A for Effort: Consumer Responses to Own and Others’ Effort

Abstract: Despite digitalization, e-commerce, and the fact that people spend more and more of their time in front of screens and devices, people still have physical bodies. This thesis comprises four articles which in different ways show that humans’ bodily activity can have effects on information processing. Researchers in marketing and consumer behavior have paid less attention to the physical and bodily aspects of decision making. The findings from this thesis are more relevant than ever as marketers currently can and do reach consumers as they are active in some way. This thesis focus on the concept of effort and its ability to affect consumers and their evaluations in different ways. Consumers’ effort and physical arousal are both consequences of hu-man bodies being activated in various ways and to different extent.