| Prior research has documented the effect of tempting stimuli (conceptualized as motivationally appetitive stimuli in this dissertation, e.g., dessert) on a relevant behavior domain (e.g., eating the dessert). Drawing on Metcalfe and Mischel's (1999) hot and cool system metaphor, this dissertation predicts that a tempting stimulus can induce a time preference change in a subsequent unrelated consumption decision. It is argued that the time preference change results in a greater immediate gratification tendency observed in an apparently irrelevant intertemporal choice. The hypothesis was tested in a series of experiments. In experiments 1 and 2, participants were more likely to choose smaller sooner (vs. larger later) cash rewards or vice (vs. virtue) options after being exposed to tempting stimuli of unrelated categories. Experiment 3 demonstrated that tempting stimuli induced greater intertemporal discount rates in monetary tradeoffs. In experiment 4, participants were found to be more likely to purchase unplanned products under a very tight budget if they were aroused by the tempting stimuli prior to making the decision. The first four experiments provided converging evidence showing that the impulse induced by a tempting stimulus is a generalized consumption urgency. In experiment 5, it was shown that the measured present-orientation tendency was greater in the presence of appetitive stimuli; and participants who rated higher on the present-orientation tendency evaluated future gains less than those who rated lower on the measure. Finally, experiment 6 showed that a time interval of ten minutes between exposure to the appetitive stimulus and the subsequent intertemporal decision would weaken the effect. Taken together, by putting time in perspective, this dissertation suggests and shows that appetitive stimuli can have a motivational impact (i.e., changes in time preference) on subsequent intertemporal decisions, resulting in greater consumption impulsivity across behavioral domains. |
