Auction fever: The unrecognized effects of incidental arousal
Adam, Ku and Lux, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 80, 2019, 52-58. Three experiments in which arousal came from outside the auction raised bids for items in auctions with real money. Experiment 1 used a ten-minute symbol-matching task: the high-arousal version had seven seconds per decision, point losses for slow answers, cash prizes for the top three and energetic music; the low-arousal version had soothing music, longer decision time and pay unrelated to performance. High-arousal participants bid more, with higher heart-based arousal measures. Experiment 2 induced arousal through a choice to write an essay against own views; high-choice participants bid more. Experiment 3 (235 analysed of 369 recruited) auctioned a jar of one-penny coins worth 82 pence after vivid images and energetic music or calm images and music: mean bids 0.90 and 0.81. No participant mentioned emotions or the image task, and both groups rated the task as having very little effect on their bids (2.14 and 2.25 on a seven-point scale).
Adam, Ku and Lux, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 80, 2019, 52-58. Three experiments in which arousal came from outside the auction raised bids for items in auctions with real money. Experiment 1 used a ten-minute symbol-matching task: the high-arousal version had seven seconds per decision, point losses for slow answers, cash prizes for the top three and energetic music; the low-arousal version had soothing music, longer decision time and pay unrelated to performance. High-arousal participants bid more, with higher heart-based arousal measures. Experiment 2 induced arousal through a choice to write an essay against own views; high-choice participants bid more. Experiment 3 (235 analysed of 369 recruited) auctioned a jar of one-penny coins worth 82 pence after vivid images and energetic music or calm images and music: mean bids 0.90 and 0.81. No participant mentioned emotions or the image task, and both groups rated the task as having very little effect on their bids (2.14 and 2.25 on a seven-point scale).
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Adam, M. T. P., Ku, G., & Lux, E. (2019). Auction fever: The unrecognized effects of incidental arousal. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 80, 52-58. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2018.07.009 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2018.07.009