Evolutionary bases of consumption 2020 part 1 PDF

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The evolutionary bases of consumption Reading: Durante, K. M., & Griskevicius, V. (2018). Evolution and consumer psychology. Consumer Psychology Review, 1(1), 4-21.

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Further reading

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1. Introduction

Why do ... We smile We fall in love We enjoy learning skills We feel jealousy We imitate high-prestige individuals We feel moral outrage We enjoy group activities Women experience morning sickness during pregnancy Women use more cosmetics than men Women have longer hair than men We give presents We sometimes like extravagant people, and at other times we don’t ...

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.... Just “because”?

All these behaviors are solutions to specific survival problems that our ancestors faced thousands of years ago. These behaviors are hardwired responses to certain situations. 3

1. Introduction

Why does a chicken sit on her eggs to brood? What motivates the chicken

Proximate explanations versus ultimate explanations

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1. Introduction What Was the Human Mind Designed to Comprehend?

The fact that humans display more “flexibly intelligent” behavior than other animals is because we have more instincts than they do, not fewer! 5

1. Introduction What Was the Human Mind Designed to Comprehend?

Although we have the capacity for reflection, little of our behavior is actually driven by it 6

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1. Introduction

First hominid: 15 million year ago Australopitecus: 3.6 million years ago

Homo (Habilis): 2.5 million years ago

Homo Erectus: 1.8 million years ago Homo Sapiens: 500 000 years ago

Homo Sapiens Sapiens: 200 000 years ago

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1. Introduction

Conclusion from the introduction Humans are not qualitatively different from other animals, our behavior is for the largest part driven by instincts!

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2. Hardwired preferences

If most of our behavior is driven by instincts and emotions, how do they get programmed in our mind?

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2. Hardwired preferences

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201112/animals-in-our-brain-mickey-mouse-teddy-bearsand-cuteness

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2. Hardwired preferences

… similarly, we have hardwired aversions, mostly related to disease avoidance

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The mechanism

…

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3. The mechanism of evolution

Three characteristics that make evolution possible

1. Variation Variations occur - Characteristics are encoded in DNA 2. Inheritance Genes and the Characteristics they code for are hereditary 3. Selection Characteristics that are adaptive are more likely to be passed on and their frequency in a population increases

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3. The mechanism of evolution

Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (Pleistocene: 2 500 000 years ago – 12 000 years ago)

3. The mechanism of evolution Environment of Evolutionary Adaptedness (Pleistocene: 2 500 000 years ago – 12 000 years ago)

Our minds have not necessarily been designed to make good decisions in a shopping mall… Still, evolutionary psychology can help us understand why, as consumers, we behave the way we do.

4. Applications

The logic of evolution : “better” genes that code for adaptive characteristics become more frequent in future generations. There is genetic competition. ….

1. Adaptations that shaped our decision making 2. Signaling of social position (status)

How are our consumer behaviors shaped by these encoded characteristics? 18

4.1. Decision making and preferences

1. Food preferences 2. “Smart” decision making 3. Logic in reasoning

4. Political preferences

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4.1. Decision making and preferences 1. Food preferences [or: the marketing of super-stimuli] Caloric intake in a context of caloric scarcity and uncertainty

Which side of the menu looks more attractive?

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4.1. Decision making and preferences 1. Food preferences Caloric intake in a context of caloric scarcity and uncertainty

Our taste preferences are adaptations Fat, sweet, and salty foods No storage, so gorging WAS an adaptive behavior in the EEA In our current environment, it is NOT.

4.1. Decision making and preferences 1. Food preferences Caloric intake in a context of caloric scarcity and uncertainty

It is difficult to resist temptations Food producing companies provide supernormal stimuli

M

stry

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4.1. Decision making and preferences 1. Food preferences Caloric intake in a context of caloric scarcity and uncertainty

Exploitation of hoarding reflex When we feel hungry, we buy more food (Nisbett and Kanouse, 1969)

Not only supermar From this perspective, which trait would make modern individuals more succesful, and could therefore become more pronounced in the future?

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4.1. Decision making and preferences

1. Food preferences 2. Appeal of Alcohol Ripe fruit is an important source of energy and vitamines In ripening fruit the fermentation process has started. Ripe fruit contains 0.6% alcohol (ethanol) Smell of ethanol aids in localisation Preference for alcohol is the consequence of successful adaptation: finding and prefering ripe fruit.

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4.1. Decision making and preferences 2. “Smart” decision making Loss aversion

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4.1. Decision making and preferences

2. “Smart” decision making Loss aversion

some suggestion that loss aversion is an hardwired phenomenon: capuchin monkeys display loss aversion

Loss aversion is ecologically rational!

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4.1. Decision making and preferences 2. “Smart” decision making Recognition heuristic

Preference for the most well-known alternative.

✓ 59%



75%

“Sticking to what you know” had clear benefits terms of survival. People willing to take risks often paid for it…

Brand recognition and familiarity!!!! 27

4.1. Decision making and preferences

3. Logic reasoning Wason selection task

“You are shown a set of four cards placed on a table, each of which has a number on one side and a colored patch on the other side. The visible faces of the cards show 3, 8, red and brown. Which card(s) must you turn over in order to test the truth of the proposition that if a card shows an even number on one face, then its opposite face is red?

3

8

Red

Brown

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4.1. Decision making and preferences 3. Logic reasoning

The city of Barcelona wants to establish a strict ban of drinking under the age of 18. You work in a bar, and you will lose your job unless you enforce the rule:

“If a person is drinking alcohol, s/he must be over 18 years old” The cards below have information about four people sitting in your bar. Each card represents one person. One side of the card tells you what the person is drinking, the other side mentions the age. Indicate which cards you wil definitely need to turn over to see if anyone is breaking the rule.

Drinking beer

Drinking coke

25 years old

16 years old

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4.1. Decision making and preferences

3. Logic reasoning Our cognitive capacities are designed to perform specific tasks. Not for general-purpose logic analysis.

We are not (economically) “rational”, we are smarter than that!

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4.1. Decision making and preferences

4. Policital preferences: is there a link with our disease avoidance system? Staying away from pathogens helps us stay alive! Pregnancy morning sickness Generalized system: any cue that signals infection risk triggers risk avoidance behavior Bacterial odor → intentions to buy and use condoms (Tybur et. Al, 2011)

Consumption choices Seeing farmacy → Preference for new over used products (Huan and Ackerman, 2012)

Social effects Activating disease avoidance system → introverted behavior, less tolerance to foreigners (Mortensen et al., 2010) But: After cleaning hands, less prejudice to foreigners (Huang et al., 2012)

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Do politically conservatives have a stronger pathogen avoidence system?

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4.1. Decision making and preferences Why is disgust sensitivity related to political preferences? Group selection: Groups that develop successful cooperative practices dominate and terminate less well organized groups.

Evolution of psychological features that promote… Preserving in-group integrity: cooperation and order within the group Aggression towards out-groups: respond defensively to “alien” influences A mechanism was needed a solution to organize us- versus them issues: disgust

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4.1. Decision making and preferences

Disgust Disgust was a good candidate to organize in- and versus out-group processes: It already organized in-versus-out my body issues: Exhaptation

Disgust is universally experienced Goal: protect physical integrity and purity - Protect from contaminants and pathogens “keep things that should be on the outside, out, and those that should be on the inside, in”

Disgust developed to play the same role at the level of the group Internal order → respect cultural symbols Clear boundaries between in and out 35...