Pleasurable Surprises: A Cross-Cultural Study of Consumer Responses to Unexpected Incentives

2009/07/15 by Ana Valenzuela, Barbara A. Mellers, Judi Strebel · 1 citation
Psychology · Business, Management and Accounting · #Cultural Differences and Values #Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification #Psychological Well-being and Life Satisfaction

paper · doi:10.1086/605592

openalex publication_date 2009/07/15 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/09

Abstract

Consumer reactions to a surprising event are generally stronger than those to an identical but unexpected event. But the experience of surprise differs across cultures. In this article, we examine differences between East Asian and Western emotional reactions to unexpected incentives. When given an unexpected gift, East Asians report less surprise and less pleasure than Westerners. East Asians’ dampened pleasure is explained by their motivation to maintain balance and emotional control, which leads to a reappraisal of perceived likelihood. However, if the unexpected gift is attributed to good luck, which is a desirable form of the unexpected, East Asians experience even greater pleasure than Westerners.

Citations

• Hindsight is not equal to foresight: The effect of outcome knowledge on judgment under uncertainty.
• Culture, dialectics, and reasoning about contradiction.
• An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion.
• Assessing Measurement Invariance in Cross‐National Consumer Research
• The case for motivated reasoning.
• Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: Implications for affect, relationships, and well-being.
• The psychology of interpersonal relations.

Cited by

• Ana Valenzuela [wikipedia]