Dante Pirouz | Western University Canada (original) (raw)

Papers by Dante Pirouz

This research investigates a frequently encountered and important decision faced by advertisers: ... more This research investigates a frequently encountered and important decision faced by advertisers: how to face profile images of products in advertisements. Three empirical studies find support for a profile-fluency effect: Profile images of products facing inward (versus outward) toward the center (versus edge) of an ad are easier for consumers to process and result in more positive consumer evaluations. In addition, there is evidence that this effect depends on the shopping goal of the consumer. The results have clear implications for current practices in advertising and offer opportunities for future research.

Journal of Advertising, 2015

This research investigates a frequently encountered and important decision faced by advertisers: ... more This research investigates a frequently encountered and important decision faced by advertisers: how to face profile images of products in advertisements. Three empirical studies find support for a profile-fluency effect: Profile images of products facing inward (versus outward) toward the center (versus edge) of an ad are easier for consumers to process and result in more positive consumer evaluations. In addition, there is evidence that this effect depends on the shopping goal of the consumer. The results have clear implications for current practices in advertising and offer opportunities for future research.

Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2015

2 Research on discrepancies between the actual self and ideal self has examined selfdiscrepancies... more 2 Research on discrepancies between the actual self and ideal self has examined selfdiscrepancies in knowledge, skills and stature but age-based self-discrepancies have only recently received attention and so we studied this phenomenon in young adolescents. In three studies we identified a product-category contextual cue that apparently caused adolescents to respond to an existing age-based self-discrepancy. Specifically we found that when the contextual cue was advertising for an age-restricted product, adolescents conformed to dissimilar young adult advertising models and diverged from similar adolescent models. This indicated that the contextual cue caused them to respond to an age-based self-discrepancy and use a product associated with the ideal self rather than the actual self. Importantly, this response was stronger among adolescents that were more dissatisfied with their age. With advertising for an ageunrestricted product, adolescents conformed to adolescent advertising models and diverged from young adult models. Industry policies for age-restricted products assume that similarity drives influence and therefore mandate that advertising models be young adults rather than adolescents.

Journal of Marketing Management, 2014

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

generality of our theory is supported by our analyses of the volatility of prices for other categ... more generality of our theory is supported by our analyses of the volatility of prices for other categories of consumer purchases as well.

PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000

ABSTRACT Advertising is a ubiquitous and pervasive environmental cue. The average consumer, for e... more ABSTRACT Advertising is a ubiquitous and pervasive environmental cue. The average consumer, for example, is exposed on average to three thousand ads per day (Schwartz 2004). Under normal circumstances, consumers choose which advertising messages to attend to both consciously and non-consciously (Bargh 2002; Grunert 1996). However for consumers, environmental stimuli may elicit a unique type of response affecting decision making and driving behavior (Bernheim and Rangel 2004). The aim of this dissertation is to explore how environmental stimuli affect addictive product users and non-users and includes two studies, one using a brain imaging technique developed in neuroscience called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the other using laboratory experiments with ad-exposed non-users and users. Brain imaging data for study 1 showed that non-users who viewed addictive product ads had higher activation in brain regions associated with craving and cognitive resource depletion. Users, on the other hand, had a more complicated reaction. While they exhibited higher activation in some of the regions associated with craving and cognitive resource depletion, they also displayed a significant deactivation pattern in specific brain regions associated with craving and cognitive resource depletion, distinct from those regions that showed an activation pattern. These results indicated that while non-users may be unwittingly vulnerable to the effects of addictive product ads, users employed strategies that mitigated their craving and depletion responses.Study 2 looked at how craving and cognitive resource depletion in non-users and users were affected by exposure to addictive (vs. non-addictive) product ads. It also examined whether ad-induced craving in non-users and users elicited cognitive resource depletion for products not directly related to the addictive product ads. The study recruited over 1600 young adult non-users and users to view ads embedded in a mock magazine format and to complete a questionnaire. Non-users reported higher craving levels and demonstrated higher cognitive resource depletion effects when exposed to addictive (vs. non-addictive) product ads. Conversely users exposed to addictive product ads (vs. non-addictive) reported lower craving and no significant effects for cognitive resource depletion.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Addiction does not begin with the harmful effects of being dependent on a particular consumption ... more Addiction does not begin with the harmful effects of being dependent on a particular consumption behavior such as smoking, alcohol, or illegal drugs. Instead it starts with everyday seemingly benign behaviors that, through psychological, biophysical, and/or environmental triggers, can become harmful and morph into an addiction. We develop a framework based on harm and dependence that can help researchers better understand how consumers become addicted to various types of everyday benign consumption behaviors (e.g., texting, shopping, plastic surgery, and other types of normally acceptable behaviors). The conceptual framework is based on expanding the concept of addiction to include the pre-addiction process with a focus on this continuum of benign to harmful behavioral consumption. This framework describes how consumers progress from a normal state of consumption into a state of addictive abuse and dependence. The framework discusses key issues and future research that can aid public policy researchers, practitioners, and marketers to better understand the entire pre-addiction process.

We model the choice of firms competing in prices in a differentiated products market to bundle ad... more We model the choice of firms competing in prices in a differentiated products market to bundle advertising messages with their goods in return for payment from advertisers. From the firms’ perspective, the potential to earn revenue from advertisers, makes advertising a “good”. However, because consumers in the product market dislike such advertising, the bundling dampens demand and in this sense is a “bad”. There is also a third role played by advertising, however. Since a firm that bundles advertisements with its good sells a less attractive good, it has to price more aggressively than one that does not do such bundling. Thus, bundling advertisements with the good can lead to more aggressive product pricing and thereby intensify product market competition. In this sense, advertising can make things “ugly”.

Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 2011

A perennial problem in social marketing and public policy is the plight of at-risk consumers. The... more A perennial problem in social marketing and public policy is the plight of at-risk consumers. The authors define at-risk consumers as marketplace participants who, because of historical or personal circumstances or disabilities, may be harmed by marketers' practices or may be unable or unwilling to take full advantage of marketplace opportunities. This definition refers to either objective reality or perceptions. Early research focused on consumers who were at risk because they were poor, ethnic or racial minorities, immigrants, women, or elderly. Today's researchers also study consumers who are at risk because they are from religious minorities, disabled, illiterate, homeless, indigent, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender encouraging knowledgeable versus naive consumers. They conclude with a discussion of the significance of including at-risk consumers as full marketplace participants and identify future research directions.

and sharing with colleagues.

This research investigates a frequently encountered and important decision faced by advertisers: ... more This research investigates a frequently encountered and important decision faced by advertisers: how to face profile images of products in advertisements. Three empirical studies find support for a profile-fluency effect: Profile images of products facing inward (versus outward) toward the center (versus edge) of an ad are easier for consumers to process and result in more positive consumer evaluations. In addition, there is evidence that this effect depends on the shopping goal of the consumer. The results have clear implications for current practices in advertising and offer opportunities for future research.

Journal of Advertising, 2015

This research investigates a frequently encountered and important decision faced by advertisers: ... more This research investigates a frequently encountered and important decision faced by advertisers: how to face profile images of products in advertisements. Three empirical studies find support for a profile-fluency effect: Profile images of products facing inward (versus outward) toward the center (versus edge) of an ad are easier for consumers to process and result in more positive consumer evaluations. In addition, there is evidence that this effect depends on the shopping goal of the consumer. The results have clear implications for current practices in advertising and offer opportunities for future research.

Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2015

2 Research on discrepancies between the actual self and ideal self has examined selfdiscrepancies... more 2 Research on discrepancies between the actual self and ideal self has examined selfdiscrepancies in knowledge, skills and stature but age-based self-discrepancies have only recently received attention and so we studied this phenomenon in young adolescents. In three studies we identified a product-category contextual cue that apparently caused adolescents to respond to an existing age-based self-discrepancy. Specifically we found that when the contextual cue was advertising for an age-restricted product, adolescents conformed to dissimilar young adult advertising models and diverged from similar adolescent models. This indicated that the contextual cue caused them to respond to an age-based self-discrepancy and use a product associated with the ideal self rather than the actual self. Importantly, this response was stronger among adolescents that were more dissatisfied with their age. With advertising for an ageunrestricted product, adolescents conformed to adolescent advertising models and diverged from young adult models. Industry policies for age-restricted products assume that similarity drives influence and therefore mandate that advertising models be young adults rather than adolescents.

Journal of Marketing Management, 2014

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

generality of our theory is supported by our analyses of the volatility of prices for other categ... more generality of our theory is supported by our analyses of the volatility of prices for other categories of consumer purchases as well.

PsycEXTRA Dataset, 2000

ABSTRACT Advertising is a ubiquitous and pervasive environmental cue. The average consumer, for e... more ABSTRACT Advertising is a ubiquitous and pervasive environmental cue. The average consumer, for example, is exposed on average to three thousand ads per day (Schwartz 2004). Under normal circumstances, consumers choose which advertising messages to attend to both consciously and non-consciously (Bargh 2002; Grunert 1996). However for consumers, environmental stimuli may elicit a unique type of response affecting decision making and driving behavior (Bernheim and Rangel 2004). The aim of this dissertation is to explore how environmental stimuli affect addictive product users and non-users and includes two studies, one using a brain imaging technique developed in neuroscience called functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the other using laboratory experiments with ad-exposed non-users and users. Brain imaging data for study 1 showed that non-users who viewed addictive product ads had higher activation in brain regions associated with craving and cognitive resource depletion. Users, on the other hand, had a more complicated reaction. While they exhibited higher activation in some of the regions associated with craving and cognitive resource depletion, they also displayed a significant deactivation pattern in specific brain regions associated with craving and cognitive resource depletion, distinct from those regions that showed an activation pattern. These results indicated that while non-users may be unwittingly vulnerable to the effects of addictive product ads, users employed strategies that mitigated their craving and depletion responses.Study 2 looked at how craving and cognitive resource depletion in non-users and users were affected by exposure to addictive (vs. non-addictive) product ads. It also examined whether ad-induced craving in non-users and users elicited cognitive resource depletion for products not directly related to the addictive product ads. The study recruited over 1600 young adult non-users and users to view ads embedded in a mock magazine format and to complete a questionnaire. Non-users reported higher craving levels and demonstrated higher cognitive resource depletion effects when exposed to addictive (vs. non-addictive) product ads. Conversely users exposed to addictive product ads (vs. non-addictive) reported lower craving and no significant effects for cognitive resource depletion.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Addiction does not begin with the harmful effects of being dependent on a particular consumption ... more Addiction does not begin with the harmful effects of being dependent on a particular consumption behavior such as smoking, alcohol, or illegal drugs. Instead it starts with everyday seemingly benign behaviors that, through psychological, biophysical, and/or environmental triggers, can become harmful and morph into an addiction. We develop a framework based on harm and dependence that can help researchers better understand how consumers become addicted to various types of everyday benign consumption behaviors (e.g., texting, shopping, plastic surgery, and other types of normally acceptable behaviors). The conceptual framework is based on expanding the concept of addiction to include the pre-addiction process with a focus on this continuum of benign to harmful behavioral consumption. This framework describes how consumers progress from a normal state of consumption into a state of addictive abuse and dependence. The framework discusses key issues and future research that can aid public policy researchers, practitioners, and marketers to better understand the entire pre-addiction process.

We model the choice of firms competing in prices in a differentiated products market to bundle ad... more We model the choice of firms competing in prices in a differentiated products market to bundle advertising messages with their goods in return for payment from advertisers. From the firms’ perspective, the potential to earn revenue from advertisers, makes advertising a “good”. However, because consumers in the product market dislike such advertising, the bundling dampens demand and in this sense is a “bad”. There is also a third role played by advertising, however. Since a firm that bundles advertisements with its good sells a less attractive good, it has to price more aggressively than one that does not do such bundling. Thus, bundling advertisements with the good can lead to more aggressive product pricing and thereby intensify product market competition. In this sense, advertising can make things “ugly”.

Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 2011

A perennial problem in social marketing and public policy is the plight of at-risk consumers. The... more A perennial problem in social marketing and public policy is the plight of at-risk consumers. The authors define at-risk consumers as marketplace participants who, because of historical or personal circumstances or disabilities, may be harmed by marketers' practices or may be unable or unwilling to take full advantage of marketplace opportunities. This definition refers to either objective reality or perceptions. Early research focused on consumers who were at risk because they were poor, ethnic or racial minorities, immigrants, women, or elderly. Today's researchers also study consumers who are at risk because they are from religious minorities, disabled, illiterate, homeless, indigent, lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender encouraging knowledgeable versus naive consumers. They conclude with a discussion of the significance of including at-risk consumers as full marketplace participants and identify future research directions.

and sharing with colleagues.