The Role of Unconsciousness

in the Context of Working Memory

and its Effect on the

Purchase Behavior of Tourists

Bachelor Thesis II submitted at the

IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems

Bachelor’s Programme

„Tourism and Leisure Management“

by

Mathias PFALZER

Area of emphasis/focus/special field: Marketing & Consumer Behavior

Advisor: Prof. (FH) Dr. Sebastian Berger

Submitted on: 19.05.2010

STATUTORY DECLARATION

“I declare in lieu of an oath that I have written this bachelor thesis myself and that I

have not used any sources or resources other than stated for its preparation. I

further declare that I have clearly indicated all direct and indirect quotations. This

bachelor thesis has not been submitted elsewhere for examination purposes.”

Date: 19.05.2010 Signature

Mathias Pfalzer II

TABLE OF CONTENTS

STATUTORY DECLARATION ............................. .................................................... I

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................. ....................................................... IV

ABSTRACT .......................................... ................................................................... V

1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1

2 WORKING MEMORY .............................................................................................. 4

2.1 Definition of Working Memory .......................................................................................... 4

2.2 Characteristics of Working Memory .................................................................................. 5

2.2.1 Core Functions of Working Memory .......................................................................... 5

2.2.2 Descriptive Models of Working Memory ................................................................... 6

2.2.3 Remaining Ambiguity in the Context of Working Memory Functions ....................... 7

2.3 Capacity Limits of Working Memory .................................................................................. 8

2.4 Long-Term Knowledge and Working Memory ................................................................... 9

2.5 Conscious Awareness and its Relation to Working Memory ............................................. 9

2.6 Unconsciousness and Working Memory .......................................................................... 10

2.6.1 The Fundamental Principle of Unconsciousness ...................................................... 10

2.6.2 Implicit Working Memory ........................................................................................ 11

2.7 Complex Cognitive Activities ............................................................................................ 12

3 PURCHASING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES .................. ..................................... 14

3.1 The Process of Purchasing ................................................................................................ 14

3.2 How are Consumers Choosing a Product or a Service? ................................................... 15

3.3 Bounded Rationality ......................................................................................................... 15

3.4 Impulse Buying ................................................................................................................. 16

3.5 Application of Strategies in the Purchase Process ........................................................... 17

3.5.1 Unconscious Side Effects of Strategies .................................................................... 17

3.5.2 Weighted Added Strategy ........................................................................................ 17

3.6 Attitudes ........................................................................................................................... 18

3.6.1 Implicitly Measured Attitudes .................................................................................. 19

3.6.2 Malleable Automatic Attitudes ................................................................................ 19

3.7 Unconscious Influences on Purchase Behavior ................................................................ 20

3.7.1 Perception-Behavior Link ......................................................................................... 20

Mathias Pfalzer III

3.7.1.1 Low-Road to Imitation.......................................................................................... 21

3.7.1.2 High-Road to Imitation ......................................................................................... 22

3.7.2 Goal Activation and Pursuit ...................................................................................... 22

3.7.2.1 Automatic Goal Pursuit ........................................................................................ 24

3.7.2.2 Subliminal Priming and its Behavioral Effects ...................................................... 24

4 DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATION IN TOURISM ............. ..................................... 27

4.1 Purchase Behavior Before the Vacation Started .............................................................. 27

4.2 Purchase Behavior During the Vacation .......................................................................... 28

4.3 Unconscious Elements in Purchases of Tourists .............................................................. 29

4.3.1 The Contribution of Working Memory to Purchases of Tourists ............................. 29

4.3.2 Motivation of Tourists .............................................................................................. 30

4.3.3 Involvement in the Field of Tourism ........................................................................ 31

4.3.4 Goal Pursuits of Tourists .......................................................................................... 32

4.4 Best Possible Choices ....................................................................................................... 33

4.4.1 Free Will or Reflective? ............................................................................................ 33

4.4.2 Information Processing of Tourists .......................................................................... 34

5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................... ................................... 36

LIST OF REFERENCES ........................................................................................ 42

Mathias Pfalzer IV

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

cf. compare

CPT continuous performance task

et al. et alterii (and others)

eg. example given

ibid ibidem (in the same place)

f. following

ff. following (several pages)

N-back a specific continuous performance task

n.p. no page available

p. page

pp. pages

STM short-term memory

Mathias Pfalzer V

ABSTRACT

Working memory embraces many different functions in our daily life. It not just

enables us to interact with our immediate environment, but also empowers us to

process information of our direct past, to gain new knowledge and furthermore to

generate and pursue goals. Definitions still do not provide an unambiguous

overview of the topic, as they just agree on the core functions. One rather new

approach is to understand working memory as a temporary storage of information,

which differs from short-term memory, because it consists of multiple components.

Research on working memory is fast evolving and provided completely new

insights into the topic, which provided the basis for this thesis. Key authors

initiated the discussion that high-order cognitive processes might occur

nonconsciously and paved the way for new conclusions. These experts suggested

to update existing models of working memory and to consider implicit working

memory and its corresponding functions. One of their deductions was that

especially automatic, nonconscious high-order cognitive processes might be

influenced by these new findings.

Since the aim of this paper is to investigate the impact of implicit working memory

on the purchase behavior of tourists, new research tendencies on this topic are

fundamental for implications in the field of tourism. Decision making is regarded as

an application of high-order cognitive processes. Therefore many questions are

left unanswered. The author was therefore eager to contribute to closing this gap

and sought for possible consequences on the decision making of tourists. Thus it

was necessary to distinguish between different categories of purchases in the field

of tourism. In this context the level of involvement was one determinant, because

goal pursuit varies considerably due to the associated importance of the purchase

decision. Nevertheless even the booking of an expensive holiday might be the

result of an interaction between conscious and unconscious components. This

notion stems from findings which confirmed that consciousness is not a

prerequisite for pursuing goals.

Especially when we are undecided and do not know which alternative to choose,

our unconsciousness sometimes takes over and leads to astonishingly good

decisions.

Mathias Pfalzer 1

1 INTRODUCTION

Part of our daily routine is to make sure we have everything we need in order to

survive. This means basically that we have to establish the supply with food and

beverages, but also with air, clothing, water and shelter. Just when these needs

are satisfied we have the energy to consider how we could make our life more

worthwhile (Kotler & Keller, 2006, p. 24).

We are spending a considerable time in supermarkets to purchase basic

necessities. This sounds easier than it actually is, since even the purchase of a

staple like bread could turn out to be rather complicated. This is often due to a

huge offer of product varieties or alternatives with the potential to irritate or

confuse us. At the end of our shopping tour we usually have many different items

in our shopping cart, but sometimes we simply do not know why we have

purchased each and every product. For some of them we will have an explanation,

but for others we hardly can provide a good reason. From time to time people feel

the desire to buy such items without much consideration. Research has shown

that people often act unconsciously when purchasing products or services. In

former times consumer behavior was mainly seen from a cognitive point of view

and concentrated heavily on the conscious processing of information for the

subsequent purchase decision. The motivation of consumers to engage in careful

consideration is central for the argumentation of how relevant information is

processed for the purchase decision. In general we still often act in accordance

with this scheme when the desired product is significantly important and

expensive, but there are occasions where the need is pressing and when we do

not have the time to contemplate about the purchase decision. In such cases we

do not process a lot of information (or no information at all) prior to the purchase.

This process is strongly influenced by the unconsciousness (Bargh, 2002, p. 282).

This paper focuses especially on unconscious influences on the purchase

behavior of tourists. Furthermore it deals with the role of working memory on

tourism products when unconsciousness is involved in the buying process. Latest

research findings revealed that high-order cognitive processes such as decision

making are possible application areas of working memory. Crucial in this context is

the fact that researchers have revealed that processes such as making a purchase

decision can occur nonconsciously. Since researchers (Hassin, Aarts, Eitam,

Custers, Kleiman, Bargh & Zimerman) have recommended expanding existing

Mathias Pfalzer 2

models of working memory for implicit working memory and implicit executive

functions, many questions are left unanswered, and enabled further discussions

about the problem statement of this paper. Thus, it is difficult to forecast a future

direction of research on this topic due to this just recently made advance of the

doctrine. The reason is that opinions of specialists in this scientific area have

diverged even before evidence on the occurrence of high-order cognitive

processes in a nonconscious mental condition was found. Therefore implications

of implicit working memory on complex cognitive processes in tourism do not exist

according to the author’s knowledge yet. Exactly this opportunity challenged the

author to do research on the connection between the field of unconsciousness in

terms of working memory and the purchase behavior of tourists. Goal pursuit takes

an essential position within the framework in this paper. Especially corresponding

findings have indicated that consumers sometimes follow their goals

unconsciously. The central aim of providing fresh impulse for the area of tourism is

approached through an initial overview about the topic of working memory,

followed by an investigation of how consumers come up with their final purchase

decisions. Throughout this paper the author provides examples of research

findings to facilitate the understanding of the topic. Another reason for taking such

studies into consideration was to pave the way for implications on tourism. The

following research question aims to provide the reader with an insight into how the

author wants to expand the present literature with his thesis:

To what extent does the working memory of tourists relate to the principles of unconscious goal pursuit when making a purchase decision?

Basically, the research question indicates the interaction of working memory and

goal pursuit and asks for the impact on purchase decisions. This is mainly due to

the fact that purchase decisions are confirmed to be examples for complex

cognitive processes and therefore application areas of working memory. Another

concern of the author was to critically discuss latest research findings in order to

come up with practical effects of this scientific phenomenon in the field of tourism.

Concerning the impact of implicit working memory on the purchase behavior of

tourists it was necessary to examine the implications from two different viewpoints.

Therefore the author differentiated between purchase behavior prior to the

beginning of a vacation (eg. the holiday has not been booked yet) and on the

consumption tourists make during their holidays. Finally, this paper should serve

as a source of information for interested people, who would like to find out why

Mathias Pfalzer 3

they are deciding the way they do, but also provide suppliers of tourism products

with an opportunity to inform themselves about occurring mental processes while

the purchase decision is made.

The author’s knowledge regarding the field of unconscious processes is admittedly

still limited. This is mainly due to the restricted frame of this thesis in terms of both

time and content. In addition to this it usually takes a long time to gain an

understanding of the unconscious mind. The author decided not to conduct

experiments due to the tight research schedule. Therefore the applied method of

research in this thesis is exclusively based on literature review. To deepen given

knowledge about a discipline like the unconscious mind is crucial and can be

accomplished through literature review. Especially the involvement of renowned

key authors aims to guarantee the validity of included findings. Accepted textbooks

such as “Marketing Management” or “Models of Working Memory” were used by

the author in order to facilitate the understanding of complex contexts.

The thesis is divided into five chapters with different foci in terms of content. In the

first chapter the purpose, the rationale, a brief overview on used literature and the

research method are presented to the reader. The second chapter serves to clarify

ambiguities regarding the scientific complexity of working memory. In order to

accomplish this goal, descriptive definitions, characteristics of working memory

and insights on how implicit working memory influences complex cognitive

processes are provided. By the end of this chapter the reader should have

obtained a rough overview about the construct of working memory and its

applications. Focus of the third chapter lies on the process of making purchase

decisions. Since the weighted added strategy stands in strong contrast with

impulse buying, one section of this paper will discuss the different outcomes. Goal

activation and pursuit with a focus on unconscious influences will conclude this

chapter. The fourth chapter contains basically the author’s derived findings from

the theoretically covered inputs of the previous chapters. Especially the critical

discussion of these implications should make this thesis a profound source for

tourism marketers. Finally, the last chapter summarizes the cornerstones of this

thesis and provides recommendations for further research on this topic.

Mathias Pfalzer 4

2 WORKING MEMORY

Our mind processes a multitude of cognitive tasks every day, such as reading a

book, carrying out easy calculations or simply decides on which opportunity to

choose in case two or more alternatives are given. The process of deciding on one

alternative is often composed of various steps with corresponding results per step.

The entire process demands the respective person to store single results in order

to carry out the task (Miyake & Shah, 1999, p. 1).

This chapter aims to provide the reader with an overview of working memory and

furthermore serves as a solid basis for further discussions.

2.1 Definition of Working Memory

Working memory embraces a set of mechanisms or processes with the function to

control, regulate and conduct active maintenance of task-relevant information. This

complex cognition deals with new but also familiar and skilled tasks. Since working

memory is not perceived as an entirely unitary system, it consists of multiple

representational codes and/or various subsystems. Working memory is highly

related to long-term memory, which is because its content is mainly composed of

presently activated long-term memory images (ibid, p. 450).

When taking other definitions into consideration it is evident that there is a broad

consensus given on describing working memory activities as mental processes

with the purpose of holding information temporarily. An important fact is that these

pieces of information should be kept accessible in order to carry out mental tasks

(Cowan, 1998, p. 77).

A rather brief description of working memory is provided through an equation,

which considers working memory as the sum of short-term memory (representing

an activated portion of long-term memory) plus controlled attention (Engle, Kane &

Tuholski, 1999, p. 126).

The same notion is shared by the authors of the following statement. “Working

memory involves the short-term maintenance of information relevant to current

goals” (Prabhakaran, Narayanan, Zhao, & Gabrieli, 2000, p. 85).

All these definitions have certain characteristics in common. Therefore the

following approach of defining working memory aims to highlight once again the

main attributes and summarizes the cornerstones.

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“Working memory, like STM, is an online mechanism that retains items in memory for short periods of time. Unlike STM, however, WM comprises multiple components, and it does more than retain information: Using its executive functions, it selectively attends to the environment (whether internal or external). Moreover, WM can manipulate the items retained in memory, and it can coordinate the use of these representations in complex cognitive processes” (Hassin, 2005, p. 199).

In the past much research effort has been dedicated to short-term memory

research, which has dealt mainly with memory processes. Based on present

knowledge it is crucial to apply the above mentioned working memory functions to

complex cognitive tasks (Miyake & Shah, 1999, p. 453).

2.2 Characteristics of Working Memory

Working memory is much more than memorizing random information for a short

period of time, but moreover serves to highlight the inherent “working” character of

working memory and to keep distance to the “memory” function (ibid, p. 444).

In a further part of this paper the reader will come across the distinction between

explicit and implicit working memory. Especially latest research findings justify

having a closer look at implicit working memory, because its role has been newly

defined. Decision making processes as part of high-order cognitive processes are

now acknowledged to occur also apart from consciousness (Hassin, Bargh, Engell

& McCulloch, 2009, p. 13).

2.2.1 Core Functions of Working Memory

Baddeley and Logie summarized the functions of working memory with the

following statement:

“Working memory…allow[s]…humans to comprehend and mentally represent their immediate environment, to retain information about their immediate past experience, to support the acquisition of new knowledge, to solve problems, and to formulate, relate and act on current goals”. (Baddeley & Logie, 1999, p. 28)

Based on the indicated characteristics of working memory it is arguable to

describe working memory as a link between rather simple cognitive processes

(such as memorizing things) and more complex ones (such as comprehending

information) (Gathercole & Baddeley, 1993, p. 2).

Mathias Pfalzer 6

A popular approach among researchers is to regard processes or mechanisms of

working memory as being linked to complex cognitive structures. Highly relevant

for further discussions in this paper are cognitive processes, such as reasoning,

problem solving and decision making. This is based on the notion that purchase

decisions involve attention, perception, goal activation and pursuit but also

learning and memory, attitudes and preferences, but also affect and choice.

Besides that, working memory is also involved in language processing and

visuospatial thinking (Miyake & Shah, 1999, p. 445; Fitzsimons et al., 2002, p.

270).

An influential study of Hassin (2005, p. 201) revealed how to measure working

memory efficiently. Three working memory tasks have been established in

accordance with studies, which provided insights into approaches on how to

successfully complete these tasks. The first one is the reading span, a task with

the purpose of assessing individual dissimilarities in the capacity of working

memory, the second one the continuous performance task (CPT), which aims to

discover a target stimulus in an ongoing stream of stimuli, and the last one is

known as the N-back task, developed to confront participants with a certain stream

of stimuli and to find out if the probands identify the current stimuli as the one they

were exposed to N trials ago. The first function of working memory is the active

maintenance of obtained information for a rather short time span. This is followed

by updating context-relevant information and producing computations for the

course of pursuing a goal, which involves also active representations. The third

point is composed of goal oriented rapid biasing, which concentrates on two

elements: cognitions and behaviors. The fourth and last function of working

memory is characterized as some kind of a “firewall” against interference (Hassin,

2005, p. 202).

2.2.2 Descriptive Models of Working Memory

The first discussed model was developed by Baddeley and other top class

researchers and is perceived as a cornerstone of modern research on working

memory. The second model of Cohen and his colleagues is regarded as the most

biologically implemented one (ibid, p. 200).

The classic model of Baddeley consists of an “executive-element” and two “slave-

systems”, which are known as the phonological loop and the visuospatial

sketchpad. These two systems are temporarily memorizing and furthermore

maintaining information through repetition or practice. This rehearsal is important

Mathias Pfalzer 7

for both systems and leads to the effect that the phonological loop holds verbally

coded information, whereas the visuospatial sketchpad upholds, as the name

implies, visual and/or spatial information. Working memory is controlled and

regulated partly by the central executive. This component coordinates the two

slave systems and is in charge of invoking corresponding information within the

long-term memory (Baddeley, 2002, pp. 85-97).

The next covered model has been developed by Cohen and his colleagues. Their

description seems quite familiar to the reader since they define working memory

as steered processes, which are based on active maintenance and/or a fast

learning component. The active maintenance of information is taking place in the

prefrontal cortex. Information in this region of the brain is not just vibrantly

updated, but also influences continuous ongoing processing. Other important

cerebral parts with special functions regarding this model are the hippocampus,

which is responsible for rapid learning and in contrast a posterior perceptual and

motor cortex. The most remote area of the brain serves to accomplish long-term

learning (Cohen et al., 1990, n.p. cited following Hassin, 2005, p. 200).

These models share common functions such as active maintenance which is

involved in working memory and learning of input in accordance with cognitive

control and furthermore rather complex cognitive processes (Hassin, 2005, p.

200).

2.2.3 Remaining Ambiguity in the Context of Working Memory Functions

Researchers have dedicated much effort to provide a clear answer to the question

what working memory is and aimed to find a consensus regarding its functions. A

uniform point of view is still not easy to reach (Miyake & Shah, 1999, p. 1).

Existing models differed remarkably in the last years, but nevertheless led to the

effect that researchers agreed on the basic nature of working memory (ibid, p.

443). In accordance with the consensus on working memory functions are the

corresponding processes, which are attached to them and listed above (Hassin,

Bargh, Engell & McCulloch, 2009, p. 2).

In contrast to the traditional view of perceiving working memory as being involved

merely in controlled processes or complex cognitive processes, research revealed

the existence of unconscious goal pursuit. These findings initiated discussions

about the role of working memory in high-order nonconscious processes and

Mathias Pfalzer 8

furthermore obliged researchers to have a closer look on implicit working memory

and implicit executive functions (Hassin, Bargh, Engell & McCulloch, 2009, p. 13).

2.3 Capacity Limits of Working Memory

Research revealed that the capacity of working memory is limited. This notion is

mainly due to George Miller’s description of studies, in which he stated that people

are usually able to recall approximately seven independent, meaningful items or

pieces of information at a certain point of time (Cowan, 1998, p. 77).

Capacity limits in working memory are related to multiple factors, which have to be

identified and furthermore assessed to know how they are interrelated. Based on

this principle it should be possible to create an understanding of how the single

factors build the system of the overall capacity limitation (Miyake & Shah, 1999, p.

448).

Cowan (1998, p. 77) argued that observing these limits is not a problem, but

finding out which mental areas are exposed to these limits is not an easy task to

fulfill. A helpful approach is to apply working memory systems with numerous

components. This is especially true since working memory limits are described as

being dependent on the stimulus and the age of the test person. Regarding these

facts significant differences in terms of working memory are revealed. His point of

view is best summarized by the following statement:

“Working memory is composed of a capacity-limited focus of attention, along with a temporarily activated portion of the information in permanent memory, which extends beyond the focus of attention to include some automatically activated information.” (ibid, p. 77)

One possibility would be to store specific inactive portions of memory through the

application of a system, which enables a quick recall of the information (Cowan,

1997, p. 29ff). A good demonstration for this approach is the following example. It

deals with a reasoning problem and asks the testperson to encode the seven

rainbow colors and to memorize them under the name “Roy G. Biv”. This process

leads to the fact that the names of the colors are easily accessible. An interesting

effect is that just one to three items of working memory capacity are needed for

carrying out this task (Cowan, 1998, p. 77).

Thus, in contrast to George Miller’s theory that the working memory capacity is

limited to about seven items other researchers argue that the precise capacity

would embrace approximately three items. The reason for this tendency is seen in

Mathias Pfalzer 9

findings, such as the above described example, which has shown that people

have the ability to recall this number of items without producing mistakes even

when these trials were repeated. This is also the number of items, which may be

grouped to one piece or unit of information. Others assume that the true capacity

limit would be about four items. In any case there is not a uniform answer to this

question (Cowan, 1998, p. 77).

2.4 Long-Term Knowledge and Working Memory

Working memory performance is heavily influenced by long-term knowledge and

skills. In other words it is essential to take these two factors into consideration in

order to understand the principle of working memory. So far existing research has

not paid much attention to these aspects. This has changed over the last years

and is reflected in the book “Models of Working Memory – Mechanisms of Active

Maintenance and Executive Control” (Miyake & Singh, 1999, p. 449).

Cowan’s argumentation is the following: “At any moment there is assumed to be a

currently active subset of long-term memory, and the focus of attention is assumed

to be a subset of that activated information.” (Cowan, 1999, p. 88)

Basically human beings are frequently confronted with situational stimuli, which

involve new links of familiar information. The connections between the single

elements are in many cases novel and may lead to the storage as a new element

of our long-term memory (ibid, p. 89).

A central distinction between long-term memory and short-term memory is to be

seen in the fact that long-term memory is involved in more sophisticated encoding,

which is done deliberately. Virtual short-term memory on the contrary is not

important for deliberate encoding (Miyake & Shah, 1999, p. 459).

2.5 Conscious Awareness and its Relation to Working Memory

The previous section of this paper has already indicated that the extent of

information, which people are able to consciously process, is limited. The same is

true for the storage or maintenance function of working memory. Therefore there is

a broad consensus amongst researchers on the point that working memory,

attention and consciousness are highly interrelated (Shah & Miyake, 1999, p. 17).

One of the central questions is in how far conscious awareness is related to

working memory. Due to the fact that working memory is based upon attention and

awareness it is a necessity to highlight that those two processes are closely tied.

Mathias Pfalzer 10

What remains unclear is the nature of this relation (Kintsch, Healy, Hegarety,

Pennington & Salthouse, 1999, p. 429ff).

Baddeley took a clear position regarding this topic. “Conscious awareness [is] one

of the functions of the central executive component of working memory”.

(Baddeley, 1996, p. 26)

Thus, not only Baddeley held the view that working memory is rather restricted to

conscious awareness. Many other researchers share this opinion (Andrade,

Kavanagh & Baddeley, 1997, p. 209 ff).

Participants in working memory examinations were without any exception asked to

manipulate information or materials. Especially conscious activities like

memorizing, rehearsing, adding or subtracting adopted had a central position

within these studies. Therefore a broad consensus amongst researchers existed

on the point that working memory is conscious, but in some cases in an implicit

form (Hassin, 2005, p. 203). Some years ago discussions were initiated about the

necessity to confirm whether conscious awareness is needed for working memory,

or if it is possible for working memory to operate even unconsciously (ibid, p. 203).

2.6 Unconsciousness and Working Memory

Especially in the last three decades much research effort has been dedicated to

the level of awareness when it comes to influences on the judgment, decisions or

reasons for human behavior. Higher mental processes are therefore supervised by

the unconscious mind (Bargh & Morsella, 2008, p. 73).

2.6.1 The Fundamental Principle of Unconsciousness

Prior to the definition of unconsciousness one has to find a description of what

consciousness is composed of. Conscious processes are accessible to the

awareness, because they are intentional, under possible control and serial. One

consequence of what would be to define unconsciousness as the opposite of

consciousness (Bargh & Morsella, 2008, p. 73).

In general many different definitions of unconsciousness have led to an overflow of

conclusions about the purpose and functions of the unconscious. The term itself

can be traced back to the early 1800s at which it differed considerably from the

present understanding. In former times “unconsciousness” was understood as a

person’s unintentional dealings and did not take the processing of subliminal-

strength information into consideration. A common notion of social psychologists

Mathias Pfalzer 11

was to equate the terms “inconscious” with “unintentional” (Bargh & Morsella,

2008, p. 74). Other researchers stated the priming and automaticity effects on

complex cognitive processes, which could be first activated and then function

without being aware that there was a triggering stimulus (Bargh, 1994, p. 31).

Unconsciousness is simply more than mere processing of stimuli when being

unaware. Its entire dimension is based upon the impact of stimulus processing in a

condition of not being aware. Dependent on which view one adopts, the

unconscious mind can be either perceived as being dumb or smart (Loftus &

Klinger, 1992, p. 762).

Two studies, the New Look Research and the Skill-Acquisition Research, were

carried out to examine two unconscious processes and led to interesting findings.

The New Look Research describes a person who did not have the intention to

engage in a research process. Thus, this person was unaware of what was going

on. In contrast to this, the skill-acquisition was about a person who was willing to

engage in the process. Once the process was started, this person had the ability

to perform without conscious guidance. Examples for this type of research would

be typing or driving a car (dependent on being experienced in these two activities).

Both processes can happen outside of consciousness, but in an intentional way

(Bargh & Morsella, 2008, p. 74).

2.6.2 Implicit Working Memory

A rather new point of view in research on conscious awareness is closely

connected to implicit working memory. This aspect is essential, because it

discusses and examines whether working memory can operate outside of

conscious awareness or not (Hassin, 2005, p. 204).

Whenever something is measured, the term “implicit” indicates that the tested

subject is not aware of what is actually measured. The opposite is true for explicit

measures, which requires awareness (Petty, Fazio & Briñol, 2009, p. 3f).

So far it has been discussed how working memory operates in high-order cognitive

processes. It was found that working memory is usually regarded as being closely

related to conscious awareness. Capacity limitations in this respect allow humans

just to be involved in a restricted number of such high-order cognitive processes.

Nevertheless one often has the feeling that it is possible to pursue numerous

goals, decisions or plans and this evokes the question of how these views fit

together. One possible explanation is that we just tend to think we can handle

Mathias Pfalzer 12

multiple processes simultaneously, which is not in line with the general notion on

this topic. At the moment we are not engaged with these processes anymore, they

become unconscious and inactive. Key authors delivered an important contribution

with the following, short statement: “Working memory can operate outside of

conscious awareness”. (Hassin, Bargh, Engell & McCulloch, 2009, p. 3)

They even argue that the discussed processes (active maintenance, context-

relevant updating of information, goal relevant computations and rapid biasing)

can function nonconsciously. Furthermore they stated that the altered information,

which is derived by these processes, may be unconscious (ibid, p. 3)

So far there is no consensus concerning the question whether there are significant

differences between explicit and implicit working memory functions. Such a

separation would be helpful to clarify if implicit working memory belongs to working

memory or if it should be regarded as being separate from it. Important starting

points for further research will be to find out how implicit working memory is

connected to higher order cognitive processes (ibid, p.13).

A challenging issue in this paper is the fact that so far research did not relate

working memory to high-order nonconscious processes. Nevertheless there is a

new tendency among researchers to rethink the opinion that working memory is

solely interrelated with conscious awareness and to take account of implicit

working memory and its functions for complex unconscious processes (ibid, p. 13).

2.7 Complex Cognitive Activities

Decisive for the further discussion of how working memory operates is the

question whether it just encompasses high-order cognitive processes or also

nonconscious activities. Current findings of research in social cognition have

proven that unconsciousness might be involved in high-order cognitive processes,

and in goal pursuit as a subform (Hassin, Bargh, Engell & McCulloch, 2009, p. 13).

So far present models of high-order nonconscious processes excluded or

neglected working memory, since working memory was traditionally tied to

conscious awareness. This notion changed due to latest findings which

recommend expanding corresponding models for implicit working memory and

implicit executive functions (Hassin, 2005, n.p., Hassin, Aarts, Eitam, Custers &

Kleiman, 2009, n.p., Hassin, Bargh & Zimerman, 2009, n.p. cited following Hassin,

Bargh, Engell & McCulloch, 2009, p. 13).

Mathias Pfalzer 13

Since working memory consists of multiple subsystems it is vital to examine how

these components are working together and furthermore, how they function as an

entity. Up to now most research on complex cognition has concentrated on one

specific subsystem of working memory within a single sphere, such as language

processing or visuospatial processing. This fact is problematic, since many

cognitive everyday activities like watching TV or reading and understanding an

illustrated text demand the interaction of different subsystems (Miyake & Shah,

1999, p. 458).

Regardless which complex cognitive task is pursued, many different parts of the

working memory are activated and interactively processing (Baddeley & Logie,

1999, p. 40).

In general two methodological tools were used to do research on complex

cognitive activities in the field of working memory – dual-task performance, which

deals with how individuals achieve coordinating several tasks simultaneously and

complex working memory span tasks, developed to measure the capacity of short-

term memory together with an individual’s “controlled attention” ability (Miyake &

Shah, 1999, p. 458). Both tools contributed a lot to the current level of research,

but have not answered the question as to how people carry out two or more

activities at the same time or as to what is really measured by working memory

span tasks (Pashler, 1992, n.p. cited following Miyake and Shah, 1999, p. 458).

Engle et al. hold the view that working memory span tasks are responsible for

measuring the short-term memory capacity and an individual’s controlled attention.

The context with “controlled attention” is important, because this ability is essential

for the connection between working memory span tasks and fluid intelligence

tasks (Engle, Kane & Tuholski, 1999, p. 108). Nevertheless the field of working

memory span tasks is a controversial one with many contradicting notions (Miyake

& Shah, 1999, p. 459).

It is rather difficult to provide an unambiguous explanation of more-complex dual-

task situations, because opinions vary a lot. One of the latest contributions on this

topic claims that it is just possible to pay attention to one single task at a certain

point of time, which is contradicting the principle of dual-task performance. This is

mainly due to the fact that it deals with rapidly switching attention between the two

tasks (Pashler, 1992, n.p. cited following Miyake & Shah, 1999, p. 458).

Mathias Pfalzer 14

3 PURCHASING PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

In many cases consumers are aware of their choices, but sometimes they are not.

The justification of choosing especially one product or service is not always easy

to provide, because sometimes we just feel like buying something without any

intention to do so (Dijksterhuis, Smith, van Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005, p. 193).

3.1 The Process of Purchasing

The actual purchase is what humans often experience in a conscious manner.

Underlying the final purchase are other layers, which are best described by a

model consisting of five stages: problem recognition, information search,

evaluation of alternatives, purchase decision, and postpurchase behavior (Kotler,

Roberto & Lee, 2002, n.p. cited following Kotler & Keller, 2006, p. 191).

Thus, prior to the transaction people process information (Petty, Cacioppo &

Schumann, 1983, p. 138). This procedure often results in attitudes which have an

effect on decisions (Dijksterhuis, Smith, Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005, p. 193).

Dependent on the importance and value, in terms of the price, the consumer tends

to weight the advantages and disadvantages of products. Notwithstanding, in

many cases people do not follow this pattern and act controversially. This is

especially applicable for choices which are based on automatically activated

attitudes. In such cases some information processing could have been conducted

in the past, but not when actually choosing a product (ibid, p. 194).

The purchase decision was for a long time regarded as being a conscious and

deliberative process. Therefore human beings were seen as conscious and

intentional consumers. Contemporary research revealed that purchase decisions

happen to a considerable extent unconsciously (Fitzsimons et al., 2002, p. 270).

The following argumentation serves as a good summary of this notion.

“All decisions consist of a mix of conscious and nonconscious processes and that

the degree to which nonconscious processes influence the consumer choice

process is much greater than most choice researchers believe”. (ibid, p. 270)

Other experts hold the view that most of our purchase choices are not based upon

information processing at all or just to a minimum extent. From their perspective it

is extremely hard for consumers to describe intentions when buying products, or

even harder to find out what personal information processing strategies look like.

This is most often because people omit the annoying task of processing

Mathias Pfalzer 15

information. Nonetheless, a lack of processed information in the purchase process

is an indicator of unconsciously influencing factors in consumer behavior

(Dijksterhuis, Smith, Van Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005, p. 194).

Consumers react to stimuli, such as “today only” in commercials and their

purchase behavior shows significant response to the indicated scarcity of

products. People tend to think that scarce items have to be of good quality. In

addition to this principle, consumers are often influenced by reciprocity,

commitment, consistency, social proof, and authority. The result of these effects is

that people tend to act mindlessly when they adhere to messages of

advertisement (ibid, p. 194).

3.2 How are Consumers Choosing a Product or a Servi ce?

Research on purchase behavior distinguishes between simple and complex

choices. Simple choices are those where consumers have to choose between

objects with a rather limited pool of important characteristics (one or two attributes,

such as with toothpaste). If many attributes are of high relevance for the buying

process (such as for cars or houses), the term “complex choices” is used. Usually

it is said that conscious thought leads to good choices in basic situations, because

it demands precision. The more complex these situations get, the worse are the

choices with a conscious approach of thinking. The reason for this effect is the low

capacity of conscious thoughts (Dijksterhuis, Maarten, Nordgren & van Baaren,

2006, p. 1006). It is argued that the lack of precision in unconscious thoughts

leads to low quality choices. Remarkable in this context is that increased

complexity is not perceived as the release of worse choices. Therefore an

appropriate conclusion would be that unconscious thinking in complex situations

results in better choices than conscious thoughts (ibid, p. 1006).

A final statement should sum up the central points in this context. “The more

complex a problem is, the less likely it becomes that conscious thought can

contribute much. If a problem is complex, it by definition means that a lot of

information has to be taken into account”. (Dijksterhuis, 2004, p. 597)

3.3 Bounded Rationality

“Bounded rationality” and “impulse buying” are two different approaches in the

literature specialized on consumer behavior and represent deviating findings in

comparison to the rational choice model (Strack, Werth & Deutsch, 2006, p. 205).

Mathias Pfalzer 16

Whenever humans show patterns of bounded rationality their attention is focused,

they are keen on avoiding interference and are concentrated on the issues their

attention is focused on at a certain point of time. Emotions play a major role in this

context, because they are often the reason why people are distracted and lose

their interest in the current goal. In such situations emotions lead over to pay

attention to a new goal (Simon, 1990, p. 199).

One of the key points of bounded rationality is that necessary judgments have to

be conducted in a state of uncertainty. Therefore researchers have dedicated

effort on the aspects of judgment and choice (Strack, Werth & Deutsch, 2006, p.

205).

Bounded rationality is especially important in the context of weighted adding for a

complex choice. The process of contemplating about several choices demands

people to possess enough processing capacity. This appears problematic,

because the thinking process for complex choices is rather restricted in terms of

the conscious capacity. Humans cannot consider a multitude of components or

attributes at the same time. In addition to that the weighing of the importance of

considered attributes plays a crucial role. Consumers therefore should be able to

establish appropriate weights due to the formerly processed information and

“refrain from allowing noise to interfere with this process”. (Dijksterhuis, van

Baaren, Bongers, Bos, van Leeuwen & van der Leij, 2009, p. 16)

Decisions of customers are influenced by availability and representativeness. In

this context availability is described as the evaluation of probability regarding the

effortlessness of retrieval. Representativeness is depicted as a classification

based on similarity (Strack, Werth & Deutsch, 2006, p. 205).

3.4 Impulse Buying

Opposite to the model of rational choice, purchase behavior of consumers may be

influenced by impulse (Strack, Werth & Deutsch, 2006, p. 206). This is the case if

attitudes do not play a role in the process of choosing a product at all and if

influences of the surrounding environment affect the purchase decision

(Dijksterhuis, Smith, Van Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005, p. 194).

The essential difference in comparison to bounded rationality is to be seen in the

view that the process of buying is in some cases not a mere reflection of a person.

Moreover, it is often evoked by a more direct and immediate stimulus on the

behavior. The evaluation component in terms of a subject’s judgment (as it is true

Mathias Pfalzer 17

for bounded rationality) is not given and is sometimes followed up by a state of

regretting decisions (Strack, Werth & Deutsch, 2006, p. 206).

Impulse buying was defined as “a sudden and immediate purchase with no pre-

shopping intentions… The behavior occurs after experiencing an urge to buy and it

tends to be spontaneous and without a lot of reflection (i.e., it is “impulsive”).”

(Beatty and Ferrel, 1998, n.p.)

Inherent in the definition of impulse buying is that the desire to purchase a product

is triggered instantly (ibid, n.p.).

3.5 Application of Strategies in the Purchase Proce ss

Usually the decision to use a strategy is based more on rational and effective

elements than on irrational and disruptive components. It makes sense to perceive

a strategy as being directed rationally. This notion stems from findings that people

are fundamentally highly motivated to pursue their goals in order to accomplish a

desired outcome (Higgins 2005, p. 517).

3.5.1 Unconscious Side Effects of Strategies

Although humans tend to believe that they can control the outcome of our applied

strategies, many interferences or obstacles could happen as side effects apart

from consciousness. These side effects are normally categorized in two different

groups: tradeoffs and value transfer. The first side effect indicates the trade-offs of

strategic self-regulation. An interesting finding in this context was that people are

not aware of such trade-offs when applying goal-pursuit strategies. This trade-off

means that we risk producing more errors of commission in order to reduce errors

of omission. The consequence of this side effect is that the costs of strategic

rationality might influence our thoughts in a negative way (ibid, p. 517).

Value transfer describes one of the positive elements of using strategies in our

goal pursuit. We tend to perceive our doing as rewarding (Higgins, 2000, p. 1217ff

cited following Higgins, 2005, p. 517). This has nothing to do with valuing the final

outcome more just because the approach of decision making was seen as

positive. Such value transfer as a side effect of using goal pursuit strategies could

also unconsciously influence thought (Higgins, 2005, p. 518).

3.5.2 Weighted Added Strategy

“The chooser first weights the relative importance of various attributes […]. Subsequently, choice alternatives are assigned values for each

Mathias Pfalzer 18

these attributes […]. Finally, these values are, for each choice alternative, multiplied by the relative importance. The resulting scores represent the utility or relative desirability of each alternative”. (Dijksterhuis, van Baaren, Bongers, Bos, van Leeuwen & van der Leij, 2009, p. 5)

One problem with this strategy is that it is hardly applicable. First of all it is rather

demanding and people as decision makers are confronted with constraints. Quite

often consumers are exposed to time pressure due to the lack of resources and

suffer from an information shortage when choosing between alternatives. Despite

the fact that the weighted added strategy is idealistic in nature, it works as a

helpful decision making tool. Too often humans are facing constraints in terms of

limited computational abilities or the lack of time and resources. Sometimes

individuals do not even have the necessary information at their disposal when

choosing between alternatives. The reason why this strategy is not seen as a

popular construct is not inherent in the process itself, but based on people

believing that conscious deliberation is most important. In fact, the opposite should

be true. One consequence would be to perceive the weighted added strategy as

being most successfully applied when we accept unconscious processes (ibid, p.

6).

3.6 Attitudes

A previous section of this paper mentioned that some consumer choices are made

unconsciously. Researchers described this process more precisely as highly

habitualized. Attitudes are seen as strong and influencing components, which are

automatically triggered when the consumer perceives the product (Fazio,

Sanbonmatsu, Powell & Kardes, 1986, n.p. cited following Dijksterhuis, Smith, Van

Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005, p. 194).

It is prevalent that some information should be preferably processed to restrict the

number of possible errors. The timeframe for doing research on corresponding

information varies widely. Automatically activated attitudes are the explanation for

preferences and date back to prior information processing. Some choices of

consumers are done without any information processing at all and are therefore

not influenced by attitudes. Such cases are valid examples for impulse buying

behavior (Dijksterhuis, Smith, Van Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005, p. 194).

Mathias Pfalzer 19

3.6.1 Implicitly Measured Attitudes

Implicit attitude measures are usually assessing automatic associations of tested

persons, without the awareness of the individual in terms of the measured goal.

Important in this context is to get an understanding for the inherent character of

implicit processes. Basically the term “implicit” stands for automaticity and

unawareness of the mental state in the ongoing process of persuasion (Briñol,

Petty & McCaslin, 2008, p. 285).

The conclusion that people do not remember items of their implicitly measured

memory leads to the assumption that these subjects are not consciously aware of

their memory. Nevertheless, cases occur in which attitudes are explicitly measured

and where the underlying attitude is not proven. If the applied measure would have

been implicit in nature, the attitude would sometimes be evident. Such examples

hinder a uniform consensus on the unawareness of people. This notion might be

due to people who are unwilling to reveal memories that are triggered by social

desirability. The same argumentation could be applied for specific attitudes. In

general it seems to be justifiable that “social desirability attenuates the correlation

between explicit and implicit measures” (Petty, Fazio & Briñol, 2009, p. 7).

3.6.2 Malleable Automatic Attitudes

A possible temporarily change in attitudes might be due to mimicry, automatic

stereotype activation or automatic goal activation. Based on recent research

findings it is found that mimicry might have a dual effect on attitudes. This is

mainly because people tend to consciously and intentionally copy another

person’s attitude in order to be accepted or to conform to expectations of the

society. Sometimes attitudes change even without being aware that the imitation

of other people is the underlying reason. Choices of consumers are to a

considerable extent influenced by automatically activated attitudes. Since such

attitudes vary and are unstable in nature, they sometimes produce different

choices. Our immediate social environment and goals are often the reason why

attitudes are partly adjusted. Individuals are usually not aware that their behavior

is influenced by these effects (Dijksterhuis, Smith, van Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005,

p. 199).

More detailed information on mimicry will follow in further sections of this paper.

Mathias Pfalzer 20

3.7 Unconscious Influences on the Purchase Behavior

Dependent on the situation humans sometimes do not exactly know why they

have purchased certain items and ask themselves afterwards how it was possible

that they spent even a considerable amount of money on such products or

services. The reason is that people are sometimes choosing unconsciously or

partly in an unconscious way (Dijksterhuis, Smith, van Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005,

p. 193).

3.7.1 Perception-Behavior Link

Chartrand and Bargh contributed with the following statement to this topic. “The

effect of perception on behavior is an automatic process that does not depend on

conscious choice is consistent with recent neuropsychological findings as well”.

(Chartrand & Bargh, 1999, p. 906)

The perception-behavior link represents one possibility of influencing behavior

through the environment or our surroundings. This happens without being aware

of it, or with no intention or control over the situation. The probability of behaving in

a similar way, such as other people in one’s environment is therefore increased

(ibid, p. 906).

The mental representations for behavior and perception are closely linked and

form the basis for the construct of the perception-behavior link. Most often our

behavior is strongly influenced by the perception in both ways, consciously and

unconsciously. Nevertheless in some cases the perception of a person’s behavior

does not necessarily lead to the performance of the perceived behavior. Obstacles

for imitation can be important goals or enhanced self-focus of a person. Human

beings are imitating due to their nature, but sometimes interfering processes limit

the imitation (Dijksterhuis & Bargh, 2001, p. 51).

The application area of the perception-behavior link comprises affected behavior,

such as simple movements of our hands, but also sophisticated interpersonal

behavior. Consequently research has distinguished between “low road” to imitation

and “high road” to imitation, which describes more complex behavior (Dijksterhuis,

2005, n.p. cited following Dijksterhuis, Smith, van Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005, p.

195).

Despite this it is still of utmost importance to understand that an automatism leads

in general to the effect that perceptional representations activate corresponding

Mathias Pfalzer 21

representations in behavior (Dijksterhuis & Bargh, 2001, p. 52). Human beings

tend to imitate automatically, because of the evolutionary context. Animals are

imitating other representatives of their species simply in order to survive. In former

times this was also true for human beings, but nowadays it is arguable why one

would feel the urge to imitate the behavior of another person solely for the course

of staying alive. One of the main reasons for imitating others is because human

beings long for acceptance and affection. Imitation is a fundamental possibility to

support this ambition. It even reduces the probability to get in conflicts with other

people and eases social integration. Our social need is heavily dependent on

behavior, which is affected by prior perception. The perception-behavior link as a

mechanism is based on the principle that its outcome is more beneficial than the

consequences of not imitating others (Dijksterhuis & Bargh, 2001, p. 52f).

About fifty years ago Jones and Thibaut held the following view:

“If we can successfully identify the goals for which an actor is striving in the interaction situation, we can begin to say something about the cues to which he will attend, and the meaning he is most likely to assign them.” (Jones & Thibaut, 1958, p. 152)

3.7.1.1 Low-Road to Imitation

Human beings have an inherent capacity to mimic starting from the day they are

born. Whenever we see others do something, we store the information we

perceived, both as the meaning of the perceived action and secondly as the motor

performance. Research findings revealed that our perception of situations and

corresponding actions are related. From a scientific point of view mirror neurons

fire when we first observe others performing actions and then execute such

actions ourselves. One could argue that mimicry enables us to understand actions

of others by behaving the same way. Studies have revealed that mimicry exists for

facial expressions, postures, gestures, and some speech-related variables

(Dijksterhuis, Smith, van Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005, p. 195).

Van Baaren and his colleagues revealed a remarkable advantage of using

imitation strategically. Their study was based upon research findings of Chartrand

and Bargh and was about a scientific categorization of a field experiment in a

restaurant. Prior to the execution of the experiment they informed themselves

about the usual tip of a waitress on a typical evening. The striking point of the

study was that they asked the waitress to imitate the verbal behavior of the guests.

In other words, they were supposed to exactly repeat the order of the served

Mathias Pfalzer 22

customers. In some cases the waitresses were asked not to imitate (no-mimicry

condition), but to paraphrase. The findings of this study was ground-breaking,

because exact verbal imitation led to a sharp increase in tipping behavior of the

guests whereas mere paraphrasing caused comparably lower tips (van Baaren,

Holland, Steenaert & van Knippenberg, 2003, n.p. cited following Dijksterhuis,

Smith, van Baaren & Wigboldus, 2005, p. 196).

3.7.1.2 High-Road to Imitation

The second road to imitation deals with complex and sophisticated imitations,

which was revealed in priming experiments. These manipulations led to the

activation of stereotypes or traits. Research has shown that the high road to

imitation is also involved in memory tasks or where general knowledge was

decisive. Pervasiveness and automaticity are seen as cornerstones of the high

road to imitation. Imitating other human beings leads to social acceptance in form

of social interactions and strengthens social ties or increases connectedness and

liking. People who are good at imitating others should be therefore good at

observing emotions of other people and furthermore possess greater empathy.

This hypothesis claims the correlation between the desire to imitate others and the

effect of empathizing with the imitated subjects. The corresponding findings have

confirmed that imitation is an automatic process. The other hypothesis serves to

test whether the automatic tendency to imitate has its roots in the desire of people

to be liked more. The simple result is that we tend to like someone more, if he/she

is imitating us. A last hypothesis of this kind tried to reveal that the more people

imitate others, the more these individuals care about the feelings of those imitated

persons. The outcome of the corresponding experiment showed that the tendency

to empathize and the extent of imitative behavior are highly inter-related (Iacoboni,

2009, p. 658).

3.7.2 Goal Activation and Pursuit

The last two decades have led to new tendencies in consumer research. The

impact of nonconscious processes and their effects on human behavior have been

rewarded with special attention of scientists. Therefore the concepts of needs and

goal pursuits had to be reconsidered (Bargh, 2002, p. 281).

Introducing the construct of goal pursuit it seems noteworthy that it is not

necessarily bound to consciousness, despite the fact that people are in many

cases aware of their goals (Bongers & Dijksterhuis, 2009, p. 589). This seems to

Mathias Pfalzer 23

be of importance, because people who are unaware of pursuing goals tend to

consciously think about the unconscious goal pursuit at the moment problems are

involved. Reaching desired goals requires motivation, which is dependent on how

difficult the goal pursuit is. In addition to that the effort of pursuing goals

successfully and the probability of completing the task in a satisfying way have a

huge influence on the motivation (Bongers & Dijksterhuis, 2009, p. 598).

“The acting on a goal is similar no matter whether one is aware (conscious) or unaware (nonconscious) of that goal; the interpretation of the goal pursuit at hand, however, differs between consciously set and nonconsciously activated goals, as the former is associated with knowing of the goal at hand whereas the latter is not”. (Oettingen, Grant, Smith, Skinner & Gollwitzer, 2006, p. 674)

Our consciousness is the driving motivator for pursuing the goals of our interest.

Usually the consumer decides to pursue a specific goal dependent on the

purchase situation. Then he or she develops a suitable strategy to realize the goal,

adapts the behavior to attain the goal and is committed in assessing the progress

of the goal pursuit. So far this description is based on facts which indicate the

involvement of the consumer’s consciousness. Nevertheless in some cases goal

pursuit happens outside of the consciousness and by-passes intent and control. It

is our environment, which often activates goals automatically without conscious

intention (Chartrand & Bargh, 2002, p. 15). The choice of which goal a person

follows is heavily dependent on past experience. It is important to understand that

the auto-motive model implies that goals based on historic preferences can be

triggered through relevant stimuli without conscious awareness or intention. The

inherent quality of nonconscious goal pursuit is an adaptive one, because it allows

individuals to stay focused of present occurrences and leaves conscious

processing enough space to contemplate about the past and to think of the future

(ibid, p. 474f).

Generally spoken, people become aware of goals at the moment when the pursuit

gets complicated or fails (Bongers & Dijksterhuis, 2009, p. 600). The activation of

the goal has to be given and forms the initial point of goal pursuit that takes place

outside of awareness. The nonconscious goal operation then leads to the fact that

the person is not aware of the impact on his actions in form of evaluation and

behavior (Bargh, 2002, p. 282).

Mathias Pfalzer 24

3.7.2.1 Automatic Goal Pursuit

Basically our way of dealing with the environment in order to reach a goal is a form

of an automated unconscious strategy and not a mere behavioral reflex. The input

from our environment is processed by a mental system which is dependent on

input (Bargh & Barndollar, 1996, p. 461). An important contribution in this context

was expressed by the following notion: “Plans are not specifications of fixed

sequences of actions, but are strategies that determine each successive action as

a function of current information about the situation.” (Vera & Simon, 1993, p. 17)

Usually automaticity in goal pursuit implies that these processes are carried out

without intention, unconsciously, rather effortless and ballistic, which represents

the straightforward pursuit itself. Important is the finding that the extremely limited

capacity of our consciousness is not burdened and leads to the effect of being

more efficient in interacting with the complex and fast-evolving environment

(Hassin, Aarts, Eitam, Custers & Kleiman, 2009, p. 2).

Studies have investigated the existence of automatic, nonconscious goal pursuit.

This claim is based on the cognition that test persons of these studies were

evidently unaware of having been exposed to the prime and its effects. Further

results of the examinations revealed no differences in the goal pursuit of primed

and unprimed subjects. Clear evidence for automatic and unconscious goal pursuit

has not been provided by these studies, but there are significant indicators given

to regard these assumptions as being correct (ibid, p. 11).

3.7.2.2 Subliminal Priming and its Behavioral Effects

“Subliminal persuasion refers to the subliminal presentation of stimuli by people

(e.g. advertisers) who intentionally try to influence our behavior” (Dijksterhuis,

Aaarts & Smith, 2005, p. 78).

By the example of people who cannot verbally report on their memories, research

has provided evidence that individuals gain far more knowledge of events they

have attended than they can later verbally express. This process is best described

by the application of aspects, such as priming and obtaining of covariation.

Basically subliminal mere exposure research constituted the learning process with

regards to the representations of objects as either being tied to a minimum extent

of attention or to no attention at all. Important for the understanding of this principle

is to see the acquisition of covariation in this context as connections among object

Mathias Pfalzer 25

features, which are essential for the learning part. The more abstract these

covariations get, the more attention is needed (Greenwald, 1992, p. 772).

In the field of advertisements subliminal priming is nowadays prohibited in many

countries, such as Australia, Britain, and the United States (Karremans, Stroebe &

Claus, 2006, p. 1).

Besides the legal aspect research has revealed that subliminal priming of short

brand names is possible, which builds a contrast to self-enhancement messages.

A significant study was initiated by Cooper and Cooper in the year 2002. Here the

researchers subliminally primed test persons visually with Coca Cola cans and

secondly with the information “thirsty”. The result of this study was that participants

had the subjective impression to be thirstier. In 2005 a study by Dijksterhuis,

Wegner and Aarts on certain effects of subliminally primed drinks failed. Earlier

studies on the impact of subliminal priming also led to unsatisfying and

discouraging results. Nowadays researchers tend to believe that previous studies,

such as the example of the effects on the drinking behavior have led to results like

the following: “The presence of the motivation to drink (i.e., being thirsty) is

essential for subliminal priming of a brand to be effective” (Karremans, Stroebe &

Claus, 2006, p. 2).

The relevance of the prime for the fulfillment of an individual goal is the main

condition when it comes to the desire of affecting human behavior. The underlying

motivation, such as the satisfaction of thirst, has to be in line with the subliminal

prime. Therefore it is expected that participants of studies, who are primed with

brands of drinks, will respond in terms of their consumption behavior when they

are thirsty. In such research settings the high accessibility of a drink when being

thirsty would be the crucial factor for the choice of a beverage of this kind (ibid, p.

2). Research has indicated that subliminal primes, which are supportive for the

fulfillment of a person’s goals, do have an influence on the purchase behavior. The

crucial prerequisite is that the individual is already focusing on the goal (ibid, p. 7).

An interesting finding in this context was reported by studies of Chartrand, Van

Baaren & Bargh. “These studies indicate that, through automatic evaluation,

prolonged exposure to negative or positive stimuli has an effect on people’s

affective state and processing style” (Chartrand, Van Baaren & Bargh, 2006, p. 76)

In other words the outcomes of these studies imply that people, who are primed

mainly with negative stimuli, automatically evaluate their environment in a way

Mathias Pfalzer 26

which results in a chiefly negative mood and an action to encounter the situation

adequately. The processing characteristics in such a situation would be best

described by the application of analytic, effortful and cautious traits. In case a

person’s environment is composed of positive stimuli, this environment is also

perceived as being a safe and friendly place. This is based upon the continuous

automatic activation, which processes these positive impetuses and leads to a

positive mood. It is confirmed that human beings cannot process the overflow of

mental stimuli completely. This inability to consciously process the entire

dimension of information of our personal surroundings provides the assumption

that the majority of the stimuli are processed automatically and unconsciously. Our

mood is therefore presumably in many cases affected by stimuli we are not even

aware of (Chartrand, Van Baaren & Bargh, 2006, p. 76).

Emotions are a crucial in the daily life of humans and they know the influence on

context-relevant behavior and judgments. Often misinterpreted is that emotions

often play a central role besides the given context and influence our decisions,

behavior and choices. Research on the effects of priming is especially interested

in how far people react to the overflow of stimuli in our environment and moves

even further. Today possible research questions circle around the problems of

conflicting nonconscious influences or mirror neurons. These are located in the

premotor cortex and become active in two cases. Firstly, when an individual

observes an action which is performed by others and secondly, when the action is

performed by the person him- or herself. Especially latest findings regarding

cognitive neuroscience research have provided evidence for the interrelation

between minds of humans and their wider social environment (Bargh & Williams,

2006, p. 4).

Mathias Pfalzer 27

4 DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATION IN TOURISM

The claim that choices of people are made only in accordance with the desire of

being happy in the future may appear simplistic to the reader. Based on this

assumption one could argue that most of our choices are everything but rational,

because our decisions do not often result in happiness (Dijksterhuis, van Baaren,

Bongers, Bos, Leeuwen & Leij, 2007, p. 4).

In addition to this assumption and in context with tourism one could conclude that

people long for happiness when having holidays and are therefore willing to spend

a considerable amount of money for their vacation. Most often they are also

spending money at the destination in form of buying souvenirs or other items. The

financial aspect behind these decisions varies considerably, because these

choices belong to different categories.

This part of the thesis aims to provide the reader with an understanding of how

tourists choose between holiday destinations before their vacation started or

between items such as souvenirs during the trip. It will furthermore discuss the role

of implicit working memory on purchase decisions.

4.1 Purchase Behavior Before the Vacation Started

Indicators of complex purchase decisions are a high purchase price, product

complexity and a unique purchase experience. Such complex products are seen

as high-involvement purchase items, because the inherent cost of the service

represents an indicator for not buying on impulse (Kolb, 2006, p. 133).

This is something most of the people have already experienced in their lives.

Dependent on what holiday offers include, a considerable financial investment

may be reason enough to engage in getting to know the offered alternatives in

detail. Therefore such complex purchase decisions appear to demand intensive

contemplation about the comprised attributes. This would then be an indicator for

conscious processing.

The weighted added strategy has already been briefly mentioned by the example

of choosing among different holiday destinations belonging to the more expensive

segment. It was mentioned that it takes a lot of processing capacity to assess all

the meaningful components when planning a holiday. Important to understand is

that thinking about isolated attributes, such as hotel x offers better service than

hotel y is unproblematic, because human beings can usually just process small

Mathias Pfalzer 28

amounts of information without obstacles. Since people cannot assess extensive

amounts of information consciously, the quality of decisions might deteriorate. A

comprehensive consideration of complex alternatives is in such cases not possible

(Dijksterhuis, van Baaren, Bongers, Bos, Leeuwen & Leij, 2007, p. 16).

Theoretically it would be best to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of

complex decisions step by step in order to obtain an impression of the most

important attributes of the decision. Unfortunately we often do not have the time,

the capacity or lack relevant information when the decision has to be made.

Concluding, it could be argued that tourists apply strategies such as the weighted

added strategy in some circumstances. Particularly supportive is to use lists for

weighing up the crucial attributes. It is problematic to process large amounts of

information without supportive measures due to the limited capacity of processing

(Dijksterhuis, van Baaren, Bongers, Bos Leeuwen & Leij, 2007, p. 16).

“Introspection…can change an optimal weighing scheme into a suboptimal one. When people analyze reasons, they might focus on those attributes of the attitude object that seem like plausible causes of the evaluation but were not weighted heavily before” (Wilson, Lisle, Schooler, Hodges, Klaaren & LaFleur, 1993, p. 332).

4.2 Purchase Behavior During the Vacation

It is not surprising that research findings revealed that shopping is closely tied to

the experiences of many tourists. This is even true for tourists, who have access to

similar products at home (Josaim, Kinley & Kim, 2005, p. 151).

Regardless of the level of education, tourists tend to be more involved in shopping

activities when being on vacation than in the rest of the year. Tourist shopping is

nevertheless more important for people with a lower level of education than for

people with more formal education. One reason for this could be seen in the

simplicity of the activity. Shopping malls are usually places where many people

feel rather comfortable. This is mainly because shopping malls are a common

place for purchasing goods and services. In addition to that they offer families the

opportunity to pursue their individual interests and activities (ibid, p. 150).

Research has revealed that shopping activities of tourists are highly influenced by

both age and gender. The preference of tourists regarding different purchase

categories such as clothes, jewellery, antiques or books is varying considerably

between women and men, but also in different age groups (Oh, Cheng, Lehto &

O’Leary, 2004, p. 317).

Mathias Pfalzer 29

4.3 Unconscious Elements in Purchases of Tourists

Bargh (2002, p. 281) argued that since 1980 a lot of research effort has been

dedicated to the impact of nonconscious processes. Such processes comprise the

area of psychology and behavior and their effects on the needs and goal pursuit of

the consumer. The crucial point is the activation of a goal. From then on goals may

operate outside of awareness. Since researchers have provided evidence for

these effects, advertisement took advantage of this knowledge and tried to

influence the consumers (Bargh, 2002, p. 283). Latest studies have shown that

conscious thought does not guarantee better decisions. In some cases conscious

thinking is disadvantageous and leads to worse results. Others say it is simply too

complicated to provide evidence for the impact of conscious thought on the quality

of decision making, because a multitude of influences have an impact on

deliberation (Dijksterhuis, van Baaren, Bongers, Bos, Leeuwen & van der Leij,

2007, p. 15). It has already pointed out that high-order cognitive processes are

application areas of nonconscious goal pursuit. With regard to what has been

mentioned in chapter 2.7 about the nature of high-order cognitive processes and

the influence of working memory on them, the further chapter of this paper will aim

to clarify how goal pursuit in terms of purchase decisions of tourists fits to implicit

working memory and its functions (Hassin, Bargh, Engell & McCulloch, 2009, p.

13).

4.3.1 The Contribution of Working Memory to Purchas es of Tourists

Chapter 2.2.1 covered the relation of working memory and its maintenance

function in complex cognitive processes, such as decision making (Miyake &

Shah, 1999, p. 445).

Hassin, Aarts, Eitam, Custers, & Kleiman (2009, p. 3) argued that processes,

which working memory is based upon, may operate nonconsciously. These

processes have already been briefly described in chapter 2.7 and are relevant for

the pursuit of the goal.

Whenever tourists purchase, they make decisions like other people who are not on

vacation. It remains unclear in how far tourists are involved when buying or how

much information they process prior to the purchase. Therefore it is crucial to look

at different types of purchases. The discussion about the role of involvement in

purchase decisions of tourism shows that people tend to contemplate much more

when the level of involvement is high, meaning that personal consequences of the

Mathias Pfalzer 30

decisions are very important. It is easier to process on already existing information

when filing decisions, because it helps us to evaluate (Petty, Cacioppo &

Goldman, 1981, p. 853).

Another question is what to do best when the involvement of tourists is remarkably

low? It would be arguable that buying a rather cheap souvenir without thinking

about the value would be one application of implicit working memory. This would

most probably not be too difficult to test, because purchases of minor importance

could be made outside of conscious awareness. This indicates the involvement of

implicit working memory. The crucial point is to differentiate whether the purchase

of a cheap souvenir is an application in which the buyer does not need his/her

cognitive processing capacity or if this person has the intention to compare

alternatives or requests specific information. Processes of humans can be

regarded as being implicit when they are not in their current focus. The impact of

implicit working memory on the booking behavior of a person for an expensive

holiday would not necessarily belong to the category of implicit working memory,

because the activity of purchasing goods or services of high financial investments

will most probably not happen entirely outside of an individual’s awareness. The

concerned person will at least consider alternatives before choosing or be

interested in context-relevant information. Therefore the implicit part of working

memory in the final purchase decision will probably be significantly smaller than in

cases of purchasing irrelevant goods or services (Hassin, Bargh, Engell &

McCulloch, 2009, p. 3).

Paradox in this context is that goal adoption and pursuit are perceived as

controlled processes, whereas latest findings have revealed that these processes

can work outside of the awareness (Hassin, 2005, p. 216). Such processes are of

higher cognitive nature and encompass difficult decisions or flexible goal pursuits

(ibid, p. 197).

4.3.2 Motivation of Tourists

Initiating the discussion in how far involvement plays a role in the purchase

process, it might be helpful to understand that the activation of motivation and goal

pursuit can happen in the same way and operate simultaneously (Bargh,

Gollwitzer, Chai, Barndoller & Trötschel, 2001, p. 1025).

Dependent on the type of products people are often motivated to show high effort

in doing research on product-relevant information or on advertising content.

Mathias Pfalzer 31

Nevertheless it is also true that we often simply do not have enough time to

dedicate much consideration on deciding what to choose. Sometimes individuals

have other priorities than considering multiple aspects of purchasing decisions.

People are often distracted and busy with their social environment and therefore

cannot dedicate their entire processing capacity to the decision making. From time

to time individuals long for the appreciation of surrounding people, the possibility of

performing well on tasks or simply want to have a safe environment or healthy

family members (Bargh, 2002, p. 282).

At the moment when the specific goal is clear, the situation might change. An

interesting finding indicates that in case of competing goal operations there is a

tendency to perceive status-oriented products or services more favorably than

products, which are not so important or meaningful to us. The motivation to

consciously engage in a decision making process might be given, but it has to be

understood that goal activation might take place unconsciously. The logical

consequence would be that the person is not aware of the goal itself and

furthermore not directly motivated to pursue it (ibid, p. 282).

At this stage of the thesis it might be too vague to claim that even decisions

regarding rather expensive holidays would be concerned. In any case it cannot be

ignored that goals may be triggered nonconsciously and even followed without

being aware of them. If this is applicable for financially important decisions will be

discussed next.

4.3.3 Involvement in the Field of Tourism

Cai, Feng & Breiter (2004, p. 140) argued in one of their studies that involvement

should be understood as behavioral involvement regarding the field of purchase

decision. Consequently it should then be described as purchase decision

involvement.

In terms of consumer behavior it would be appropriate to look at it from three

different angles. The first stream is the advertising domain and characterized by

the extent of in how far the recipient of an advertisement has been personally

touched and feels the urge or motivation to react to the stimulus. The second

approach deals with the interest of the consumer in product information. This

interest could be triggered when the product meets the needs and values of the

prospective buyer. The third and last stream covers the question whether and in

how far the decision is relevant to the customer. In case the decision is important

Mathias Pfalzer 32

to the consumer, he or she will be motivated to carefully consider the outcome of

the decision (Zaichkowsky, 1986, p. 4ff cited following Cai, Feng & Breiter, 2004,

p. 140).

How does this fit to the tendency of tourists to spend considerably more money

while being on holidays? Will they consider their purchases thoroughly? In any

case many tourism destinations have reacted on the spending behavior of tourists

and built shopping malls or other opportunities to purchase (Timothy & Wall, 1997,

n. p. cited following Timothy & Boyd, 2003, p. 146).

An important segmentation of the term involvement is to distinguish between high-

involvement and low-involvement purchases. Purchases belonging to the first

category are characterized as personally important to the consumer and by the

motivation to get access and evaluate information regarding available alternatives.

Low-involvement purchases are the opposite of what has been mentioned about

high-involvement consumption and are seen as not important enough to get

informed about all the options when buying (Josaim, Smeaton & Clements, 1999,

p. 167 ff. cited following Cai, Feng & Breiter, 2004, p. 140).

4.3.4 Goal Pursuits of Tourists

Early in our lives we start to interact with our environment. During our infancy we

lay the basis for our future in terms of foundational concepts and goals. Primes in

form of natural physical experiences have the power to influence our thinking,

feelings and behavior. The impact of past experiences on current behavior in form

of higher-order cognition questions the extent of control on our mental doings

(Williams, Huang & Bargh, 2009, p. 1264). According to research findings people

are highly unaware of influences, stemming from the past, on current behavior and

furthermore of present influences and choices on upcoming performances

(Fitzsimons et al., 2002, p. 275). The following opinion of key authors provides a

solid impression of latest findings regarding this issue. “Consciousness may return

to an ongoing nonconscious goal pursuit when an obstacle is encountered,

disrupting automaticity and requiring an interpretation of one’s behavior”.

(Gollwitzer, Parks-Stamm & Oettingen, 2008, p. 612)

Here the question arises how tourists activate and then pursue their goal of

spending leisure time far away from their ordinary homes. In addition to that

tourism purchase behavior comprises much more, such as buying souvenirs or

memorabilia. Hypothetically one could argue that a person, who is confronted with

Mathias Pfalzer 33

a variety of attractive destinations (including one where this person has spent a

pleasant holiday in his/her childhood) would unconsciously decide for an

appropriate offer of this destination. Another hypothesis in this context would be

that tourists who always bought certain items as souvenirs in their holidays would

pursue this goal nonconsciously due to past experiences.

4.4 Best Possible Choices

In a “perfect world” there would not be any constraints like time pressure when

filing decisions and all the relevant information would be there to make perfect

choices. Nothing could distract us and we could focus entirely on the process of

choosing (Dijksterhuis, van Baaren, Bongers, Bos, Leeuwen & Leij, 2007, p. 5). In

reality it is confirmed that possible ways of improving decision quality are to

increase attention control or by reducing unwanted impacts on the decision

making process (Gollwitzer & Sheeran, 2009, p. 604). What we have to keep in

mind is that not all of our choices are based on thorough information processing

(Dijksterhuis, Smith, van Baaren, Wigboldus, 2005, p. 198).

A typical situation in wintertime is to compare two holiday destinations for the

upcoming summer vacation. One conscious thought could be that the Spanish

coast might be a good choice, because it is rather cheap, but as a disadvantage

also enormously crowded. At the same time unconscious thought could be

involved when we do not exactly know what to choose. In case we are not

concerned with the problem for a few days, meaning that we do not consciously

think about it, it could happen that we come up with the spontaneous idea that the

Tuscany is going to be the ideal next holiday destination. This thought is

conscious, but the way how the subject came up with the idea is not. Therefore the

process from being undecided to the final preference is the result of unconscious

processing (Dijksterhuis, 2004, p. 587).

4.4.1 Free Will or Reflective?

People usually tend to think they have the control over their doings as a result of

free will. One problem is that we cannot always control our actions (Hofmann,

Strack & Deutsch, 2008, p. 22).

It is important to understand why consumers sometimes feel the pressing need to

buy on impulse as a consequence of short-term interests or due to long-term

interests, which are driven by reflective decisions. Consumer behavior is based on

the interplay of impulsive and reflective components. Dependent on the situation

Mathias Pfalzer 34

and the personality of the consumer, the urge to consume goods or services might

be more or less intense. On the other side there are similar situations in which

consumers do not have the conscious intention to purchase anything. It is

therefore crucial to be aware of situational and personal influences, which may

control the behavior of consumers (Hofmann, Strack & Deutsch, 2008, p. 23).

Often the driving factor is not the impulse factor or the reflective one. Moreover

consumer behavior is characterized as a fusion of both factors. The resistance

towards temptations, the desire to possess products or the intention to not

purchase varies from time to time, but is something individuals often experience in

their lives. Personal and situational factors determine how consumers behave in

such situations (ibid, p. 23). In other words consumer behavior could be seen as

the result of the conflict between impulsive and reflective forces (ibid, p. 25). A

major impact on purchase behavior stems from the conditions of the situation

when the consumption takes place. It takes the motivation of the consumer to be

fully involved in processing. In addition to that it is also a question of time and

cognitive capacity whether (and if, how much) impulsive and reflective forces

impact the purchase. The cognitive capacity and the lack of disturbance are crucial

to engage in reflective processing. Nevertheless favorable conditions for reflecting

mechanisms do not necessarily exclude impulsive forces (Strack, Werth &

Deutsch, 2006, p. 213).

Bargh (2008, p. 148) argues that there is basically no good reason for justifying

how behavioral impulses are generated, evaluated and partly implemented by the

concept of free will.

4.4.2 Information Processing of Tourists

It is furthermore decisive to understand that purchase decisions of tourists are

often influenced by emotions. This is partly due to the high amount of money it

costs to afford a holiday. A sacrifice in terms of money is then often is perceived

as a source of recreation and joy. One significant difference between everyday

purchase decisions (such as ordinary food) and the purchase of a holiday is the

time of considering the attributes of the product and the financial aspect (Horner &

Swarbrooke, 2007, p. 4).

In a prior part of this paper it was described that especially in complex decisions,

such as choosing between different holiday destinations, we are confronted with

an abundance of alternatives. Prior to the decision making we need to integrate

information into impressions and just then we are supposed to compare these

Mathias Pfalzer 35

impressions and form preferences. This process takes processing capacity to

cope with a large extent of information and secondly we need to have special skills

to integrate information in a way to enable final decision making. Due to our limited

capacity we tend to take less information into account (Dijksterhuis, 2004, p. 587).

Tourist information search has been accurately described by the following notion.

“A dynamic process wherein individuals use various amounts and types of

information sources in response to internal and external contingencies to facilitate

travel planning”. (Fodness and Murray, 1997, p. 503 ff.).

At another point of this paper it was mentioned that when a subject is undecided

between various alternatives he/she might try to not think about the choice for

some days. It is possible that the finally chosen alternative is afterwards rather

surprising to the subject, which would be described still as a conscious thought.

This person changed from being undecided to preferring one alternative and went

through an unconscious process (Dijksterhuis, 2004, p. 587).

Mathias Pfalzer 36

5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Many situations of our daily life are interrelated with mechanisms of working

memory. As one of the main application areas of working memory, decision

making earned special attention of researchers. This is mainly because latest

findings in the field of the unconsciousness have led to a new understanding of

this paradigm.

Working memory is a scientific field with ambiguous aspects. A clear distinction

between working memory and short-term memory is still not determined. Another

weak spot can be traced back to leading researchers of this field who are still

operating with different models of working memory and merely agree on the main

functions. Firstly, working memory does not serve as a structurally separate box or

spot in the brain. Secondly, the maintenance function of working memory is

dedicated to complex cognition. Thirdly, executive control is an essential part of

working memory functions. Forthly, capacity limits are related to multiple factors

and might be essential for the cognitive system. Fifthly, an all-embracing and

unitary view of working memory is not possible and finally, long-term memory is a

fundamental prerequisite for working memory performance (Miyake & Shah, 1999,

pp. 443-449).

The approach of an expert was to concentrate more on the working component

and less on the memory function. Nevertheless, the author of this paper was

confronted with a lot of differing opinions during the research process.

Retrospectively, it seems as if all efforts towards answering the question of what

working memory is, have not delivered an all-embracing notion yet.

This alone would have been challenging as a starting point to advance existing

research. Since researchers initiated the discussion that high-order cognitive

processes can occur nonconsciously the role of working memory in the context

with complex cognitive processes was newly defined. Much has changed over the

last decade of research on this topic, which is best indicated by the out-dated view

that mechanisms of working memory are linked to complex cognitive structures.

This was undoubtedly a common view and true for the past but nowadays it just

serves as an initial point of a new stream in the doctrine. Today we know that

these high-order cognitive processes can even occur in the mental state of

unconsciousness and build an application area of working memory. Research on

the outcome of this finding is still in its infancy and leaves many questions

unanswered. Hassin and his colleagues raised the point that a clear distinction

Mathias Pfalzer 37

between explicit and implicit functions of working memory is still not available.

Experts in the field of working memory have not come to a consensus yet if there

are significant differences between explicit and implicit functions (Hassin, Bargh,

Engell & McCulloch, 2009, p. 13). Researchers apparently do not exactly know

how to classify implicit working memory. Does it belong to working memory or is it

to be treated separately? Future studies will have to find answers to this question.

Based on these findings one could draw then more precise conclusions for the

field of tourism marketing then.

Another important component of working memory reveals even more ambiguity. It

is confirmed that the capacity of working memory is limited and dependent on the

stimulus and the age of the subject. It is decisive to understand that working

memory is an interaction of attention, long-term memory and automatically

activated information. In other words we cannot expect our working memory to

process endless amounts of information at once. The capacity limitation of working

memory allows us to be mentally involved just in a restricted number of high-order

cognitive processes. Complex processes beyond this limitation are processed by

our unconsciousness. The author regarded this new stream in research as an

appropriate starting point to discuss how purchase decisions of tourists could be

affected by what is best described as implicit working memory. This offers a great

opportunity to apply acquired knowledge and to furthermore derive implications for

the field of tourism.

It has already been mentioned that a common notion in former times was to

perceive the troika of working memory, attention and consciousness as highly

interrelated. About ten years later new tendencies in research on working memory

emerged and had to deliver answers for the impact of unconsciousness on what

was seen as established doctrine. Nowadays it is accepted to discuss whether the

unconsciousness in some situations is providing a better quality of decision

outcomes. Since these complex cognitive processes are highly influenced by

working memory it is vital to also discuss the impact of the unconsciousness on

decisions in the sector of tourism.

Another main part of this thesis is dedicated to the field of purchasing behavior. As

an initial point the author described a common consumption scheme. This model

consists of the problem recognition, is followed by the information search of the

consumer, continued with an evaluation of alternatives and finally leads to the

purchase decision. This behavioral pattern is usually concluded by the post

Mathias Pfalzer 38

purchase stage. Based on the assumption that we would follow this rather

idealistic process, the ordinary consumer should not encounter disruption or

obstacles. The truth proves the opposite. Quite often consumers are distracted by

influences of the environment such as their kids or are simply emotionally tensed.

Then it is definitely questionable if all these steps are followed consequently and

consciously. Planning the yearly holiday might be an activity which allows

consumers to follow the steps of the above mentioned model thoroughly. People

simply cannot afford to make bad decisions with devastating consequences in

terms of their financial investment and dedicated time. Since people are often

exposed to stress in their working life and private environment they do not always

have the entire working memory capacity left to follow this scheme step by step.

Quite often the unconsciousness replaces one of the stages of this model and still

leads to rewarding outcomes.

Today purchase behavior is understood as a mix of conscious and unconscious

elements. The advertising industry has taken advantage of the new findings.

Professional advertisers aim to lure the consumer with adumbrated scarcity in

commercials such as “today only”. In case people react to those stimuli they do it

rather mindlessly.

Another important distinction in this paper was to categorize purchases as either

simple choices or complex choices. This is especially important because human

beings possess just a low capacity in terms of conscious thinking. Ground-

breaking was the notion of Dijksterhuis, who stated that unconscious processing in

complex situations sometimes leads to better results in choices (Dijksterhuis,

2004, p. 597). For part of the experts on the topic of consumer behavior this came

as a surprise, because they perceived deliberation as superior to nonconscious

doings in terms of the quality of decisions. Nevertheless the reader should be

provided with an explanation of why the unconsciousness is sometimes doing

such a “good job”. Thus, some preliminary theoretical input on this claim is

inevitable.

First and foremost consumers purchase either on impulse or due to bounded

rationality. Whereas impulse buying behavior is heavily based on influences of our

surrounding environment, bounded rationality is usually tied to situations in which

the application of the weighted adding strategy would be seen as beneficial. In

contrast to this impulse buying does not involve preshopping intentions at all and

leaves no room for much reflection. Undoubtedly purchasing low involvement

Mathias Pfalzer 39

items such as cheap souvenirs might not be challenging for our working memory,

because the purchase itself is not as important as for example the booking

process of a vacation. We often buy memorabilia without contemplating much

about better alternatives or the true value of the item. This is often an indicator that

we buy such products on impulse and in a mental state of not reflecting much

about the incurred opportunity costs. Bounded rationality has been presented to

the reader as a very idealistic approach because of the restricted capacity of

working memory in complex situations. This weak spot already implies that the

weighted added strategy would indeed have some advantages when correctly

applied in complex purchase decisions, but a limited capacity seems like having

“demanding software but inadequate hardware”. Our system could break down at

the moment we are exposed to time pressure or suffer from a lack of resources.

Dijksterhuis stressed that a precondition for good choices in cases where the

outcome is of high significance for the individual would be to apply the weighted

added strategy. Such decisions could be to choose between houses, different

holiday decisions, roommates and many more (Dijksterhuis, 2004, p. 587). In

previous sections of this paper it was already mentioned that there are lots of

situations which do not allow us to use this strategy. For many consumers it

seems as if the more they are consciously thinking about a choice, the better they

weigh attributes. Following the argumentation of Dijksterhuis and his colleagues

this is not necessarily true. Based on their hypothesis the quality of weighted

adding improves when people trust unconscious processing.

Another decisive factor in the process prior to consumption is our attitude towards

products and services. These are automatically triggered when the consumer

perceives the product/service. Our preferences stem from these attitudes and date

back to information processing at an earlier stage.

The high road to imitation has been discussed in this paper due to its relevance in

situations in which subjects had a tendency towards complex imitation. This was

discovered in research on subliminal priming and revealed that especially

persuasiveness and automaticity are important elements in such moments. One of

the striking questions in the context of the high road to imitation was if subjects

who tended to imitate others have more empathy.

Prior to the final purchase decision the goal of consuming products or services has

to be activated. Consciousness is not necessarily for pursuing goals, despite that

people are often aware of them. Oettingen and her colleagues stated that there is

Mathias Pfalzer 40

basically no difference in the quality of outcome if a goal is pursued consciously or

unconsciously. Dependent on the situation our environment sometimes initiates

goals without being aware of them (Oettingen, Grant, Smith, Skinner & Gollwitzer,

2006, p. 674).

After returning from vacation, people tend to meet with their friends and family in

order to share their experiences, to pass round photos and to hand out souvenirs.

This social reference group is a perfect source of information because we tend to

trust anecdotes told by people we are friends with. Their positive depiction of a

holiday in general or parts of it, such as the hotel, the beach, the flight and so on

could evoke the desire to book a holiday too. This might happen on a conscious

level, but could also be triggered automatically and then produce a positive

attitude towards the idea. If the destination our friends spent a holiday at is then an

element of a set of alternatives it could be probable that we unconsciously select

exactly this product. A possible explanation would be that this preference dates

back to the information processing during the evening we spent with our friends

while we listened to their stories.

Our choice which goal to follow is dependent on past experience. Therefore

tourism marketers should be considering that their potential customers bring along

a lot of desires with them when they choose their future holiday. These

impressions could be derived from their childhood, past holidays with family and

friends or simply date back to positive attitudes that could be evoked due to

supported national teams in sports, using products which are predominantly

produced in a certain country. In case influential representatives of the tourism

industry take these facts into consideration they could take this hypothesis one

step further and try to subliminally prime the potential customer with appropriate

information. This is not in all countries allowed, but would be a possibility to deliver

the desired message effectively. Due to the automatic processing of the majority of

stimuli the primed subjects would not be aware that an external party aims to

influence their decision making. Such a strategy is risky to pursue, as the past

handling with subliminal priming has shown. Consumers remain concerned about

subliminal influences. Nevertheless, today researchers take the needs and goals

of consumers more into consideration. Decisive for the resistance of consumers

towards subliminal priming is that individuals cannot control the source of influence

and furthermore people do not know in how far they are affected by the primes.

Therefore subliminal priming is an effective way to influence consumer behavior,

Mathias Pfalzer 41

but also a risky and sometimes ends up as a prohibited approach of advertisers

(Bargh, 2002, p. 283).

Future research on this topic should focus on the fast evolving discussion

regarding the role of implicit working memory in complex cognitive processes. This

thesis aims to initiate and encourage further research on this topic. So far a lot of

questions on the impact of unconsciousness on our daily life are left unanswered

and would serve as a basis for further pioneer works in tourism. These findings

could then be significant for the area of tourism marketing and serve as an initiator

to advance the development of tourism products. The frame of this thesis was

rather restricted and therefore this thesis cannot claim to have covered all relevant

aspects in an all-embracing manner. Thus, it would be beneficial for this new

stream of tourism-related research to be continued soon.

Mathias Pfalzer 42

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