Consumer Preferences are Mindset Over Matter

Woman-shopping-reading-label-300

When you buy products, are you: A) flaunting what your momma gave you? or B) reinforcing/growing who you are, as a person? According to researchers at Indiana University and Stanford, your answer and behavior depends on your mindset. 

Recently published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the theory goes something like this. Whether you have a "fixed" or "growth" mindset, it shapes not only your product preferences, but your acceptance of brand extensions, your willingness to trust brands after a product fails, and the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

Those with fixed mindsets are believed to seek products and brands to promote their self-image and positive qualities. Those in the growth mindset want products to help them improve and learn new things. Further, the researchers believe brands and companies can project a fixed or growth mindset to help shape consumer expectations and product impressions.

 

More in Consumers & Markets