attributional system, employed by high-NFC individuals, which permits them to recognize potential external or situational causes of crime. However, high-NFC individuals may also be more likely to engage in counterfactual thinking, which has been linked to greater judgments of blame and responsibility. Three studies examine the relationship between trait and state NFC and punitiveness in light of counterfactual thinking. Results suggest that the ease of generating upward counterfactuals in response to an unfortunate crime moderates the NFC-punitiveness relationship, such that high-NFC individuals are less punitive than low-NFC individuals only when counterfactual thoughts are relatively difficult to generate. These findings are discussed in light of punishment theory and their possible implications with regard to the legal system.

Six Motivational Reasons for Low School Achievement

Reiss (The normal personality: a new way of thinking about people. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2008) empirically derived a reliable and valid taxonomy of 16 life motives (“psychological needs”). The model suggests six motivational reasons for low achievement in school. Low achievement may be motivated by fear of failure (high need for acceptance), incuriosity (low need for cognition), lack of ambition (low need for power), spontaneity (low need for order), lack of responsibility (low need for honor), and combativeness (high need for vengeance). For junior and senior high school students, the Reiss School Motivation Profile provides a standardized assessment of the six motivational forces. Each motive for low achievement has different implications for intervention.

How need for cognition affects the formation of performance expectancies at school

Individuals with low Need for Cognition (NFC) have been found to process information using a peripheral route compared to individuals higher in NFC. These differences affect the formation of performance expectancies. Based on previous work demonstrating that the formation of performance expectancies can be understood as an information processing event and that inferring expectancies from the specific self-concept requires cognitive motivation, we tested whether students with higher NFC had performance expectancies in a specific subject that more strongly depended on specific self-concept. The participants (554 tenth grade students) reported their NFC, performance expectancies, general self-concept, and specific self-concepts in mathematics and English. Actual performance was assessed for mathematics. Multiple linear regressions supported the interaction-hypothesis concerning performance expectancies in mathematics and English. In addition, the higher the students’ NFC, the stronger actual performance in mathematics related to the specific self-concept. The results suggested that performance expectancies mediated the effect of self-concept on performance. NFC is an important variable influencing motivational processes, and should be included in models describing the relation between self-concepts and individuals beliefs or behaviors.

How need for cognition affects the processing of achievement-related information

The present article analyzed, how need for cognition (NFC) influences the formation of performance expectancies. When processing information, individuals with lower NFC often rely on salient information and shortcuts compared to individuals higher in NFC. We assume that these preferences of processing will also make individuals low in NFC more responsive to salient achievement-related cues because the processing of salient cues is cognitively less demanding than the processing of non-salient cues. Therefore, individuals lower in NFC should tend to draw wider ranging inferences from salient achievement-related information. In a sample of N = 197 secondary school students, achievement-related feedback (grade on an English examination) affected changes in expectancies in non-corresponding academic subjects (e.g., expectation of final grade in mathematics or history) when NFC was lower, whereas for students with higher NFC, changes in expectancies in non-corresponding academic subjects were not affected.

Trait-Focused Spin in Presidential Debates: Surviving the Kisses of Death

In the context of presidential debates, 2 experiments explored the impact of “trait-focused spin”—messages interpreting potentially negative personality traits in terms of broader, positive frameworks—in comparison to unfocused spin—messages simply predicting positive performance. Of interest were differences between high and low Need for Cognition (NFC) participants in their willingness to accept these messages. In Experiment 1, high NFC participants responded well to trait-focused spin but found unfocused spin unpersuasive. Low NFC participants responded equally well to both. In Experiment 2, high NFC participants again rated the target candidate more positively after trait-focused but not after unfocused spin, whereas low NFC participants did the opposite. Thus trait-focused spin can influence even those suspicious of unfocused spin.

Motivational correlates of need for cognition

AbstractNeed for cognition is usually characterized as an intrinsic desire to engage in challenging intellectual activity. In achievement situations, however, it could be associated with more extrinsic goals such as success or the avoidance of failure. Three experiments examined this possibility. Participants in all studies were led to believe they would perform either an easy or a difficult intellectual task that they were likely to fail. After inducing this expectation, indices of extrinsic motivation were obtained. Participants with high need for cognition became more motivated to avoid negative consequences of their behavior (e.g., failure) when they expected the task they would perform to be difficult. In contrast, participants with low need for cognition were not appreciably affected by these expectancies. The anticipation of engaging in intellectual activity apparently stimulates different motives in people with high and low need for cognition, and the mindset induced by these motives influences their later behavioral decisions. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Testimonials Versus Informational Persuasive Messages

This study aims to test the relative effectiveness of testimonials compared to simple informational health messages, presented both through different modalities and to recipients with different levels of involvement. Results of the three independent experiments demonstrate that testimonials are more persuasive when presented through the audio mode rather than when presented through the written mode. Also, the informational messages are more persuasive when perceived by individuals characterized by high rather than low involvement and high rather than low need for cognition. The results are explained in terms of the Elaboration Likelihood Model. The interactive effect of transportation and involvement on persuasion is further examined. The findings help in the development of more efficient message targeting. The highest level of efficiency can be achieved if the appropriate media modality and message format are used for recipients with certain initial involvement or need for cognition.

PENGARUH NEED FOR COGNITION DAN TAKTIK PENJUALAN TERHADAP PERSEPSI HASIL TAWAR MENAWAR

Many consumer purchase contexts are carried out in environments without clear reference points against which consumers assess their relative satisfaction on the bargaining outcome. In the absence of a reference point, perceptions of bargaining outcome may be influenced by cues which are made salient during the course of a bargaining process, one of those is the seller's response time to the proposal offered by a prospective buyer. Through the mediating role of perceived level of conflicts, response time affects the perceived level of bargaining result. Following up1n*e><evious work of Srivastava and Oza (2006) on the effect of seller's response time on buyer's bargaining outcome perception, the author proposes 2 (two) new constructs which take into account the characteristics attributed to the buyer and seller respectively.In order to be able to qualify seller's response time as a valid cue for consumers to assess the seller's internal conflict, author argues that consumers might need to possess sufficient need for cognition (NFC). Consumers with high NFC will put less dependency on response time as a valid clue to infer the level of opponent's conflict in a bargaining process, compared to consumers with low NFC. Borrowing from the literature of adaptive selling behavior, author further argues that the selling style of a seller could also play a moderating role affecting the relationship between seller's level of conflict and buyer's perception on the bargaining outcome. Sellers using internalization selling tactics may reduce the effect of conflict on perceived bargaining outome, while the use of identification selling tactics may give moderating effects in the opposite direction. Future empirical research to test the proposed relationships among variables is strongly encouraged.Keywords: Consumer purchase, Bargaining process, Perspective buyer

Brand Congruity and Comparative Advertising: When and Why Comparative Advertisements Lead to Greater Elaboration

Two experiments are conducted to examine when and why comparative advertisements lead to elaboration. Comparative advertisements in which the sponsor brand and the comparison brand are perceived to be dissimilar lead to greater elaboration, as evidenced by differences in argument quality, than comparative advertisements in which the sponsor and comparison brands are perceived to be similar. This pattern is particularly strong for those individuals not chronically predisposed to elaborate (low need for cognition), whereas those individuals chronically predisposed to elaborate (high need for cognition) elaborate the ads regardless of comparison composition. Results are consistent with our proposed brand congruity explanation.

Juror Need for Cognition and Sensitivity to Methodological Flaws in Expert Evidence1

This study examined whether need for cognition (NC) moderated jurors' sensitivity to methodological flaws in expert evidence. Jurors read a sexual harassment trial summary in which the plaintiff's expert presented a study that varied in ecological validity, general acceptance, and internal validity. High NC jurors found the defendant liable more often and evaluated expert evidence quality more favorably when the expert's study was internally valid vs. missing a control group; low NC jurors did not. Ecological validity and general acceptance did not affect jurors' judgments. Ratings of expert and plaintiff credibility, plaintiff trustworthiness, and expert evidence quality were positively correlated with verdict. Theoretical implications for the scientific reasoning literature and practical implications for trials containing psychological science are discussed.