心理账户的认知标签与情绪标签对消费决策行为的影响

Effects of Cognitive and Affective Tags in Mental Accounting on Consumer Decision Making

心理账户指个人和家庭在进行经济决策时,从心理上对财富的来源和支付进行编码、记录、分类和估价的心理认知过程。本研究通过4个系列研究探讨了心理账户的认知标签与情绪标签对消费决策行为的影响,并初步探索了其心理机制。结果发现:(1)心理账户的认知标签(财富来源为常规收入或意外之财)可影响消费决策,个体倾向于将常规收入用于实用消费,将意外之财用于享乐消费;(2)心理账户的认知标签与情绪标签对消费决策的影响具有交互作用。即,情绪标签可影响意外之财的消费决策:积极情绪时个体倾向于将其用于享乐消费,消极情绪时个体倾向于将其用于享乐规避,出现心理账户与消费决策的情绪匹配效应;但情绪标签对于常规收入的消费决策无显著影响,个体均倾向于将其用于享乐规避;(3)内疚预期和内疚体验使个体更倾向于将消极情绪的意外之财用于享乐规避。上述结果表明,心理账户的认知标签对消费决策具有"认知匹配效应",情绪标签对消费决策具有"情绪匹配效应",二者存在交互作用。内疚感是导致消极情绪标签的意外之财更倾向享乐规避的心理机制之一。

Mental accounting is the set of cognitive operations used by individuals and households to organize, evaluate, and keep track of financial activities. Mental accounting proposes that people utilize a set of cognitive labels to evaluate their financial activities, each of which is associated with different preferences to consume （Levav＂McGraw, 2009;Kahneman＂Tversky 1984;Thaler 1985, 1990）. Mental accounting researchers have shown that windfall gains are spent more readily and frivolously than ordinary income. Consumers prefer to spend their windfall gains on hedonic consumptions but spend their ordinary incomes on utilitarian consumptions. Levav and McGraw （2009） suggested that emotional accounting, including people’s feelings about money, also influences consumer choices. When people have negative feelings toward windfall, they opt to make utilitarian expenditures. However, the process of how cognitive （windfall or ordinary income） and affective （positive or negative emotion） tags interact in consumer behavior was not explored. This study proposes that both cognitive tag and affective tags in mental accounting affect consumer decision making. The objective of this study is to explore the interactive effect of cognitive and affective tags in mental accounting on consumer decision through four studies. In studies 1a and 1b, the effect of cognitive and affective tags in mental accounting on consumer decision making behavior was measured. Study 1a showed that the positive tag of windfall income is preferred for hedonic consumption, whereas the negative tag of windfall income is preferred for utilitarian consumption. Both positive and negative tags of ordinary income are preferred for utilitarian consumption. Study1b utilized a field study to examine actual consumption behavior. The results showed that when people received 15 Yuan RMB as ordinary income, they prefer to spend it on utilitarian consumption regardless of the positive or negative emotion they feel. However, they receive 15 Yuan RMB as windfall income, they prefer to use it for hedonic consumption in the positive emotion and for utilitarian consumption in the negative emotion. Studies 2a and 2b attempted to explore the reason of negative emotion can make windfall income turn from hedonic to utilitarian consumption. Study2a found that when people expect to feel guilty about spending windfall income on hedonic consumption, they would avoid hedonic consumption. Study2b found that when people felt guilty about windfall income, they tend to avoid hedonic consumption. Compared with the low guilt level group, the high guilt level group prefers to use windfall income for utilitarian consumption. These results suggest that cognitive and affective tags influence consumer behavior. The influence of cognitive tag on consumer decision presents the“cognition match effect”, whereas the influence of affective tag on consumer decision presents the“affect match effect”. Both tags also have an interaction effect on consumer decision. Guilt may be a mechanism that results in the negative tag of windfall being preferred for utilitarian consumption.