Regulatory focus in economic contexts

The authors argue that behavior in economic contexts will be better understood when it is taken into account that contexts can evoke self-regulatory strategies reflecting a promotion or prevention focus and that such contexts meet individuals with preferences for a specific kind of self-regulation. They refer to research showing that promotion- and prevention-focused self-regulation has an important impact on judgments, choice, and behavior in economic contexts, and that such effects of regulatory focus are a consequence of behavioral strategies and differences in information processing associated with the self-regulatory orientations of a promotion or prevention focus. Furthermore, the authors emphasize that cognitive feelings are a motivational force that keeps such self-regulatory processes running. In particular, they argue that feeling right and anticipation and experience of regret increase the engagement of individuals in promotion- or prevention-focused self-regulation and direct individuals towards the relevant self-regulatory goals. Finally, the authors provide examples documenting how knowledge about self-regulatory orientations of a promotion and a prevention focus can be applied to understand individuals’ behavior and to develop reasonable intervention strategies addressing relevant behavioral tendencies in the economic context.