The Influence of Amusement and Love on Consumers’ Choice between National Brands and Private Labels

Abstract

Love and amusement are positive emotions that are commonly used in marketing. Although a plethora of research has shown that emotions have influence on consumer choice, few prior studies have examined the influence of discrete position emotions (i.e. love and amusement) on consumers’ preference between national brands and store-owned brands. The present study primed amusement, love, and neutral emotions in 195 participants via memory recall, then participants were presented with a $75 budget to choose between nine pairs of national brand and private label products. Although no significant difference was found between emotions and brand choice, people who felt more love were more likely to purchase private label household products. With participant exclusion, people who felt more amusement were emerged as more likely to purchase private label food products. These findings have implications for both advertisers and consumers, suggesting that discrete positive emotions have influence on purchase decisions in various product categories.