Warm Hearts and Cool Heads: Uncomfortable Temperature Influences Reliance on Affect in Decision-Making

Can uncomfortable temperature exposure systematically influence consumers’ reliance on affect in decision-making? Using a thermoregulatory framework in which individuals are motivated to maintain thermal comfort, we propose that individuals instinctively adopt a more (less) affective decision-making style in response to uncomfortable physical cold (warmth). We demonstrate that the adoption of an affective decision-making style makes individuals feel warmer (study 1) and more comfortable in response to uncomfortably cold temperature (study 2). Accordingly, individuals spontaneously rely more or less on affect when feeling uncomfortably cold or warm, respectively (study 3), which ultimately influences consequential downstream variables (e.g., willingness to pay; studies 4 and 5). This effect holds in response to both tactile (studies 3 and 4) and ambient (study 5) temperature exposure and is most exaggerated at extreme temperatures (when thermoregulatory objectives are at their strongest).