Boosting Consumer Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Inquiry into Adaptive Decision-Making Interventions and their Role in Consumer Empowerment

Interventions into consumers cognitive processes can be cost-efficient tools to influence consumer behavior in a desirable direction. They have been extensively discussed as tools to empower consumers pursuit of well-being. Recent research, however, increasingly features unanticipated effects of interventions as well as varying effect sizes and points to a conceptual stagnation of choice intervention research. These issues can be due to an empirical emphasis on direct behavioral outcomes rather than processes, neglect of contextual contingencies, and an often-narrow focus on a singular intervention mechanism as opposed to several promising ones. Currently, cognitive intervention research yields abundant potential for empirical and conceptual explication. This dissertation approaches these research opportunities from different disciplinary and methodical angles with the target of contributing to a developing consumer interventions theory. Article 1 is one of the first works which demonstrates that intrapersonal differences as context factors play an important role in predicting intervention success. Across three online experiments, perceived decision importance and perceived time pressure significantly alter the effectiveness of two choice architecture interventions. Article 2 outlines the new research field transformative consumer interventions through an integration of transformative service theory, extant interventions research, and behavioral decision theory. On that theoretical fundament, the novel intervention construct consumer boosting is conceptualized, followed by an analysis of different interventions potential unintended consequences. Article 3 demonstrates that empowering activities increase customer engagement, which makes interventions an important marketing tool. Using a large-scale international survey and two experimental studies, the research also shows that the effect on engagement is largely mediated by consumers perceived control and perceived learning. Overall, the articles in this dissertation confirm that cognitive interventions can be important tools for consumer empowerment, but that substantial research is required for the robust evaluation of situational virtues and risks associated with the utilization of different interventions. It furthermore showcases how different disciplines can contribute to this research program and provides important empirical and conceptual findings which may boost context-aware cognitive interventions research.

Interventions into consumers cognitive processes can be cost-efficient tools to influence consumer behavior in a desirable direction. They have been extensively discussed as tools to empower consumers pursuit of well-being. Recent research, however, increasingly features unanticipated effects of interventions as well as varying effect sizes and points to a conceptual stagnation of choice intervention research. These issues can be due to an empirical emphasis on direct behavioral outcomes rather than processes, neglect of contextual contingencies, and an often-narrow focus on a singular intervention mechanism as opposed to several promising ones. Currently, cognitive intervention research yields abundant potential for empirical and conceptual explication. This dissertation approaches these research opportunities from different disciplinary and methodical angles with the target of contributing to a developing consumer interventions theory. Article 1 is one of the first works which demonstrates that intrapersonal differences as context factors play an important role in predicting intervention success. Across three online experiments, perceived decision importance and perceived time pressure significantly alter the effectiveness of two choice architecture interventions. Article 2 outlines the new research field transformative consumer interventions through an integration of transformative service theory, extant interventions research, and behavioral decision theory. On that theoretical fundament, the novel intervention construct consumer boosting is conceptualized, followed by an analysis of different interventions potential unintended consequences. Article 3 demonstrates that empowering activities increase customer engagement, which makes interventions an important marketing tool. Using a large-scale international survey and two experimental studies, the research also shows that the effect on engagement is largely mediated by consumers perceived control and perceived learning. Overall, the articles in this dissertation confirm that cognitive interventions can be important tools for consumer empowerment, but that substantial research is required for the robust evaluation of situational virtues and risks associated with the utilization of different interventions. It furthermore showcases how different disciplines can contribute to this research program and provides important empirical and conceptual findings which may boost context-aware cognitive interventions research.