Escaping the Problem: Consumer’s Reactions to a Self-Discrepancy

Self-discrepancies motivate consumers to reduce the discrepancy’s negative effects by seeking products that make them feel better. Consumers use various strategies to mitigate these effects through within-domain purchases, across-domain purchases, or purchases designed to distract. Currently, there is a gap in the literature regarding how consumers trade off various compensatory consumption strategies when they face the option to evaluate different strategy at the same time. Through the current research presented here, as well as two proposed studies, I aim to find that people prefer escapism products and services (versus direct resolution and fluid consumption) when faced with a self-discrepancy. I address the literature gap by proposing studies for a mediator (working memory capacity) and a moderator (ease of the solution) on this relationship. This phenomenon occurs because self-discrepancies decrease working memory capacity (cognition): when cognitive resources are low, people will tend to prefer affective stimuli (escapism products). Finally, I plan an experiment to show that difficulty moderates this relationship. When the relative difficulty of the escapism solution is high, participants may be more likely to choose a different, relatively easier strategy. The current findings and suggested future studies contribute to the literature on compensatory consumption, escapism, and working memory capacity.