Within reach : reward distance and impulsive preference formation

Neuroscience studies on object affordances indicate that manipulable objects within reach (i.e., within peripersonal space) elicit automatic motor simulations that prepare for action. Prior studies in consumer research, in turn, suggest that the simulation of motor interaction with products may foster product preferences. Here, we argue that locating products within reachable vs. non-reachable distance increases impulsive preferences (i.e., wanting) because motor impulses are facilitated that often co-occur with wanting impulses. This near distance effect should be specifically strong for objects, which are affectively relevant to the respondent (e.g., liquids for thirsty individuals). The hypothesis was tested in a laboratory study in which beverages were presented to participants either in reachable or non-reachable distance. In order to obtain a presented drink participants had to pull on a loop that measured their tensile force. The results demonstrated that participants who were in a deprived condition used more tensile force when the reward was within peripersonal vs. extrapersonal space. This near distance effect did not occur for participants who were in satiated condition for whom the beverages were not affectively relevant.von Laura LeithnerUniversität Innsbruck, Diplomarbeit, 2018(VLID)284522