Paying for emotions? Information processing inhibition of positive emotions in consumer decision making

Emotions typically exert an influence on individuals’ purchase decisions. Prior research has established those specific emotions influence decision-making, but there is limited understanding of how purchasing behavior varies between contrasting emotions (positive and negative emotions). This study aims to examine variations in purchasing decisions based on different emotional states. Four contextual studies identify the channeling mechanism for the effects of different emotions on purchase decisions, and consumers with positive emotions purchase more. Positive emotions hinder the processing of information, making consumers’ decisions more arbitrary and simpler. Whilst negative emotions facilitate the processing of information and make the decision more rigor. In addition, it was found that consumers with positive emotions prefer hedonistic products, while those with negative emotions prefer utilitarian products. At the same time, the three-way interaction of emotions, product type and product involvement significantly impact the purchase decisions. In high product involvement, consumers’ purchase intention was higher under positive emotions for hedonic products and for utilitarian products under negative emotions. In low involvement, there is no difference.