| The impact of affect on consumer behavior is well documented; however, no unique pattern of behavior can be expected from a valenced affective state. While one can find support for the intuitive congruency-type of hypothesis in which positive mood facilitates action or increases purchase intention and negative mood inhibits action or decreases purchase intentions, it is now clear that significant exceptions exist. A negative mood may well encourage action whereas positive mood can inhibit action. Most importantly, the models available in the literature have focused primarily on explaining one or two effects (e.g., when negative affect encourages behavior), leading to a lack of an overarching theory capable of accounting for the sometimes mitigating and sometimes encouraging impact of positive and negative affective states on behavior and behavioral intentions.; An integrative model of affective behavior (IMAB) is therefore proposed, in which the informational and regulatory properties (mechanisms) of current and anticipated affective states simultaneously mediate the impact of affective states on behavior. A broadly-based review of the affect-behavior literature demonstrates that relying on a single mechanism produces, in the aggregate, an ambiguous and often conflicting account of affect's role in guiding behavior. Three research streams well known in the literature (helping, risk-taking, and eating behavior) are reviewed, and their apparent inconsistencies are elucidated under the proposed model. Finally, in a series of three experiments, critical moderating variables associated with each of the two mechanisms (affective evaluation and affect-regulation) are investigated, providing strong initial support for the model. |
