The Impact Of Construal Level On Consumers' Intertemporal Choice

In daily life,people often make choices by weighing the benefits or losses at different points in time,which is called intertemporal choice.Intertemporal choice is one of the key studies in the field of decision-making.Many scholars have discussed the influencing factors of intertemporal choice.At present,it has been found that emotions,individual traits,psychological connection,and level of understanding will affect intertemporal choice.The applicable fields of intertemporal choice are also relatively wide,such as consumption,health,financial,environment and other fields.Starting from the field of consumption,this article explores their impact on consumers' perception of intertemporal choices at different times in the two theoretical backgrounds of construal level(trait and contextuality).This study consists of two parts.Study 1 explores the impact of trait construal level and time perception on consumers' intertemporal choice.The study is a mixed design of 2(trait construal level:high/low)× 2(time perception:short/long)× 2(product type:practical/hedonic),where the trait construal level is the design of the participant,time perception and product type are designed within the subject.The dependent variable is intertemporal choice.Data were analyzed using independent sample t-test,analysis of variance,and simple effects analysis.Study 2 is a parallel experiment of Study 1,which explores the impact of contextual construal level and time perception on consumers' intertemporal choice.The study is a mixed design of 2(contextual construal level:high/low)× 2(time perception:short/long)× 2(product type:practical/hedonic),where the contextual construal level is the design of the participant,time perception and product type are designed within the subject.The dependent variable is intertemporal choice.Data were analyzed using independent sample t-test,analysis of variance,and simple effects analysis.According to the research:(1)The trait construal level and time perception have significant effects on intertemporal choice,and there are interactions.Specifically,under the high construal level of traits,individuals with shorter time perception are more likely to choose larger rewards for delayed gratification;under the low construal level of traits,individuals with longer time perception are more likely to choose immediate but less reward.(2)The contextual construal level and product type have a significant impact on intertemporal choice,and there are interactions.Specifically,in the case of intertemporal choice of practical products,individuals with high contextual construal level are more likely to choose a larger reward for delayed gratification;in the case of intertemporal choice of hedonic products,individuals with high contextual construal level and individuals with low contextual construal level tend to choose smaller rewards for instant gratification.(3)The impact of contextual construal level and time perception on consumers'intertemporal choice is basically consistent with the trait construal level.It can be confirmed that the construal level can be used as both a trait variable and a contextual variable.