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The Perils of Hedonic Editing

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  • Elizabeth Cowley

Abstract

Retrospective hedonic editing occurs when people combine events to frame a previous experience in its most positive light. Although reflecting positively on the past has psychological and physiological benefits, it may also be used to justify potentially irresponsible behavior. In a gambling context the consequences may be perilous. The results of study 1 show that when they have the opportunity, potentially irresponsible gamblers use hedonic editing strategies to reconstruct the past as more positive. The more positive memory provides them with evidence to support their desired outcome-playing again. The results of studies 2 and 3 reveal that the processes underlying hedonic editing include both the temporal categorization of positive and negative events and the strategic allocation of attention. Study 3 also investigates the independence of motivation and opportunity. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Suggested Citation

  • Elizabeth Cowley, 2008. "The Perils of Hedonic Editing," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(1), pages 71-84, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:35:y:2008:i:1:p:71-84
    DOI: 10.1086/527267
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    Cited by:

    1. Sunhae Sul & Jennifer Kim & Incheol Choi, 2013. "Subjective Well-Being and Hedonic Editing: How Happy People Maximize Joint Outcomes of Loss and Gain," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 1409-1430, August.
    2. Barrafrem, Kinga & Västfjäll, Daniel & Tinghög, Gustav, 2021. "The arithmetic of outcome editing in financial and social domains," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    3. Wang, Saerom & Kirillova, Ksenia & Lehto, Xinran, 2017. "Reconciling unsatisfying tourism experiences: Message type effectiveness and the role of counterfactual thinking," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 233-243.
    4. Nikolova, Milena S. & Hassan, Salah S., 2013. "Nation branding effects on retrospective global evaluation of past travel experiences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(6), pages 752-758.
    5. Cowley, Elizabeth & Briley, Donnel A. & Farrell, Colin, 2015. "How do gamblers maintain an illusion of control?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 2181-2188.
    6. Liu, Hongfei & Liu, Wentong & Yoganathan, Vignesh & Osburg, Victoria-Sophie, 2021. "COVID-19 information overload and generation Z's social media discontinuance intention during the pandemic lockdown," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    7. Lau-Gesk, Loraine & Mukherjee, Sayantani, 2017. "Coping with sequential conflicting emotional experiences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-8.
    8. Sejeong Yun & Kwanho Suk, 2022. "Consumer preference for pay-per-use service tariffs: the roles of mental accounting," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(5), pages 1111-1124, September.
    9. Haijiao Cui & Bin Cao & Aimei Li & Zhaohui Li, 2023. "A General Model of Subjective Value and Stimulus-Intensity-Sensitive Hedonic Editing Strategy," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 1191-1217, March.
    10. Antonides, Gerrit & Manon de Groot, I. & Fred van Raaij, W., 2011. "Mental budgeting and the management of household finance," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 546-555, August.

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