Exploring the Cognitive Mechanism that Underlies Regulatory Focus Effects

Much research has explained regulatory focus effects via the alternative psycho-logical states (eagerness vs. vigilance) people experience when they adoptdifferent regulatory foci. This article identifies for the first time the cognitive mechanism that underlies regulatory focus effects. We propose that promotion-focus individuals relationships among disparate items. In contrast, prevention-focus individuals en-gage in item-specific elaboration, which involves focusing on specific attributes of each item independent of others. Results support our theorizing by demonstrating that promotion-focus (prevention-focus) individuals exhibit enhanced performance on tasks that require relational (item-specific) elaboration. Consider two current ads. One, for a Chase credit card,leads with the headline “Your Choice. Your Chase.” Subsequent ad copy continues by seizing on connections between several dissimilar items (e.g., “Shoes to go with skirt. Skirt to go with blouse. Blouse to go with lipstick. Lipstick to go with Jack.”) and then ends with several fairly