ABSTRACT
Nature affects our psychological state in different manners but it also influences our feelings. This research conducted a survey to test which environmental condition will evoke the emotion awe to the strongest extent, there were three conditions; awesome nature, mundane nature and mundane urban. This research also tested if experiencing awe would cause people to feel less materialistic. We found that awesome nature will evoke awe in the strongest extent in contrast to mundane nature and mundane urban and that people experiencing awe will feel less materialistic. This study also found that the construal level of a person will positively mediate the relation between awe and (non-)materialism. Which means that people experiencing awe will process information with their high construal level, they describe the occurred event in a more abstract manner compared to people who process information with their low construal level. Eventually people who process information with their high construal level feel less materialistic. Besides that, this study researched whether openness to experience and dominance could function as a moderator of the effect between awe and (non-)materialism but we found no significant effect within this current study.
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CONTACT
Name: Dominique Cuppers
Adress: Van Basten Batenburgstraat 31, 7131 CC Lichtenvoorde Telephone: +31 (0)6 45 110 420
Institution: University of Groningen, the Netherlands Master track: MSc Marketing Management
E-mail: d.s.c.cuppers@student.rug.nl
Student number: S1985744
First supervisor: dr. Yannick Joye Second supervisor: dr. Koert van Ittersum Date: 17 – 06 – 2015
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CONTENT
ABSTRACT... 0
CONTACT ... 1
INTRODUCTION ... 4
Nature and humans ... 4
Nature in advertising ... 4
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK ... 7
Awe ... 7
Definition awe ... 7
Central appraisal: Perceived vastness ... 8
Central appraisal: Need for accommodation ... 8
Additional appraisals ... 9
Awe; selfdiminishing ... 9
Awe and materialism ... 9
Environmental conditions ... 10
Awesome nature/spectacular nature ... 10
Mundane nature ... 11
Mundane urban ... 11
Non-materialism ... 11
Definition materialism ... 11
Environmentalism vs. materialism ... 11
Experiential purchases vs. material possessions ... 12
Effects on (non-) materialism ... 12
Construal level ... 13
Definition construal level ... 13
High level construals ... 13
Low level construals ... 14
Psychological distance ... 14
Construal level theory (CLT) ... 15
Construal level as possible mediator ... 15
Openness to experience... 16
Definition openness to experience ... 16
Openness to experience as possible moderator ... 16
Dominance ... 17
Definition dominance ... 17
Dominance as possible moderator ... 17
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RESEARCH DESIGN ... 19
Design and participants ... 19
Materials ... 19 Images ... 19 Measurement scales ... 20 Procedure ... 22 RESULTS ... 24 Manipulation check... 24
Environmental conditions and awe ... 24
Mood measurement ... 24
Environmental conditions, awe and (non-) materialism ... 25
Awe, construal level and (non-) materialism ... 26
Mediation analysis: Construal level ... 26
Moderation analysis: Openness to experience and dominance ... 27
DISCUSSION ... 28
Summary of findings ... 28
Effect environmental condition on awe and (non-) materialism ... 28
Effect environmental condition on mood ... 28
Effects construal level ... 28
Effects openness to experience and dominance ... 28
Interpretation of findings ... 29
Connections and relevance to existing theory ... 29
Managerial or practical implications ... 30
Limitations and recommendations for further research ... 31
REFERENCES ... 32
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The effect of awesome nature
used in ads on (non-) materialism
U N I V E R S I T Y O F G R O N I N G E N
M A S T E R T H E S I S M A R K E T I N G M A N A G E M E N T
INTRODUCTION
Nature and humans
Nature is perceived as a valued and appreciated part of life (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989). People get attracted by nature, this is widely considered a significant aspect of human behavior (Wilson, 1984). Interacting with nature is seen as a form of therapy with no side effects, which is readily available, and could improve one’s cognitive functioning at zero costs (Berman, Jonides & Kaplan, 2008). It could also predict well-being, but the individual has to be emotionally attuned to nature’s beauty to create an effect (Zhang, Howell & Iyer, 2014). Besides that, interacting with nature could improve your attention and your memory (Tennessen & Cimprich, 1995), but also generates more life satisfaction, greater happiness and positive affect (Zhang, Howell & Iyer, 2014). Spending time in nature could result in feelings of joy and relaxation but it could also be an escape from the pressures, life stresses, other people, distractions and concerns of the day-to-day life (Ulrich, 1979; Frederickson & Anderson, 1999; McDonald, Wearing & Ponting, 2009; Joye & Bolderdijk, 2015).
Nature in advertising
The positive effect of nature on people is also used in advertisements to evoke positive associations people have with nature (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; Colarelli & Dettmann, 2003; Hartmann & Apaolaza-Ibáñez, 2010). The use of nature images in advertising often correspond with specific preferred landscapes such as savanna-like landscapes, grassy landscapes, mountains and hills, landscapes involving water elements, closed forest canopy and landscapes involving flowers and fruits (Colarelli & Dettmann, 2003; Hartmann & Apaolaza-Ibáñez, 2010). Existing literature tells us that exposure to nature images can positively influence the psychophysiological state of people and improve their mood and/or concentration (Ulrich, 1981; Ulrich, 1986; Hartmann & Apaolaza-Ibáñez, 2010; Joye & Bolderdijk, 2015).
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Different types of nature or urban scenery could be able to evoke an emotion called awe, a feeling of being overwhelmed with beauty, threat, exceptional ability, virtue or even being in the presence of the supernatural (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). The current study will focus on the beauty of nature or urban scenery as an appraisal of awe. The central hypothesis of this study concerns that experiencing awe would lead to feeling less materialistic. Since experiencing awe could cause feelings of self-diminishing, preferences for experiences over material possessions, the need of helping others and their surroundings instead of the self could imply that people experiencing awe feel less materialistic (Richins & Dawson, 1992; Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003; Shiota, Keltner & John, 2006; Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007; Diessner, Solom, Frost, Parsons & Davidson, 2008; Griskevicius, Shiota & Neufeld, 2010; Rudd, Vohs & Aaker, 2012; Grimmer & Woolley, 2014). This study will investigate that relationship in a systematic manner.This relation will form the basis of this study; the effect of awe on (non-) materialism, in which awe could be evoked by three different forms of nature/urban scenery; awesome nature, mundane nature and mundane urban. The assumption is that when people experience awe in an intense way, they prefer non-materialistic experiences over material possessions and therefor feel less materialistic (Richins & Dawson, 1992; Ryan & Dziurawiec, 2001; Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003; Rudd, Vohs & Aaker, 2012). Another assumption is that awesome nature will evoke awe in the strongest extent, whereas mundane nature will evoke awe to a lesser extent, but still more intensive than urban scenery will.
To check whether the relation between awe and (non-) materialism could be influenced by a third variable a mediation analysis will point out if the construal level (CL) of a person functions as a mediator. CL is related to how people represent and process information (Trope & Liberman, 2011). CL could be high, which implies that the person will look at “the bigger picture”, they process an event in an abstract way (Trope & Liberman, 2011). When individuals in a state of low construal, process information more in detail (Trope & Liberman, 2011).
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Besides the possible mediator; construal level, we also define two possible moderators; openness to experience and dominance. Openness to experience implies that people who score high on this personal trait feel open to participate in new and different experiences, they are very exploring and curious(Shiota, Keltner & John, 2006). People who score low on this trait are more satisfied with the familiar and could be described as traditional (Shiota, Keltner & John, 2006). The assumption is that people who are more open to experiences, experience the event more intensely. In this case individuals experience awe more intensely.Page
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CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Awe
Definition awe
Within this study, the focus will be especially on the emotional impact of different environments to evoke the emotion awe which will eventually result in consumer relevant behavior (i.e., materialism). Emotions are mental states of readiness that arise from one’s own thoughts (Bagozzi, Gopinath & Nyer, 1999). Positive emotions are mostly discrete and distinguish itself from other emotions with regards to elicitors, appraisals and bodily expressions (Shiota, Keltner & John, 2006). It seems that they have different adaptive functions which lead to different cognitive, emotional and behavioral outcomes (Ulrich, 1986; Holbrook & Batra, 1987; Shiota, Keltner & John, 2006; Griskevicius, Shiota & Neufeld, 2010; Van Cappellen & Saroglou, 2012). Coping with a positive emotion will probably result in savoring the experience, higher levels of arousal, and expanded attention (Holbrook & Batra, 1987; Bagozzi, Gopinath & Nyer, 1999). Positive emotions will often result in thinking more creative, more integrative, more flexible and make the person feel more open to information, it enhances the individual’s feeling that life is beautiful (Saroglou, Buxant & Tilquin, 2008).
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Central appraisal: Perceived vastness
Besides the facial expressions awe experiences are claimed to be characterized by two central appraisals; perceived vastness and need for accommodation which are mentioned in the definition of Keltner and Haidt (2003). Vastness is defined as “anything that is experienced as being much larger than the self, or the self’s ordinary level of experience or frame of reference” (Keltner & Haidt, 2003, p. 303). Rudd, Vohs and Aaker (2012, p. 1) supplement this definition by arguing that “vastness is the sense that someone perceives something immense in size, number, scope, complexity, ability or even social bearing like fame or authority”.
Central appraisal: Need for accommodation
The second central appraisal; need for accommodation finds explanation in Piagetian theories (Piaget, 1970). According to Piagetian theories, people understand the world through mental schemas, which continue to change in the environment (Piaget, 1970). These mental schemas are paths you follow in your day-to-day life. There are two processes defined; the process of assimilation and the process of accommodation (Piaget, 1970; Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). Within the process of assimilation new stimuli should be interpreted as additional cases of existing schemas (Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). The process of assimilation is knowledge driven; the existing schemas are elaborated based on previous knowledge (Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). During this process present stimuli are interpreted as additions to existing schemas (Piaget, 1970; Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). Whereas the process of assimilation add stimuli to existing structures, the process of accommodation change existing schemas (Piaget, 1970). With the process of accommodation, a central theme of awe, the attention is mainly focused on deviations of the present stimuli from the existing schemas. To update the existing schemas, these deviations need to be taken into account (Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). Within the process of accommodation the mental structures/schemas of a person will be adjusted since the current event cannot be assimilated by the existing structures/schemas. (Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). When experiencing awe, the event that occurs is often new and perceived as highly complex; the person often feels overwhelmed (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). During this event, that evokes the emotion awe, the existing mental schemas cannot assimilate the stimulus. A need for accommodation occurs, since the existing mental schemas need to be adjusted to process the information/event (Shiota, Keltner & John, 2006).
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Additional appraisals
Besides the two main appraisals, Keltner and Haidt (2003) define five additional appraisals which flavor the emotion: Threat, beauty, exceptional ability, virtue and the supernatural. These appraisals account for variation in the hedonic tone of awe experiences. For example nature sometimes evokes feelings of fear (e.g. thunderstorm) and the other time it evokes feelings of aesthetic pleasure (e.g. sunset) (Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Whereas feelings of fear suit the appraisal of threat, feelings of aesthetic pleasure suit better to the appraisal of beauty(Keltner & Haidt, 2003). Within this study the beauty of the sceneries will play the most important role as a flavoring appraisal. The nature sceneries used, are beautiful (awe-evoking) nature images that tend to evoke feelings of aesthetic pleasure.
Beauty often functions as a flavoring experience when physical elicitors of awe are included, such as panoramic views, grand vista’s and sunsets (Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Rudd, Vohs & Aaker, 2012). Existing literature shows us that the appreciation of the beauty of nature could result in less focus on the self (Diessner, Solom, Frost, Parsons & Davidson 2008). ). In 1967, Iris Murdoch reasoned that beauty could lead to what she named “unselfing”, a process that motivates the individual to surpass self-interest and become more generous and kind towards others and their surroundings (in Zhang, Howell &Iyer, 2014). This could imply that people feel less materialistic while they are being in a state of “unselfing”, since they are more concerned about others and the environment than about the self they could become less materialistic.
Awe; selfdiminishing
The process of “unselfing” is also a characteristic of the emotion awe, awe could lead to a decrease in attention on the self and be more stimulus-focused (self-diminishing) (Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). A shift occurs from a focus on the self towards a focus on more central orientations; other people and the environment surrounding them (Bagozzi, Gopinath & Nyer, 1999; Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). If a person is in a state of awe, they often view themselves as an endorser of their personal life and the world. They believe in the purpose of life and they have the sense of being connected to others and the environment around them (Saroglou, Buxant & Tilquin, 2008). Awe implies a feeling of “oneness” with others; which leads to understanding others better (Saroglou, Buxant & Tilquin, 2008). Elicitors of awe which could evoke the emotion are for example; looking at art, listening to music, viewing panoramic spectacular nature scenes, feeling in touch with the spiritual world or experiencing a “wonder” (Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007; Van Cappellen & Saroglou, 2012).
Awe and materialism
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awe, as opposed to people that did not experience awe, were less impatient, more willing to voluntarily help other people, experienced greater life satisfaction and preferred more strongly experiences over material possessions. They tend to believe that experiences deliver more psychological benefits than material goods (Rudd, Vohs & Aaker, 2012). This study will systematically research the effect of awe on materialism, this was previously done by a few researches but not that many. The current research will contribute to existing literature a systematically approach to investigate the effect between awe and (non-) materialism.Environmental conditions
Existing literature describes that one of the elicitors of awe is viewing panoramic spectacular nature scenes (Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007; Van Cappellen & Saroglou, 2012). This current research will focus on nature and urban scenes to evoke the emotion awe. Although the relation between nature and people has been researched previously in many studies (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989; Tennessen & Cimprich, 1995; Frederickson & Anderson, 1999; Berman, Jonides & Kaplan, 2008; McDonald, Wearing & Ponting, 2009; Zhang, Howell & Iyer, 2014), nevertheless it is still hard to come up with a definition that will cover nature to its whole extent. “Nature in the most broadest sense will include for example parks, open spaces, meadows, abandoned fields, street trees and backyard gardens. All places where plants are growing due to human design or even despite it, places that are often described as ‘green’ even if their exact color is not green. It includes plants and various forms of vegetation and also settings of landscapes” (Kaplan & Kaplan, 1989, p. 2). This definition of nature will form the backdrop of the current study.
Awesome nature/spectacular nature
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Mundane nature
The other form of nature scenery used is mundane nature. Mundane nature can be seen as the type of nature that is softly fascinating, easy accessible and familiar to people (Joye & Bolderdijk, 2015). Think for example of gardens, parks, foliage and waterfronts. Small-scale natural scenes dominated by vegetative elements (Ulrich, 1981; Joye & Bolderdijk, 2015).
Mundane urban
Besides the two types of nature sceneries used in this study, the third condition included is mundane urban scenery. These sceneries are more commercial/man-made landscapes like industrial areas with factories, all kinds of buildings, city areas, stores, streets etc. (Kaplan, Kaplan & Wendt, 1972; Ulrich, 1979; Ulrich, 1981). The main distinction between nature scenery or urban scenery is that nature scenery are not man-made whereas urban sceneries are per definition man-made (Kaplan, Kaplan & Wendt, 1972; Ulrich, 1981). The assumption within this study is that the nature sceneries will evoke awe in a stronger extent than the urban scenery, and therefore people in the nature condition become less materialistic. People engaging with nature feel more connected to others and their surroundings compared to people engaging with urban sceneries (Kaplan, Kaplan & Wendt, 1972; Saroglou, Buxant & Tilquin, 2008).
Non-materialism
Definition materialism
A psychological benefit is that people who are connected to others, feel more concerned about others, their relationships with others and their environment (Saraglou, Buxant & Tilquin, 2008; Rudd, Vohs & Aaker, 2012). People tend to become less materialistic and are more concerned with their surroundings (Saraglou, Buxant & Tilquin, 2008). Many different definitions of materialism are to be found in existing literature. Frederick Albert Lange ([1865], 1925) originally referred to materialism “as the philosophical notion that nothing exists except matter and its movement” (in Richins & Dawson, 1992, p. 303-304). Whereas the Oxford English Dictionary tells us that materialism can be defined as: “A devotion to material needs and desires, to the neglect of spiritual matters; a way of life, opinion or tendency based entirely upon material interests” (in Richins & Dawson, 1992, p. 304). Whereas Belk (1984, p. 291), argues that materialism is “the importance the consumer attaches to his/her possessions”. Banerjee & McKeage (1994, p. 147) point out the definition by Mukerij (1983, p. 8) “materialism is a cultural system in which material interests are not made subservient to other social goals”.
Environmentalism vs. materialism
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Experiential purchases vs. material possessions
For people who are more materialistic, possession and consumption are central values (Banerjee & McKeage, 1994). Their consumer choices are influenced by their belief, that acquisition of goods bring them happiness or even success (Banerjee & McKeage, 1994). Possessions are at the center of their lives (Richins & Dawson, 1992; Ryan & Dziurawiec, 2001). Richins and Dawson (1992) argue that materialistic people are self-centered and feel less satisfied with life, this last accusation is also supported by Belk (1984) and Ryan and Dziurawiec (2001). Van Boven and Gilovich (2003) argue that experiential purchases made people happier than material purchases. Caused by the effect that people who purchased experiential goods were more open to positive reinterpretations, were more meaningful to someone and contributed more to successful interpersonal relations (Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003). Buying experiential goods has the intention of acquiring life experiences. Buying material goods have the intention to acquire tangible objects that are kept in someone’s possession (Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003).
As mentioned before in this study, existing literature argues that experiences deliver more psychological benefits over material possessions, for example life satisfaction as argued previously, but experiences are also temporarily costlier (Belk, 1984; Cooper-Martin, 1991; Richins & Dawson, 1992; Ryan & Dziurawiec, 2001; Van Boven & Gilovich, 2003; Rudd, Vohs & Aaker, 2012). Appreciation and engagement with the beauty of nature will cause people to act less materialistic (Diessner, Solom, Frost, Parsons & Davidson 2008). Besides that, Van Boven (2005) argues that experiences are more open to positive reinterpretation, are less prone to disadvantageous comparisons and are probably more likely to maintain successful relations over material possessions. Experiences therefor are defined as “purchases made with the intention of acquiring a life experience” (Van Boven, 2005, p. 134). Van Boven (2005) even states that experiences are more open to favorable abstract construals, which implies a high construal level.
Effects on (non-) materialism
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It is relevant to know when using nature images in any form of advertisement that people could feel less materialistic after exposure to nature (images). Since the better aligned the advertisement to the target group the better the results. And if people feel less materialistic after viewing nature images, the advertisement should account for that effect. This currentstudy will test the hypothesis that awesome nature will evoke awe in the strongest extent which will eventually result in non-materialistic preferences and behavior of the individual.
Construal level
Definition construal level
To check whether the assumed effect of experiencing awe on feeling less materialistic is influenced by the construal level of a person, this study will test if a mediation exists. The construal level could be described as how people represent and process information about objects (Trope & Liberman, 2011, p. 132). Phenomena that are able to evoke the emotion awe are often described as novel and complex, people then tend to scrutinize persuasive messages more carefully (Griskevicius, Shiota & Neufeld, 2010). This would not imply that people focus on every little detail of the message. Saroglou, Buxant and Tilquin (2008) argue that people experiencing awe often look at the bigger picture. This is the distinction mentioned in the construal level theory (CLT). The central question of CLT described by Trope and Liberman (2011, p. 119) is: “What are the psychological processes that enable people to mentally shift back and forth between being immersed in the here-and-now and removing oneself from it”. So there are two possible construals; being immersed in the here-and-now (low construal), and removing oneself from it in other words take more distance from it (high construal). An often used metaphor, which complies with the current study is; seeing the forest or the trees (Navon, 1977; Dhar & Kim, 2007).
High level construals
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Low level construals
Low level construals perceive a stimulus/event far more in detail, they emphasize its uniqueness rather than its similarity to other stimuli (Trope & Liberman, 2011). The low construal level contextualizes the representation and include subordinate and incidental features of an event. Low level construals are very much rich in detail and process information in a more peripheral manner; they tend to attain subordinate goals (Fujita, Trope, Liberman & Levin-Sagi, 2006; Trope, Liberman & Wakslak, 2007; McCrea, Wieber & Myers, 2012). Individuals/subjects use concrete low level construals to represent near events, that do not feel distant towards the individual. For low level construals events and objects are unique and specific (Fujita, Trope, Liberman & Leven-Sagi, 2006). Activation of the low construal level lead to categorization in multiple, narrow and concrete units (Fujita, Trope, Liberman & Leven-Sagi, 2006).
Psychological distance
The distance felt by high construal level and the less distance felt by low construal level is described as the psychological distance a subject feels towards a certain event (Trope, Liberman & Wakslak, 2007). There are several types of psychological distance mentioned in the existing literature on CLT namely; temporal distance, spatial distance, hypothetical distance and social distance (Trope & Liberman, 2003; Bar-Anan, Liberman & Trope, 2006; Liberman, Trope & Wakslak, 2007; Trope, Liberman & Wakslak, 2007; Dhar & Kim, 2007; Trope & Liberman, 2011; McCrea, Wieber & Myers, 2012). The more psychologically distant an event feels towards the subject, the more it will be represented by higher levels of abstraction (Trope & Liberman, 2003; Bar-Anan, Liberman & Trope, 2006; Trope, Liberman & Wakslak, 2007, McCrea, Wieber & Myers, 2012).
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Construal level theory (CLT)
The framework that links psychological distance with abstraction is called construal level theory (CLT). The theory suggests that distance is an important determinant to see if primary/essential characteristics or secondary/peripheral characteristics are used as the basis of an evaluation (Trope, Liberman & Wakslak, 2007). CLT is a purely cognitive orientation which states that people’s mental representations of different stimuli which feel psychologically near, could be described as low level construals or concrete. Stimuli that feel psychologically distant are described as high level construals or abstract (Dhar& Kim, 2007).
Van Boven (2005) mentioned that people adopt a higher level construal when adopting a temporally distant perspective upon an event, but tend to construe that same event in terms of lower level features when adopting a temporally proximal perspective. Perceivers of a certain event who have less knowledge of distal targets relative to proximal targets form a more abstract, high level construal of the former (distal) targets (Bar-Anan, Liberman & Trope, 2006).
As a result, events that have more favorable abstract features over peripheral features are often evaluated more favorably from a temporally distant perspective relative to a temporally proximate perspective (Van Boven, 2005). Van Boven (2005) argues that that relation seems to be more true for experiences than for material possessions. He state that experiences tend to be more open to favorable abstract construals than material possessions are (Van Boven, 2005). The finding suggests that experiential purchases have more favorable abstract features than material purchases. This could imply that high level construals (e.g. abstract construals) tend to be less materialistic. Van Boven (2005) gives an explanation for that, by stating that low level construals are more materialistic since they lack finding inner sources of happiness and turn to external gratification in the form of material possessions.
Construal level as possible mediator
This current research wants to find out if the construal level of people will mediate the relation between awe on non-materialism. It is assumed that when people have a high construal level and look more at an abstract level, global view, it will positively influence the strength of the relation of awe on non-materialism. The construal level will be tested as a mediator of this relationship. Inducement for this assumption is that people experiencing awe feel smaller and humble, they often see that specific event for the first time and feel psychological distance towards the event. In terms of spatial distance; the event takes place somewhere far from them, but also hypothetical distance; the probability that the event occurs right before their eyes (not in an image) is very small. This current research will test the hypothesis whether the
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Openness to experience
Definition openness to experience
Besides investigating the effect of a possible mediator on the relationship between awe and non-materialism, this research will also look at two possible moderators where the first is openness to experience. Existing literature provides us with the knowledge that awe reflects cognitive flexibility and strongly correlates with this personality trait called openness to experience (Shiota, Keltner & John, 2006; Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007; Agate, 2010; Van Cappellen & Saroglou, 2012). Openness to experience is one of the Big Five personality traits described by Costa & McCrae (1992) in their NEO-PI-R model which is derived from the Big Five personality traits researched by many (McCrae & Costa, 1991; Cattell & Mead, 2008). McCrae and Costa (1991) found that openness to experience positively correlates with both positive and negative affects, this implies that open people experience both the good and bad events more intensely. The fact that experiencing awe is often evoked by viewing a novel, unexpected event and is a positive emotion could imply that people who are more open to experiences will experience awe more intensely. This will result in the assumption that awe and openness to experience will positively correlate with each other. This assumption is supported by the research of Shiota, Keltner and John (2006) who found a strong correlation between awe and openness to experience.
Openness to experience as possible moderator
People who score high on openness to experience are characterized both by a broader and deeper scope of awareness and by the need to enlarge and examine their experiences (McCrae & Costa, 1991). Other characteristics of “open” individuals are; imaginative, aesthetically responsive, emphatic, exploring, curious and unconventional (McCrae & Costa, 1991). Individuals who score low on openness to experience are described as traditional/conservative and feel attached to the familiar instead of being radical or like experimenting (Cattel & Eber, 1969; Cattel, 2001; Cattell & Mead, 2008; Matthews, Deary & Whiteman, 2003). Since open people tend to experience emotions in a more intense way, the assumption is made that openness to experience could strengthen the relationship between awe on non-materialism. Due to the fact that awe is a positive emotion and openness to experience will strengthen the extent of experiencing awe. According to the main assumption of this study, experiencing awe in a stronger extent would result in feeling less materialistic.
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Dominance
Definition dominance
Another personal trait that could moderate the effect between experiencing awe and non-materialism is the trait dominance. Matthews, Deary and Whiteman (2003) found in their research that the individuals who score low on dominance can be characterized as humble. Previous existing literature state that people experiencing awe often feel small or even humble (Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Shiota, Keltner & John, 2006; Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007; Rudd, Vohs & Aaker, 2012; Joye & Bolderdijk, 2015). People who score high on dominance are often described as assertive and forceful, whereas people who score low on dominance are described as deferential, cooperative and intend to avoid conflicts (Cattell & Eber, 1969; Cattell, 2001; Cattel& Mead, 2008; Matthews, Deary & Whiteman, 2003). Dominant people often try to outdo people, correct others and imply their will on them (Gough, McClosky & Meehl, 1952; Gough, 1990). They tend to control the conversation and are not afraid to provide others with their criticism (Gough, McClosky & Meehl, 1952; Gough, 1990).
Dominance as possible moderator
Existing literature tells us that people tend to feel humble after seeing awe-evoking images (Keltner & Haidt, 2003; Shiota, Keltner & John, 2006; Shiota, Keltner & Mossman, 2007). Since non-dominant people are characterized by feeling humble, this implies dominant people are not (Matthews, Deary & Whiteman, 2003). This could result in the fact that dominant people are less able to feel humble and therefor experience awe in a lesser extent after viewing awe-evoking images. The current study makes the assumption that dominance as personality trait will negatively influence the relation between awe and non-materialism. In other words if a person scores high on dominance, this will probably weaken the relation between awe and non-materialism since dominant people are less likely to experience feeling humble (Matthews, Deary & Whiteman, 2003). The current study will research the hypothesis if the
relationship between awe and non-materialism will be negatively moderated by the personality trait dominance.
Framework
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Figure 1: Conceptual framework
The main question concerning this current research is; will the use of awesome nature in advertising result in non-materialistic preferences/behavior of the individual, while he/she is in a state of awe? The assumption is that awesome nature will evoke the highest level of awe, mundane nature will evoke an average level of awe and mundane urban scenery will evoke the lowest level of awe. Within the conceptual framework (figure 2) the relationships are showed by either a + or a -, whereas + indicates a positive relation between the variables and – implies a negative relation between the variables. According to the conceptual framework the following hypotheses will be tested during this study:
H1a: Awesome nature will evoke awe to the highest extent compared to mundane nature and mundane urban.
H1b: Experiencing awe will result in non-materialistic behavior and preferences of the individual.
H2: The relationship between awe and non-materialism will be mediated by the construal level of an individual
H3: The relationship between awe and non-materialism will be positively moderated by the personality trait openness to experience
H4: The relationship between awe and non-materialism will be negatively moderated by the personality trait dominance
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RESEARCH DESIGN
Design and participants
This study was conducted using the program Qualtrics. There were 91 participants who started the survey, but the data of only 60 participants was useful for this research (N = 60). This means that the dropout rate during the study was 34 percent. The participants were between 16 and 51 years old. The mean age of the included participants is 25.0 years (SD = 6.23). There were 44 females who participated in the study (73,3% of total).
Within this study “materialism” was the main dependent variable and type of environmental scenery was the independent variable that consists of three different conditions; spectacular nature, mundane nature and mundane urban. To select participants, snowball referencing was used in the form of online social media where the link to the survey was posted by the researchers and shared by participants to gain new participants. The research had a between subjects design; participants only participated in one condition during the survey.
Materials
Images
The study consisted of three conditions; awesome and mundane nature condition, and an urban condition. All 60 participants were randomly assigned to the different conditions which resulted in the fact that every condition had 20 participants. There were thirty pictures in total, ten pictures per condition. All the pictures used within this current study were found on the internet. The pictures were taken by both professional and amateur photographers all over the world. Within the mundane nature condition, the pictures showed regular nature which are common viewings in most environments. It showed for example trees in a wood, a small hill covered in grass, or a frozen brook.
In the spectacular nature conditions, the images were of nature which could be found in an environment far away from the participants, these viewings are not viewed frequently in a day-to-day life. Examples of these pictures are; the Grand Canyon, a spectacular view of the Saar river in Germany or the Danxai mountains in China (also called the rainbow mountains). In contrast to the mundane nature condition, all the images used within the spectacular nature condition were made by professional photographers.
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Sample picture of mundane nature
(Source:
http://www.labreuille.com/
Paul Banning)
Sample picture of awesome nature (Source:
https://www.tumblr.com/ NithuAnand)
Sample picture of mundane urban (Source:
https://www.flickr.com/photos Dean Terasaki)
Figure 2: Example images used within the survey
Important to point out is that the images of nature did not display man-made material on the image, only natural elements. And the pictures concerning the mundane urban scenery did not include vegetative/natural elements.
All pictures used within the study were adjusted to a size with a width of 500 pixels and a height of approximately 300 pixels. The height varied a bit, since we did not want to adjust the proportion of the image. All images were colored. Appendix 2 shows all the images used within this study per condition.
Measurement scales
Awe and awe-related emotions. Besides the pictures used to design the survey, several scales
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Materialism. To measure the next variable; materialism the scale designed by Richins and
Dawson (1992) was used within the survey. This scale consists of 18 different items divided in three categories; success, centrality and happiness, which were the result of a factor analysis (Richins & Dawson, 1992).Success represents the use of possessions as an indicator of success in life. Where centrality is concerned with the importance of acquisition of possessions in general. The third factor; happiness concerns the perception of people that possessions are needed for happiness (Richins & Dawson, 1992). Within the study of Richins and Dawson (1992) all items were scored on a 5-point Likert scale. Whereas the current study used a 7-point Likert scale. The materialism measurement was taken twice, before and after the main manipulation, to check whether the manipulation had an effect on how people score the materialism statements. The Cronbach’s alpha of this measurement before manipulation was 0,88, after manipulation is has a value of 0.92.
Construal level. Construal level was measured as a possible mediator, we used, the
measurement mentioned by Fujita, Trope, Liberman and Levin-Sagi (2006) this scale exists of 8 items. Those items measured whether the participant describes an event with their low construal level (e.g. detailed description) or with their high construal level (e.g. abstract description). This current research supplemented those items with examples used from the research done by Bar-Anan, Liberman and Trope (2006) and Van Boven (2005). In total there were 16 items, 8 items were asked before the main manipulation of this study and the other 8 items were asked after the main manipulation (e.g. slideshow). This is done to check whether the manipulation had an effect on the construal level.
The scale developed by Fujita, Trope, Liberman and Levin-Sagi (2006) consists of items that describe a certain situation and give the participants two possible explanations for that situation, a low construal level explanation, and a high construal level explanation. The low construal level explanation is detailed, whereas the high construal level explanation is described more abstract. For example the situation; skydiving; the low construal level explanation provided by Fujita, Trope, Libermanand Levin-Sagi (2006) is “jumping out of an airplane”, whereas the high construal level explanation is “demonstrating one’s daringness”. Participants need to choose between the alternatives to test their construal level.
Openness to experience. To measure the possible moderator and personality trait; openness
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Within the current study each item was scored on a 7-point Likert scale (e.g. 1 = very untrue on me, 7 = very true on me) (Vagias, 2006). Examples of items used are: “I often engage myself in fantasy and daydreams”, or “I tend to overcontrol impulses”. The statements were formulated in two ways, in one way when the participants scored a high number on the 7-point Likert scale they were perceived as very open to experiences and the other way when participants scored a high number on that 7-point Likert scale they were perceived as less open to experiences. The Cronbach’s alpha of this study was 0.58.Dominance. For the other possible moderator and personality trait; dominance, the
measurement mentioned by Gough, McClosky & Meehl (1952) was used. They describe eleven statements to measure the trait dominance. These statements are derived from the California Psychological Inventory scale (CPI) (Gough, McClosky & Meehl, 1952; Gough, 1990). All statements are formulated in a way that when participants score high on those statements they will be perceived as dominant. Except for one statement, this is formulated in a way that when participants give a high score, they are perceived as less dominant.
The current study uses these statements which were rated on a 7-point Likertscale to measure the dominance level of the participants. (e.g. 1 = very untrue on me, 7 = very true on me) (Vagias, 2006). Examples of statements used within this current study are: “I often try to outdo others”, “I am quick to correct others”, and “I often put people under pressure”. The statements mentioned by Gough, McClosky & Meehl (1952) Gough (1990) were slightly adjusted to complete the sentence and incorporate the word “I”. For example, Gough, McClosky & Meehl (1952) and Gough (1990) describe: “Challenge others’ points of view”, the current study describes: “I often challenge others’ point of view”. For the reliability of this scale, a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.85 was calculated.
Mood measurement. Lastly the current study also measured the mood of the participants on a
scale from 0 to 100. The mood measurement was taken before and after the main manipulation of the study to see whether the manipulation had an effect on their mood. The assumption was made that the nature conditions would improve the mood of the participant in contrast with the mood of participants who viewed urban images. We even assume that people viewing awesome nature images will improve their mood more strongly compared to people viewing mundane nature images.
Procedure
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Then the main manipulation was implemented in the survey. Participants were exposed to images of either the mundane natural condition, the spectacular nature condition or the mundane urban condition. The conditions were randomly assigned to the participants. Participants were asked to take a close look at the images displayed, , since after the slideshow they would be asked some questions concerning the feelings they had while watching the slideshow. The images were viewed for approximately eight seconds per image, the next image was displayed automatically after those eight seconds. There were ten images within each condition.Page
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RESULTS
Manipulation check
Environmental conditions and awe
To check whether awe has an effect on non-materialism, we first researched which environmental condition evoked awe to the strongest extent. We conducted a one-way ANOVA of the environmental conditions on awe. Which would show us whether the different conditions indeed led to different levels of experiencing awe; more specifically, that viewing awesome nature led to the strongest extent of experiencing awe.
We conducted a one-way ANOVA, with awe as the dependent variable and the condition participants were randomly assigned to as the independent variable. We found a significant effect of condition on awe, F(2,37) = 32.95, p < 0.001. To check if the conditions also significantly differed from each other, we conducted a post-hoc test using Tukey. This showed us that spectacular nature (M = 4.89, SD = 0.19) significantly differed from mundane nature (M = 3.425, SD = 0.19), p < 0.001, and that spectacular nature also significantly differed from mundane urban (M = 2.76, SD = 0.19), p < 0.001. Besides that the test also showed that mundane nature differed significantly from mundane urban, p = 0.042. We can conclude that the condition participants were in influenced the extent to which they experienced awe. Participants in the awesome nature condition experienced awe in the strongest extent. Within the mundane nature condition they experienced awe in an average extent. And people in the mundane urban condition experienced awe in the weakest extent.
To check whether the environmental conditions correlated with the measurement of awe, we conducted a correlation analysis. We found that the condition participants were in positively correlated with the measurement of awe, p < 0.001. This supports our finding that the measurement of awe is influenced by the condition participants were randomly assigned to. Where awesome nature has the strongest effect on awe, mundane nature an average effect and mundane urban the weakest effect.
Mood measurement
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The test showed that spectacular nature (M = 77,68, SD = 2.18) differed marginal significant compared to mundane nature (M = 71.93, SD = 2,74), p =0. 068. Besides that spectacular nature significantly differed from mundane urban (M = 66.39, SD = 2.17), p = 0.001. The post-hoc test also showed a marginal significant difference between mundane nature and mundane urban, p = 0.077. This implies that the mood of participants increased significantly more while viewing spectacular nature in comparison with viewing mundane nature of mundane urban. The results also showed that viewing mundane nature increased their mood significantly more than the mood of participants viewing mundane urban. Figure 3 shows the influence of the condition on the mood of the participants.Figure 3: Plot mood measurement before and after the manipulation depending on condition Environmental conditions, awe and (non-) materialism
Further we tested the effect between the environmental conditions on (non-) materialism using a one-way ANCOVA. To control for priori differences in materialism, we included the pre-manipulation materialism measurement as covariate. We found a significant effect of the different conditions on materialism, F(2,56) = 5.37, p = 0.0071. To explore this effect even further
we conducted a Tukey LSD post-hoc test, which showed a significant difference between spectacular nature (M = 3.41, SD = 0.09) and mundane nature (M = 3.81, SD = 0.09), p = 0.003. The post-hoc test also showed a significant difference between spectacular nature and mundane urban (M = 3.73, SD = 0.09), p = 0.014. On the other hand, the post-hoc test showed no significant difference between mundane nature and mundane urban, p = 0.574. Therefore we can conclude that participants felt less materialistic after viewing spectacular nature in comparison to viewing mundane nature or mundane urban. But that there was no significant effect whether people feel less materialistic after viewing mundane nature images compared to viewing mundane urban images.
1 Excluding the covariate (pre-manipulation materialism) gives no significant effect, F(2,57) = 0,385, p = 0,682
60 65 70 75 80
Mood pre-manipulation Mood post-manipulation
Mood measurement
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To further explore the relationship between awe and materialism, we conducted a correlation analysis between the awe measurement and the materialism measurement after manipulation. We found a significant negative correlation between awe and materialism, the correlation coefficient found had a value of -0.33, p = 0.010. This implies that people experiencing awe feel less materialistic. This gives further support for the assumption that depending on the conditions participants were in they experience awe in an extent, the stronger that extent the less the participants feel materialistic.Awe, construal level and (non-) materialism
To explore the effect of a possible mediation of the variable construal level, we firstly conducted a one-way ANCOVA between the condition and the construal level of a person after manipulation. We used the construal level of a person before manipulation as a covariate to control for priori differences2. We found no significant effect of environmental
condition on construal level, F(2,56) = 0.98, p = 0.383. To further explore the relation between the condition participants were randomly assigned to and their construal level we conducted a Tukey LSD post-hoc test, which showed no significant effect between spectacular nature (M = 1.61, SD = 0.05) and mundane nature (M = 1.69, SD = 0.05), p = 0,265. It also showed no significant effect between spectacular nature and mundane urban (M = 1.61, SD = 0.05),
p = 0.875. There was also no significant effect found between mundane nature and mundane
urban, p = 0.206. We can therefore conclude that the condition participants were in during the slideshow, had no significant effect on their construal level.
To check whether felt awe was related to the construal level of a person, we conducted a correlation analysis. We found that awe positively correlated with construal level, correlation coefficient = 0.32, p = 0.012. This implies that people experiencing awe in a strong extent will use a high construal level to process information.
Subsequently we researched the relation between construal level and materialism, through a correlation analysis. We found a negatively significant effect, correlation coefficient = -0.42,
p = 0.001. Which implies that people with a high construal level feel less materialistic.
Mediation analysis: Construal level
Not all conditions are met for mediation if we look at the effect of the environmental conditions on materialism. This is due to the fact that the relation between condition and construal level is not significant. But if we check if the conditions for mediation are met when we incorporate awe, we see a different result. Previous analyses within this study showed that awe negatively correlates with materialism, that awe positively correlates with construal level and that construal level negatively correlates with materialism. Since all correlations are significant, we can conduct a mediation analysis for; awe, construal level and materialism.
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To conduct a mediation analysis the SPSS macro; process, developed by Andrew Hayes (2013), was used. First it was researched whether the construal level of a person could account for the differences concerning materialism. Post-manipulation materialism measurement was used as the dependent variable, whereas awe was the independent variable and the post-manipulation construal level was included as the possible mediator. A significant effect was found of awe on materialism, without the possible mediator of, p = 0.021. But if we implement the possible mediator; construal level of a person after manipulation we see that the direct effect of awe on materialism is not significant anymore, p = 0.087 but the construal level after manipulation on materialism did show a significant effect, p = 0.007. The mediation analysis, with a 95% confidence interval (1000 bootstrap samples), showed that the indirect effect of awe through construal level did not include zero (- 0,2275 to – 0,0103). This also implies that the effect of awe on materialism would be mediated by the construal level of a person. So if people experience awe, they will process information with a high construal level and become less materialistic. The construal level of an individual functions as a driver of the relation between awe and materialism; it mediates the effect.Moderation analysis: Openness to experience and dominance
We conducted a moderation analysis with the two possible moderators; openness to experience and dominance to check whether these variables moderate the relation between the awe measurement and (non-)materialism. We used the macro; process, developed by Andrew Hayes to conduct a moderation analysis. There was no significant effect found of openness to experience as possible moderator, p = 0.157. The macro, process gave the same result for dominance as possible moderator, no significant effect, p = 0.814. This implies no moderation effect of both openness to experience and dominance on the relation between the awe measurement and (non-) materialism.
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DISCUSSION
Summary of findings
Effect environmental condition on awe and (non-) materialism
The main findings found within this study were the significant effect of environmental condition on experienced awe and the significant effect of the environmental condition on materialism. Specifically, we found that people viewing awesome nature images felt the emotion awe more intensely and felt less materialistic compared to participants who viewed images of mundane nature or mundane urban. We even saw that people viewing mundane nature images felt more intensely the emotion awe and felt less materialistic than people viewing mundane urban images. Besides that, a correlation analysis showed us that the awe measurement significantly negatively correlated with the materialism scale, meaning that people experiencing awe are most likely to feel less materialistic after exposure to awe evoking images such as images of awesome nature.
Effect environmental condition on mood
Interesting to see was that the mood also showed a significant effect when measured before and after the main manipulation. We saw a difference between the conditions, where the mood strongly increased after viewing spectacular nature, moderately increased after viewing mundane nature and decreased after viewing urban nature.
Effects construal level
Other correlation analyses learned us that awe also positively correlated with the construal level of a person, which implies that people experiencing awe process information with their high construal level; which processes information in a more abstract manner. We also found that the construal level of a person correlated negatively with materialism, which means that people processing information with their high construal level, in an abstract way, are more likely to feel less materialistic compared to people who process information with their low construal level, more in detail.
Besides that we also found that all conditions were met to conduct a mediation analysis concerning the variables; awe, materialism and construal level. The mediation analysis showed mediation of the construal level of a person on the relationship between experiencing awe and materialism. Awe was measured with a self-reported scale, participants would score their feelings felt during the slideshow concerning the emotion awe. We found that the effect of awe on materialism was no longer statistically significant when implemented the construal level as a mediator.
Effects openness to experience and dominance
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Interpretation of findings
These main findings imply that people experiencing awe, depending on the condition they were in, feel less materialistic. The effect is the strongest for spectacular nature, moderate for mundane nature and weak for mundane urban, but still significant. This supports H1a, which implies that awesome nature will evoke awe in the strongest extent. H1a is supported.
Since the main results also find a significant negative correlation between awe and materialism we can conclude that people experiencing awe feel less materialistic compared to people who experience awe in a lesser extent. H1b is supported. .
Besides that, this current study found that the relation between awe and (non-)materialism was mediated by the construal level of a person. When people experiencing awe, they tend to process information about the occurred event with their high construal level. In contrast people experiencing awe in a lesser extent or even not at all tend to process information with their low construal level. We also saw that a high construal level leads to less materialistic behavior, since construal level and materialism were significantly negatively correlated. Concluding, the relationship between awe and (non-) materialism was mediated by the construal level of the individual. H2 is supported.
The moderation analysis found no significant effect for both openness to experience and dominance. This implies that both personal traits did not function as moderators to strengthen or weaken the effect between awe and (non-) materialism. We can therefore conclude that
H3 and H4 are not supported.
Connections and relevance to existing theory
The main finding during this study was the effect of awesome nature evoking awe which resulted in non-materialistic behavior. Besides that the current study also found that the construal level of a person mediated the main effect. This was never researched with the combination of those variables. Further research is necessary to establish the relation between awe and materialism even more, and the role of the construal level of a person.
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The aspect of this study which was rather new for existing literature is the mediation role of the construal level of a person. This study pointed out that the construal level mediated the effect between awe and materialism in such a way that the effect of awe on materialism was not significant anymore when including construal level. This implies that the construal level mediated the effect. Correlation analyses showed a positive correlation between awe and construal level, and a negative correlation between construal level and materialism. This all implies that people experiencing awe use their high construal level to process information. They process the event in a distant and abstract manner due to the fact that the event, which let them experience the emotion awe, is rather novel and complex to them. They need to adjust their existing mental schemas to process this new and complex information, which for they use their high construal level. The high construal level processes the information in an abstract manner since the psychological distance is rather big. When doing so people become less materialistic and are more concerned about others, the environment, their surroundings in comparison to the self. Further research is needed to investigate this effect to its extent.Managerial or practical implications
This current study provides support that awesome nature will evoke awe in the highest extent, compared to mundane nature and mundane urban environments, eventually this results in less materialistic preferences and behavior of the individual. This implies that advertisements concerning awesome nature will cause the audience experience the emotion awe and become less materialistic. Practitioners could benefit from this outcome to advertise experiential purchases in combination with the use of awesome nature within their advertisements. Besides that awesome nature could also play a convincing role in advertising material purchases. This current study points out that people experiencing awe become less materialistic but are more concerned about others. This could imply that they are willing to give others material possessions they need. This could be a gift, a donation or even charity. The fact that existing literature describes that the emotion awe let people feel more connected towards others and their surroundings could also be used as an advantage (Rudd, Vohs & Aaker 2012; Joye & Bolderdijk, 2015). Since people give more about their environment than about the self when experiencing awe, practitioners could use this to engage their audience in social or environmental causes. For example asking their audience for help since other people are in need. Getting people to donate help, money or something else to those causes that need that help so much.
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Limitations and recommendations for further research
The study recruited participants via snowball sampling using social media. The results showed that people present in the Netherlands participated within the study. For further research it could be wise to engage other nationalities which included since they are familiar with other types of nature. This could take a different view on mundane nature or mundane urban. People living near spectacular nature would probably experience awe in a weaker extent since they experience it more often that it becomes more common, less novel. It is important to have a more heterogeneous group to improve the reliability and validity of this study.
The mean age of the participants was rather low, 25 years. This was probably due to the fact that mostly students participants within the study. The sample of the study was rather small (60 participants) and the group could be described as homogeneous. For future research, it could be wise to increase the sample, and make sure the sample is more heterogeneous. Include participants with different backgrounds; different age, different nationalities, for example. Another limitation was the high drop-out rate. The high drop-out rate during the study could be due to the fact that the survey was too long, or that participants did use their mobile phone to fill in the survey, while this was far from ideal. We advised to use a laptop or tablet to conduct the survey. Since we did not use the results from participants who did not fully fulfill the survey it could have showed us a distorted picture. For further research the condition participants fill in the survey could be controlled for. For example let participants take the survey behind a computer in a research lab.
During the slideshow we showed pictures of nature or urban settings for approximately eight seconds per photo, and every slideshow lasted for ten photos (approximately 80 seconds). The quality of the photos varied since they were found on the internet and used within this study. The photos of spectacular nature were mostly photographed by professional photographers, whereas the photos of mundane nature and mundane urban were photographed by professionals but also by amateurs. The photos were viewed having approximately the same size, but since some photos were enlarged the quality somewhat decreased. These points could be improved during future research.
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