Power as a license to indulge

Abstract

This paper examines the influence of consumers' sense of power on consumer choice between hedonic and utilitarian options. Building on the approach-inhibition framework, possessing power leads to positive feelings and attention to rewards and self-gratification. In three studies, the paper showed that high-power people are more likely to make hedonic choices than low-power people. This effect can be understood as a sense of power and privilege licensing people to indulge. We tested the effect of power on choice in the advertising and retail contexts. The link between power and hedonic choice has important implications for communicating with customers who have low or high power and the retail setting in which power can be induced when a customer interacts with a salesperson.