Regulatory Focus Orientation Research Articles

Metamotivation: Self-regulating task–motivation fit

Regulating one’s motivation contributes to well-being and success across various domains, including language learning. For example, activating a promotion versus prevention regulatory focus orientation is generally more compatible with tasks requiring creativity and innovation (e.g., brainstorming) versus tasks requiring vigilance (e.g., proofreading), respectively. Metamotivation represents awareness of such task–motivation fit. This article reports a study involving Saudi language learners of English (N = 311) who were presented with language-related tasks requiring two different motivational orientations (e.g., brainstorming vs. proofreading) and were asked to indicate their preferred incentive structure (inducing eagerness vs. vigilance) under two contexts (independent vs. interdependent). The results showed that the participants exhibited metamotivational awareness in terms of promotion, but not prevention, orientation. Female participants displayed a marked overgeneralization bias, clearly favoring a promotion-inducing incentive structure even for vigilance tasks. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to task engagement and persistence and to expanding the scope of language motivation theory, paving the way for a new line of research into language learning metamotivation.

How environmental concerns influence consumers’ anticipated emotions towards sustainable consumption: The moderating role of regulatory focus

Consumers' concerns about environmental degradation and its impact on themselves, others, and living organisms are well-documented. However, research has yet to examine how these concerns influence consumers' anticipated emotions about sustainable consumption intentions, despite the central role of anticipated affective states in forming intentions. Furthermore, the mechanism through which environmental concerns translate into sustainable consumption intentions has not been thoroughly addressed in the literature; nor has the role of consumers' regulatory focus on future-oriented anticipated emotions in the context of sustainable consumption been explored. Building on the literature on environmental concerns, anticipated emotions, and regulatory focus, this study investigates how consumers' environmental concerns explain their anticipated positive emotions and negative emotions, and how these factors collectively influence their intentions towards sustainable consumption. The findings, based on a randomly selected sample of 764 South African consumers, reveal that environmental concerns play a crucial role in shaping consumers' anticipated positive and negative emotions, which in turn impact their intentions towards sustainable consumption. Furthermore, the findings show that the relationship between anticipated emotions and sustainable consumption intentions is moderated by consumers' regulatory focus orientation. The research findings highlight the implications for theory and practice, offering insights for practitioners and policymakers to design interventions that address consumers’ emotional responses to environmental concerns and their regulatory focus in order to promote sustainable consumption behaviours.

We are different and yet the same: the role of CEOs’ regulatory focus and attention in SMEs’ innovation orientation preferences

PurposeDrawing upon upper echelon, regulatory focus and attention theories and focusing on SMEs, the purpose of this paper is to answer questions on how the motivational disposition (promotion vs. prevention regulatory focus) of CEOs affects their information search patterns (i.e. search selection and intensity) and consequently organizational level engagement in different types of innovation activities (exploration vs. exploitation).Design/methodology/approachA quantitative study was conducted collecting data from the CEOs of SMEs operating in the dynamic wine and spirits industry in Greece. The data were collected in two independent time streams and the proposed theoretical model was tested by applying OLS regression analysis.FindingsThe current research provides evidence that differences in CEOs’ level of promotion and prevention focus trigger different information search selection and search intensity patterns. Nonetheless, the attention to innovation components act as mediators only in the hypothesized relationships between a CEO's level of prevention and promotion focus and exploration. Paradoxically, filtered through attention to innovation and triggered from the same motive, that is to reduce negative emotions, promotion focus CEOs choose to direct resources to exploitation and avoid investing in exploration, whilst the opposite was supported for prevention focus CEOs.Practical implicationsThe results highlight the important role of a CEO's regulatory focus orientation in promoting diverse attention to innovation patterns and firm-level innovation tendencies towards exploration and/or exploitation.Originality/valueThis study's contributions extend and combine the theories of regulatory focus, UET and attention in the field of managerial/entrepreneurship behavior and innovation. Therefore, they are valuable for understanding the determinants of firm-level innovation choices (exploration vs. exploitation) in SMEs.

Impact of failure severity levels on satisfaction and behavior: from the perspectives of justice theory and regulatory focus theory

Purpose This study aims to investigate the moderating role of low and high failure severity levels on recovery satisfaction and on behavioral intentions through recovery satisfaction. This research adopted justice theory and regulatory focus theory to provide further explanations on the inconsistencies in the extant literature regarding service failure and responses to service recovery. Design/methodology/approach This study applied a scenario-based experimental design of two (perceived justice: low vs high) by two (failure severity: low vs high) between-subjects factorial design. Data was collected from 237 mobile phone users recruited via convenience sampling. This study examined the hypothesized relations using Hayes (2018) PROCESS macro version 4.0. Findings Perceived justice had a higher positive effect on recovery satisfaction at a high failure severity level. The direct effect of perceived justice on behavioral intentions was significant and positive only at a high level of failure severity, whereas the indirect effect of perceived justice on consumers’ positive behavior through recovery satisfaction was more positive at a high level of failure severity. Research limitations/implications Justice theory and regulatory focus theory can be used to explain how a well-implemented recovery effort can offset losses that are caused by a highly severe service failure leading to satisfaction and positive responses. However, as this study was conducted within a telecommunication service context, this research needs to be replicated in other areas, including the use of other data collection methods and measurement of consumers’ regulatory focus orientation. Practical implications The findings of this study provide managers with valuable insights into the allocation of service providers’ resources for recovery actions according to consumers’ perceived severity levels to regain consumer satisfaction and continued positive behavioral intentions. Originality/value Past research on the effect of failure severity levels on recovery satisfaction and consumers’ positive behavioral intentions is scant, and those studies that examined severity levels have shown conflicting results. This study attempted to advance the research by examining the relationship between perceived justice, recovery satisfaction and behavioral intentions at low and high failure severity levels using justice theory and regulatory focus theory. None of the theories have been examined concurrently in the service failure and recovery framework.

Matching explanations with regulatory focus

PurposeThe present research examines the interaction between explanation type and regulatory focus on informational justice (IJ) and satisfaction with service recovery.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two experiments with 538 respondents.FindingsThe findings imply that the effectiveness of the explanation type depends on the regulatory focus of the recipient and the severity of the failure. Specifically, with low severity failures, promotion-oriented respondents were sensitive to explanations about why failures happened. Conversely, their prevention-oriented counterparts were sensitive to explanations about how failures happened. With high severity failures, respondents were sensitive to how the failure happened irrespective of their regulatory focus orientation. Moreover, IJ is the psychological mechanism explaining such effects on satisfaction with service recovery.Originality/valueThe research contributes to the service recovery literature showing that explanations provided by the service providers should match the regulatory focus of the customers. The study provides new insights to the practicing managers to enhance the effectiveness of the explanations thus reducing recovery dissatisfaction.

Forwards or backwards—regulatory focus orientation of offense and defense players in team sports

ABSTRACT Playing positions in team sports can be divided into two broad categories: offense players who typically prioritise scoring points over preventing the other team from scoring and defense players who typically prioritise preventing the opponents from scoring over scoring themselves. Thus, offense and defense players have very different approaches and goals within the game. It therefore seems likely that the players of these different positions also differ from each other in relevant motivational or self-regulatory characteristics such as their regulatory focus orientation. Because the definitions of regulatory promotion focus and regulatory prevention focus match very closely the definitions of offense and defense players, we hypothesised that offense players should have higher levels of promotion focus than defense players and that defense players should have higher levels of prevention focus than offense players. Using data from a preregistered large-scale online survey on playing positions and personality in team sports (N = 2,185 athletes from 18 different team sports), we found in linear regression analyses that offense players indeed had significantly higher levels of promotion focus, whereas defense players indeed had significantly higher levels of prevention focus. For prevention focus, these differences were also robust to both a different classification of offense and defense and to the inclusion of moderators. Overall, these findings suggest that regulatory focus may play an important role in team sports. Future research should therefore further examine these effects, their mechanisms, and their consequences in terms of sport satisfaction, performance, and regulatory fit.

Customer satisfaction with co-created hospitality services: Regulatory focus orientation and positive disconfirmation

New enhancements that foster more customer-focused services, such as the co-creation of hotel service offerings with hotel guests, have changed the conventional thinking in the hospitality industry. In this regard, the current study contributes to the understanding of the effect of co-creation on customer satisfaction in the hospitality industry, focusing on customers’ idiosyncratic characteristics. Particularly, the study investigates the moderating role of customers’ regulatory focus orientation (promotion vs. prevention) and the mediating role of customers’ positive disconfirmation on the relationship between value co-creation (VCC) level of hotel services and customer satisfaction. The model is tested using an experimental design with 328 responses. The results show that a high level of VCC in hotel services leads promotion-focused (prevention-focused) customers to experience lower (higher) levels of positive disconfirmation compared to a low level of VCC, as promotion-focused (prevention-focused) customers have higher (lower) performance expectations from a high VCC service offering due to the regulatory fit (non-fit) they have with the service design. The findings also indicate that service failure generates less dissatisfaction in a high VCC level in hotel services than a low VCC level since customers take more responsibility for the unfavorable outcome when they participate more in the VCC process. These results indicate that when hotels design co-created services, they need to generate coherence between customers’ regulatory focus orientation and the service's VCC level.

Gains-focused vs risk-averse orientations and their impact on location-based marketing services in tourism

对比以收益为中心与风险规避为中心的不同取向, 及其在旅游中对定位营销服务的影响研究目的调节焦点理论提出, 消费者决策以及目标达成行为可以基于对收益/非收益敏感的促进目标或反映对损失/非损失敏感度的保守目标（Aaker and Lee, 2001）。本研究的目的是研究调节焦点及其对定位营销在旅行体验中的感知价值和使用的影响。研究设计/方法/方法旅行计划策略是按照促进或保守路线制定来评估调节的取向, 并检查受访者对定位营销(LBM) 服务价值的看法。本研究运用回归分析评估主要关系, 然后分析评估“旅行兴趣信息”（折扣券等）在LBM关系中的调节焦点感知价值中的中介作用。研究发现调查结果表明, 促进型路线的效果明显大于保守型的效果。此外, 旅游兴趣信息的重要性（折扣券、地图等）在促进调节焦点（相比于保守型）中显得尤其重要。实践意义研究结果证明了调节焦点是旅游消费行为的差异化因素, 并展示了如何将其用于有效地定位营销信息以增强旅游体验。目的地营销组织可以在领导力、决策制定和一线员工创造力等领域的组织环境中应用调节焦点理论, 从而提供难忘的旅行体验。研究原创性/价值本论文是首次研究以收益为中心/风险规避为中心的旅行计划, 以及其在旅行经历中对定位营销服务计划中价值感知的影响之间的关系的研究之一。

Influence of Gender on the Word-of-mouth Process in Restaurant Consumption Using Chronic Regulatory Focus

ABSTRACT This study aimed to examine the impact of gender on the word-of-mouth (WOM) process in restaurant consumption by adopting the regulatory focus orientation of consumers as a fundamental factor that affects this process. The study analyzed a total of 361 valid questionnaires collected from restaurant consumers in the US to examine the WOM process. The analysis produced significant empirical evidence. The results revealed that gender plays a significant role in psychological aspects such as personality traits (chronic regulatory focus) and emotion but not in cognitive aspects, including WOM intention. This study makes theoretical contributions by extending the literature on gender, WOM, and regulatory focus. The results also present implications and suggestions for future research.

Perceived Affordances and Regret in Online Travel Agencies

Despite the revolutionary system of online booking, the decision-making process for booking hotels is still very stressful for customers, who face much uncertainty. The wide range of products and great volume of information result in significant cognitive overload. Therefore, online travel agencies (OTAs) try to reduce customers’ cognitive effort requirements and to induce effective decision making by triggering potential actions through perceived affordance. This study aims to explore the influence of perceived affordance on purchase decisions and postpurchase emotion in the context of OTAs. The findings show that explicit affordance and hidden affordance significantly affect impulsive buying, thus resulting in postpurchase discomfort and regret. Additionally, the outcomes of a multiple group analysis revealed a significant moderating effect of regulatory focus orientation on impulsive buying and postpurchase regret during an overall purchase process involving OTAs.

The Impact of Paradoxical Leadership on Employee Voice Behavior: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Paradoxical leadership is associated with positive behavioral outcomes. However, the link between paradoxical leadership and voice behavior is not comprehensively studied in extant literature. This paper builds a theoretical model to reveal how paradoxical leadership facilitates promotive and prohibitive voice behavior of employees, drawing upon social cognitive theory and regulatory focus theory. We proposed a moderated mediation model that employees’ voice behavior is related to paradoxical leadership through self-efficacy and psychological safety. With data from 268 leader – employee pairs of questionnaires, this study conducted a structural equation model to test the conceptual framework. The results show that (a) leader’s paradoxical leadership related to employee’s promotive and prohibitive voice behaviors positively; (b) employee’s self-efficacy and psychological safety mediate the extent of effect the superior’s paradoxical leadership has on subordinate’s voice behavior; (c) the more obvious the subordinate’s promotion focus orientation, the stronger the mediating effect of self-efficacy; and (d) the more obvious the subordinate’s prevention focus orientation, the weaker the mediating effect of psychological safety. These conclusions reveal the influencing mechanism of a superior’s paradoxical leadership on a subordinate’s voice behavior. It expands paradoxical leadership-related studies, enriches studies related to the field of “leader – employee voice behavior,” and highlights the relationship between the duality of paradoxical leadership behavior on employees with different regulatory focus orientation with a new perspective.

Motivational virtual agent in e-learning: the roles of regulatory focus and message framing

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to examine the effects of a learner’s regulatory focus orientation and message frame of a motivational virtual agent in an e-learning environment.Design/methodology/approachOn the basis of quasi-experimental design, university sophomores (n = 210) categorized as chronic promotion-focus, chronic prevention-focus or neutral regulatory focus interacted with either an agent that conveyed gain-frame message or an agent that conveyed loss-frame message to persuade learners to engage with the e-learning content. Statistical analyses assessed the effects of regulatory focus and message frame on agent perception, motivation and cognitive load.FindingsThe results of this paper did not support the hypotheses that chronic promotion-focus learners will benefit more with gain-frame agent than a loss-frame agent, and that chronic prevention-focus learners will benefit more with loss-frame agent than a gain-frame agent. There were main effects of message frame (albeit small effects) – the loss-frame agent was perceived to be more engaging, induced higher motivation and prompted higher germane load than the gain-frame agent. With gain-frame agent, chronic promotion-focus learners had higher motivation toward the e-learning task than other learners.Originality/valuePrior studies have examined regulatory focus and message frame with agents simulating virtual health advocates. This paper extended on this by examining these roles with a persuasive agent simulating virtual tutor in an e-learning environment.

Regulatory focus, time perspective, locus of control and sensation seeking as predictors of risky driving behaviors

Empirical evidence shows that most of the road safety efforts fail to reach the most risk-prone drivers. In light of this issue, we have developed this study in order to distinguish between high-risk drivers and low-risk drivers based on variables that have already been shown to affect the effectiveness of preventive messages: regulatory focus orientation, time perspective, locus of control and sensation seeking. We sent paper and pencil questionnaires to five thousand low-risk drivers and five thousand high-risk drivers randomly selected based on their driving records. A driver who has been convicted of two or more traffic infractions with demerit points (e.g., exceeding speed limits, red light violation, no seatbelt, etc.) in the last two years was considered a high-risk driver whereas a low-risk driver had no traffic offense registered in his driving record in the last four years. We received two thousand and sixty-four completed questionnaires for a response rate of 20.6%. Seven hundred and ninety-eight belonged to the group of high-risk drivers and one thousand two hundred and sixty-six to the group of low-risk drivers. The results show that a promotion focused orientation, a present hedonistic perspective, an internal locus of control, and sensation seeking are associated with more risky driving behaviors and could therefore distinguish between high-risk and low-risk drivers. These results increase the understanding of risky drivers’ personalities and motivations. The literature review provides insight into how these findings might be considered in developing more effective road safety programs and campaigns, and the conclusion encourages researchers to explore these new avenues in future research.

Prosocial process fit: normatively expected purchasing increases the prosocial premium

PurposeThis paper aims to investigates the effect of normative expectations in the purchase process on consumers’ value perceptions for prosocial products (e.g. environmentally friendly products) relative to conventional non-prosocial products. It extends the literature on both prosocial products and regulatory fit.Design/methodology/approachFive factorial experiments are employed, testing diverse samples, including Dutch university students and American online panel participants from the general population.FindingsFindings show that regulatory fit between the prosocial product orientation and an emphasis on normative expectations in the purchase process (termed prosocial process fit) increases perceptions of prosocial product value (relative to conventional products). This effect is mediated by engagement.Research limitations/implicationsThe current research is limited to investigating how value perceptions of prosocial products can be increased (i.e. through prosocial process fit). Future research is warranted that analogously considers conditions that would increase value for non-prosocial products as well (e.g. by creating a fit with a non-prosocial process).Practical implicationsThe research shows how prosocial manufacturers and retailers can redesign the purchase process to increase customers’ engagement, perceptions of prosocial product value and prosocial product purchase.Social implicationsThis work serves to explain differences in consumers’ value perceptions for prosocial products. Hence, it shows how socially responsible consumption can be better supported in society.Originality/valueThis work demonstrates a new kind of regulatory fit based on fit between prosocial products and normative expectations in the purchase process (i.e. moving beyond the types of regulatory fit previously examined in this context, such as with fit between regulatory focus orientation and goal pursuit). The authors use this to provide a much needed explanation for the heterogeneity in the literature regarding the value that consumers experience for prosocial products relative to conventional ones.

Do prevention-focused orientations conserve cognitive resources?

Correlations between the type of regulatory focus orientation and performance levels were investigated from the perspective of conserving cognitive resources. University students (N = 64) participated in the experiment. They were induced to have a promotion- or prevention-focused orientation and were required to conduct a lower priority task followed by a higher priority task. Results indicated that when the prevention-focused orientation was activated, participants did not spend much effort to achieve lower priority tasks and the performance level was lower compared to when the promotion-focused orientation was activated. It was considered that the intention for conserving cognitive resources increased because the prevention-focused participants knew that they would be engaging in a higher priority task in the future. Conversely, these same participants demonstrated higher performance in higher priority tasks implemented later, compared to when the promotion-focused orientation was activated. The above results suggest that cognitive resources are allocated intentionally under prevention-focused conditions.

Why not promote promotion for green consumption?

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to empirically test the effects of regulatory focus (RF) orientation (promotion/prevention) on decisions to purchase green products. The two experimental studies conducted aimed to test whether individuals in a prevention (promotion) state were more (or less) inclined to buy green products.Design/methodology/approachTo test the effect of RF on green and non-green consumption, the authors carried out two experimental studies (one considering a service – car sharing – the other a physical product – a laundry detergent). The studies are 2 (RF: prevention vs promotion) × 2 (product type: green vs non-green) between factorial design involving 196 and 92 participants, respectively.FindingsPromotion-focus has a powerful influence on green consumption. In both studies, individuals with a promotion focus seemed to be more inclined to buy green products as opposed to individuals in a prevention state.Research limitations/implicationsThe main limitations of this study first relate to the results of the two experiments. Even though both studies showed that promotion-focused rather than prevention-focused individuals are more inclined to buy green products, the differences between the two orientations in green condition are not statistically significant. As a result, the studies cannot determine whether to reject or accept the two main hypothesis.Social implicationsThis paper provides some preliminary indications that could be useful to encourage consumers to adopt “green” styles of consumption. Focusing on an individual’s RF is a useful strategy to induce them to change their consumption choices abruptly. Relying more on a “promotion” rather than a “prevention” focus, individuals would be compelled to take immediate responsible behavior.Originality/valueThis paper aims to fill the gap on the role of RF in green consumption. Contrary to the accepted idea that a prevention state is more compatible with consumer ethics than promotion state, the studies showed the controversial role assumed by a prevention state in green consumption.

Forgiving Sports Celebrities with Ethical Transgressions: The Role of Parasocial Relationships, Ethical Intent and Regulatory Focus Mindset

ABSTRACTIn three experiments, we show that a participant's parasocial relationship with a sports celebrity, ethical intent and regulatory focus orientation influence their forgiveness towards a celebrity's ethical transgression. First, people with a strong (vs. weak) positive parasocial relationship with a sports celebrity were more forgiving after a protective-intent motivated transgression, but were less forgiving after an acquisitive-intent motivated transgression. We then show promotion-focused individuals with a strong parasocial relationship in acquisitive-intent condition were more forgiving than prevention-focused individuals. Finally, even when subjects had a negative parasocial relationship with a celebrity, promotion-focused (vs. prevention-focused) individuals were more forgiving towards a protective intent-motivated transgression. Together, the results shed light on people's inclination to forgive sports celebrities that have committed ethical transgressions.

Effect of regulatory focus orientation and its mechanism on the justice sense of employees

In an organisation, the sense of justice has a significant influence on employee's performance. And the study of justice is bound to involve individual information processing and value evaluation of the organisation. The regulatory focus theory describes different individual regulates his attitude and behaviours to fit the target. So, it is necessary to investigate the relationship between regulatory focus theory and the justice sense of employee. The influence of regulatory focus theory on the sense of justice, and the influencing factors of regulatory focus were explored in this paper. This study showed that the regulatory focus of individual could be stimulated by changing self-explanatory, so as to improve the sense of distributive justice. And the sense of justice is the important factor of much important organisational behaviour. This research would provide some practical reference for the motivation of employee's performance and provide a new perspective for organisational behaviour study.

Effect of regulatory focus orientation and its mechanism on the justice sense of employees

Effect of regulatory focus orientation and its mechanism on the justice sense of employees

How products induce regulatory fit: evidence from the health domain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test whether the simple exposure to different types of products can trigger different motivational orientation on consumers (prevention vs promotion), which in turn would match message frame and increase persuasion. Design/methodology/approach – Three experiments test whether exposure to product categories can trigger consumer’s regulatory focus orientation. Participants in the pilot study are students, while participants in the two other studies are consumers. Findings – A first pilot study randomly exposed participants to a product that could trigger promotion orientation (e.g. orange juice) versus a product that could trigger prevention orientation (e.g. sunscreen). Participants exposed to promotion (prevention) product suggest more promotion (prevention) strategies to reach a particular goal (preparing for their final exam). Study 2 shows that gain (vs loss)-framed messages using health appeals have better evaluations when featuring promotion (vs prevention) products. Study 3 generalizes these results using another sample and different product categories. Research limitations/implications – The paper uses some product categories and including other categories would increase external validity. Practical implications – The practical implication is to help marketers to choose the right health argument to match the product category they are trying to sell. Originality/value – Theoretically, the results from three studies show that exposure to products can temporarily trigger a consumer’s regulatory focus and that messages using health arguments that are consistent with this regulatory focus are more persuasive than those that are not. Managerially, these results help managers to adapt the right message in function of the product category.