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Altering experienced utility: The impact of story writing and self-referencing on preferences

Publication ,  Journal Article
West, PM; Huber, J; Min, KS
Published in: Journal of Consumer Research
December 1, 2004

This article examines the impact of writing stories on the evaluation of consumption objects. Generating a story creates greater liking for a painting than generating a dialogue about it. The positive impact of stories does not derive from generating more positive thoughts. Instead, stories generate fewer affective thoughts than do dialogues. The importance of generated stories derives from deeper elaboration, providing enhanced recollection of the coherent narrative, ease of generation, and more favorable attitudes toward the task. This work extends prior research on narratives and self referencing by making the consumer an active participant in the generation process, setting a rich agenda for future research.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Journal of Consumer Research

DOI

ISSN

0093-5301

Publication Date

December 1, 2004

Volume

31

Issue

3

Start / End Page

623 / 630

Related Subject Headings

  • Marketing
  • 3506 Marketing
  • 1701 Psychology
  • 1506 Tourism
  • 1505 Marketing
 

Citation

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West, P. M., Huber, J., & Min, K. S. (2004). Altering experienced utility: The impact of story writing and self-referencing on preferences. Journal of Consumer Research, 31(3), 623–630. https://doi.org/10.1086/425097
West, P. M., J. Huber, and K. S. Min. “Altering experienced utility: The impact of story writing and self-referencing on preferences.” Journal of Consumer Research 31, no. 3 (December 1, 2004): 623–30. https://doi.org/10.1086/425097.
West PM, Huber J, Min KS. Altering experienced utility: The impact of story writing and self-referencing on preferences. Journal of Consumer Research. 2004 Dec 1;31(3):623–30.
West, P. M., et al. “Altering experienced utility: The impact of story writing and self-referencing on preferences.” Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 31, no. 3, Dec. 2004, pp. 623–30. Scopus, doi:10.1086/425097.
West PM, Huber J, Min KS. Altering experienced utility: The impact of story writing and self-referencing on preferences. Journal of Consumer Research. 2004 Dec 1;31(3):623–630.
Journal cover image

Published In

Journal of Consumer Research

DOI

ISSN

0093-5301

Publication Date

December 1, 2004

Volume

31

Issue

3

Start / End Page

623 / 630

Related Subject Headings

  • Marketing
  • 3506 Marketing
  • 1701 Psychology
  • 1506 Tourism
  • 1505 Marketing