The Effect of Experience: A Matter of Salience?

A labeling technique was employed to explore processes underlying the ef-fects of experience. It was found that labeled individuals both behaved and perceived themselves in a manner consistent with their label. However, these effects were mediated by the consistency of the label with the individual's initial self-schema and the availability of other relevant cues. The findings are interpreted in terms of an extended self-perception explanation that incor-porates the notion of cue salience. The effect of individuals ' behavior on their subse-quent action has emerged as a significant issue in consumer behavior research. Inquiry pertaining to this issue has been based primarily on self-perception the-ory (Bem 1972). According to this formulation, indi-viduals employ their own behavior and the circum-stances in which that behavior occurs as cues to guide their subsequent actions. To the extent that behavior is attributed to internal causes, and is not viewed as motivated by external factors such as incentives or social pressure, a positive attitude toward the behavior is acquired that, in turn, directs future behavior. Tests of self-perception predictions have yielded what seems to be strong support for the theory. One source of evidence emerges from investigations using the foot-in-the-door paradigm. This entails gaining compliance with a small request in the hope of en-hancing compliance with a subsequent larger request. In self-perception terms, it is expected that those who comply with a small request will view themselves as the kind of people who engage in such behaviors, and this self-perception will result in greater compliance with a large request than if the large request alone was solicited. In a substantial number of investigations, where the delay between small and large requests ranged from a day to several weeks, the findings are consistent with the self-perception prediction (Freed-