Computers in Human Behavior 54 (2016) 682e690

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Computers in Human Behavior

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/comphumbeh

Full length article

The effects of mental simulations, innovativeness on intention to

adopt brand application
Chang-Hyun Jin
College of Business Administration, Kyonggi University, San 94-6, Iui-dong, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, 443-760, Republic of Korea

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 22 January 2015
Received in revised form
22 June 2015
Accepted 17 August 2015
Available online 29 August 2015

This study explores three important factorsdmental simulation, innovativeness, and need for cognitiondto determine the effects of these factors on the perception of newly developed branded applications. The study identies two types of mental simulation (process-focused and outcome-focused),
innovativeness (early and later adopters) and need for cognition (low and high) to inform items used to
survey respondents about their willingness to adopt new branded apps and their attitudes towards the
focal brands.
The study demonstrates the effects of mental simulation, innovativeness, and need for cognition on
adoption of the branded app. This experiment improves our understanding of how three-way interaction
between the abovementioned factors affects the intention to adopt a new branded app. The results of a
MANOVA indicated statistically signicant effects of the abovementioned three-way interaction on the
dependent variables. It is anticipated that the analysis resulting from this valuable study will provide a
point of reference for further empirical and theoretical studies on the development of information
technology products and services.
2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Brand application
Mental simulation
Process simulation
Outcome simulation
Innovativeness
Need for cognition

1. Introduction
Today's dynamic business environment is pushing many rms
to develop more efcient and effective ways of developing and
marketing new products and services. Although many rms have
dedicated considerable effort to understanding the determinants of
new product success and failure, the successful development of
innovative new products tends to be the exception rather than the
rule (Cooper, 1996; Sethi, Smith, & Park, 2001). Companies from a
variety of industries have recognized developing innovative new
products as the cornerstone of success and as an essential factor for
surviving in today's markets (Envik & Wall-Mullen, 2009). Innovative new products that support marketing success allow consumers to do something they have not been able to do before (Zhao,
Hoefer, & Zauberman, 2011). Companies from a wide range of
industries, including automobiles, electronics, and information
technology have learned to use the captive audience provided by
marketing communication channels to commercialize their product innovations. Generally speaking, consumers tend to have less
knowledge about and greater performance uncertainty concerning

E-mail address: chjin@kgu.ac.kr.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.08.013
0747-5632/ 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

innovative new products (Hoefer, 2003) as well as negative inferences about such products and new product evaluation
(Mukherjee & Hoyer, 2001). Consumers rely more on inferences
with high learning costs when evaluating highly innovative attributes in highly complex products (Mukherjee & Hoyer, 2001). To
capture the learning process involved in evaluating new product
innovations, this study uses mental simulation as a variable. Consumers engage in mental simulation to reduce the effort involved in
evaluating newly developed products (Zhao, Hoefer, &
Zauberman, 2007).
As corporations strive to develop new strategies for marketing,
advertising, and running promotions in response to these changes
in digital lifestyles and consumer trends, the need for smart marketing platforms has increased accordingly. Despite growing demand for brand appsdsoftware programs whose content is used to
deliver product and brand information to consumers and
encourage aggressive participation and interactions between the
consumer and the branddfew studies have focused on the development of user-friendly brand strategies and consumer responses
to brand apps. Predicting consumer responses based on personality
traits is becoming crucial in designing new brand apps. Relevant
personality traits include innovativeness and need for cognition
(hereafter NFC), which have been shown to inuence consumers

C.-H. Jin / Computers in Human Behavior 54 (2016) 682e690

when adopting new products. Consumer acceptance of new products can be affected by the relationship between consumer innovativeness or new technology adoption and NFC.
In addition to personal consumer traits, other factors that
stimulate consumer purchase intention include advertising and
promotions that contingently evoke a purchase situation. In promotional activities, consumers are stimulated to visualize a virtual
or hypothetical circumstance, and that process is called mental
simulation (Taylor & Schneider, 1989). Because a wide range of
factors seem to affect simulation results, it is important to identify
factors that inuence mental simulation in a way that makes it
conducive to generating desirable attitudes and behaviors in consumers. In this study, we wanted to verify the effects of consumer
innovativeness and need for cognition on mental simulation results. Thus this study attempts to demonstrate the differential effects of process- and outcome-focused thinking generated by
innovativeness and NFC. The study also explores three-way interaction between mental simulation, innovativeness, and NFC as a
factor affecting intention to adopt a newly developed brand app
and consumer attitude towards the associated brand.

2. Literature review
2.1. Brand application environment
The role of digital applications that deliver a brand's messagingdbrand appsdis expanding beyond offering a new kind of
product experience to consumers. Brand apps are designed to run
on smartphones or tablet PCs with the aim of promoting and selling
goods and services. The role of brand apps has expanded dramatically with the advent of smartphones and tablet computers that
are equipped with super-fast Internet connections, highly functional hardware, a large touchscreen display, a vibration sensor, and
global positioning system (GPS) functionality.
Brand apps offer more than a product or service experience, as
they are crafted to address consumer lifestyles and eventually
deliver a brand experience. A brand app is useful for strengthening
connections with customers through instantaneous interaction,
making it an important marketing tool, regardless of its role in
providing information (Marc, 2002). Therefore, with the growing
use of mobile platforms for brand promotion, the development of
brand apps reecting consumer needs has increased, and investigation appears necessary to determine the actual effectiveness of
those apps. Brand apps that run on smartphones offer both
cognitive and behavioral experiences in which the former is associated with the acquisition of product information and knowledge,
and the latter involves exploring products using virtual reality
technology. Moreover, user experiences and product information
collected from brand apps can be shared through social network
services (SNS) such as Facebook, leading to affective and relational
experiences. In particular, brand apps for 3D virtual mobile devices
provide users with rich sensory experiences while exploring virtual
products in a realistic way.
Independently of its use in marketing, the concept of gamication has emerged as a means of enhancing the user experience by
engaging users in game-like behavior. Gamication has recently
drawn attention as a new marketing technique as well. Gamication is the addition of the game design concept to non-game contexts such as websites based on user interest or applications such as
human resources portals to encourage users or employees to
participate in various activities. As the gaming population has
steadily increased based on the basic human desire to play, the use
of gamication extends to real-world problem-solving beyond its
role in enhancing virtual entertainment.

683

Gamication enables marketers to manipulate user behaviors

by making technology interesting and exploiting the human desire
to play games (Jin, 2013; Kapp, 2012; Swan, 2012; Xu, 2011). These
techniques are used to turn something boring into an interesting
experience. Gaming principles combine cognitive fun with the
reward of winning or accomplishing something. By applying game
design to real-world tasks, for example, workers can have fun and
be more engaged at work, making them happy in pursuing their
work-related goals. Gamication motivates users to participate
actively using stories and aesthetics and enhances step-by-step
learning, during which user engagement continues, increasing
the ability to solve problems.
Contemporary leisure activities drive the integration of game
mechanics into marketing strategy. The vast majority of people in
their 20s and 30s enjoy games in their spare time. The popularity of
games has led some marketers to view gamication as a crucial
factor in business success. More broadly, gamication attempts to
solve real-world problems using the functionality and attractive
power of games to encourage users to solve problems for themselves. Gamication also involves using game-playing techniques
to prompt the use of an application. The question is, can gamied
brand apps encourage users to behave as intended? According to
the 2010 Gartner report, in the very near future gamication services will be widely adopted by web sites such as Facebook and
Amazon to drive sales and customer services, and approximately
70% of multinational corporations will offer at least one mobile
application with gamication features (Goasduff & Pettey, 2011).
Gamication strategies have great potential to inuence and
motivate consumers and can be widely used for health, welfare, and
education/training in both the private and public sectors, not to
mention in customer service and human resources management
(Bunchball, 2010).
2.2. Innovativeness
Innovativeness is dened by Rogers (2003) as the degree to
which an individual is willing to adopt new ideas earlier than other
members of his or her social system. Rogers also observed that
people who are more innovative in this sense are more aggressive
in seeking information about new ideas, seek to build broader
interpersonal networks, and seek greater exposure to mass media
compared with others. Midgley and Dowling (1978) explained
consumer innovativeness by comparison with innate innovativeness, which is dened as the degree to which an individual is
sensitive to new ideas. Midgley and Dowling claimed that innovativeness affects consumer behavior and the decision-making
process.
Innovativeness is an important factor in new product adoption
behaviors because it inuences both adoption itself and the rate of
adoption (Faxall, 1988). Rogers (2003) cited relative advantage as
one of the characteristics that motivates innovators to adopt an
innovation even when its effectiveness has not been veried.
Relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation is
perceived to be better than existing ideas or products, and it is
measured in terms of social prestige, satisfaction, and convenience
as well as economic advantage. Therefore, relative advantage depends on the adopter's subjective perception of benets provided
by an innovation rather than any objectively measurable advantage
of a new product. It is therefore believed that innovators are earlier
in adopting a new product when they perceive it as offering greater
relative advantage, although objective advantage still matters.
Compared with innovators, non-innovators are risk-averse and
prevention-focused regarding goal pursuit when choosing a new
product. Prevention-focused consumers have a tendency to avoid
the risks associated with a product and its new attributes by

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C.-H. Jin / Computers in Human Behavior 54 (2016) 682e690

making a safe decision because they are conscious about possible

negative outcomes and the loss that may result from product risk
(Crowe & Higgins, 1997). Innovators, on the other hand, are more
willing to take risks to achieve a competitive edge even when facing
long odds (Moore, 1995).
When a new product is introduced, consumer adoption
behavior is not characterized by innovativeness alone because
consumers can resist innovation in favor of familiarity with or a
preference for existing products or technologies. Rogers (2003)
claimed that, despite a positive attitude toward product changes,
consumers can develop resistance to such changes because they
fear or are uncertain about new ideas. The results of previous
studies indicate that the degree of innovativeness inuences consumer response to new products or services. Early adopters are less
concerned with the uncertainty or risks that may result from a new
product because they consciously seek new technology, leading to
stronger product adoption intentions. However, later adopters are
likely to have weak adoption intentions regarding a new product as
a result of greater consciousness of the uncertainty involved in
choosing a new product over existing products. Moreover, the degree of resistance to innovation some consumers harbor appears to
have an impact on their adoption behavior and timing.

2.3. Need for cognition

NFC can be described as a set of characteristics that determine
an individual's perceptual and cognitive behaviors. NFC varies with
individual differences in the tendency to engage in and enjoy
effortful cognitive activity (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982). As mentioned
above, mental simulation is a process that involves cognitive effort.
Individual degrees of NFC are closely related to the effectiveness of
mental simulation.
Individual characteristics such as knowledge, technical skill, and
previous experience are dened as factors determining what an
individual should learn in special circumstances (Cronbach & Snow,
1977). Such individual characteristics are closely involved in the
decision-making process (Moore & Lehmann, 1980; Srinivasan &
Ratchford, 1991). As an aspect of personal style, NFC plays an
important role in the endurance of behavioral tendencies and the
suppression of ambivalent attitudes (Thompson & Zanna, 1995,
p.264). More generally, NFC denotes the extent to which people
enjoy performing tasks or solving problems that require cognitive
activities or rational thinking. That is, those who are high in NFC
tend to enjoy challenging tasks that require cognitively strenuous
activities whereas those who are low in NFC struggle to think and
act accordingly (Cacioppo & Petty, 1982).
More specically, NFC is dened as an innate individual tendency to engage in information processing, providing an important
motivation for processing cognitive information (Cacioppo & Petty,
1982). People high in NFC enjoy the process of thinking with abstract intelligence and theoretical thoughts, whereas those low in
NFC try to avoid effortful cognitive activities and have a tendency to
dislike complex problem-solving and theoretical thinking. HighNFC individuals exert greater effort to elaborate on linguistic
messages than to elaborate on visual information (Cacioppo, Petty,
Kao, & Rodriguez, 1986; Cacioppo, Petty, & Morris, 1983). They
enjoy complex tasks that require them to elaborate on persuasive
messages and take the central route for complex processing of the
information conveyed by such messages. When more information
is needed to solve a problem, individuals high in NFC are more
active in searching for information compared with low-NFC individuals (Chow & Luk, 2006). Low-NFC individuals process information and formulate their attitudes peripherally (Petty &
Cacioppo, 1981), relying to a greater extent on peripheral cues

than on explicit message information (Batra & Stayman, 1990;

Haugtvedt & Petty, 1992).
2.4. Mental simulation
Many studies on consumer behavior have explored the impact
of mindsets. These studies have suggested that consumers process information differentially depending on their active mindsets
at the time of obtaining information about an object, and their
memories, emotions, and judgments are affected as a result.
Mental simulation can be viewed as a mindset that affects
cognitive processes involved in consumer decision-making. The
mental simulation theory has long been studied in developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, and social psychology
(Davies & Stone, 1995; Pham & Taylor, 1999; Singer, 1972; Zhao
et al., 2007). Some researchers have dened mental simulation
as an imitative representation of events or series of events,
arguing that it involves cognitive construction of hypothetical
scenarios or cognitive restructuring of events that have already
happened.
Mental simulation is further categorized into dichotomous relationships: process-focused simulation versus outcome-focused
simulation, retrospective versus anticipatory simulation, and
problem-focused versus solution-focused simulation. However, the
process/outcome pairing is the most widely applied dichotomy of
these three. Although not all simulations affect attitudes, behavioral intentions, or actual behaviors equally, comparing processfocused with outcome-focused simulation has proven effective in
some studies (Taylor, Pham, Rivkin, & Armor, 1998).
Process-focused simulation emphasizes the details involved in
reaching a goal in one's imagination with the aim of identifying
possible barriers to reaching that goal and solving problems, so it
emphasizes thinking about how to achieve the goal. In contrast,
outcome-focused simulation encourages the rehearsal of the end
state one wants to achieve. If a product is used, this form of
simulation emphasizes thinking related to product adoption (Zhao
et al., 2007).
The effects of mental simulation vary, depending on a range of
factors. Different types of mental simulation lead to different
viewpoints during the evaluation of an event or object, which in
turn affects the preference for the event or object. When mental
simulation is used for product evaluation, people engaged in
process-focused simulation will focus on peripheral features,
weighing feasibility, for instance, whereas those engaged in
outcome-focused simulation will focus on central features, such as
desirability (Zhao et al., 2007).
Mental simulation has been applied to marketing activities.
Some researchers have attempted to identify the association between argument strength ratings (Escalas & Luce, 2003) and
involvement (Escalas & Luce, 2004) in the advertising context using
mental simulation. Such studies have suggested that argument
strength rates lead to divergent results under process- and
outcome-focused conditions. Low-involvement cases also lead to
differential effects in both forms of simulation.
Research comparing process-focused and outcome-focused
simulation has been actively performed in the consumer and marketing domains and advertising. In marketing, the effects of mental
simulation on consumer attitudes and buying intention have been
explored by Escalas and Luce (2004), who conducted experiments
using virtual models of shampoo and vitamin products. In their
experiments, respondents were divided into two groups and
instructed to engage in mental simulation focusing on the usage
process and on the outcome of product use, respectively. The
process-focused group formed stronger purchase intentions. As
mentioned earlier, mental simulation can be employed in various

C.-H. Jin / Computers in Human Behavior 54 (2016) 682e690

marketing situations when a new product is launched. It is estimated that consumer adoption behaviors for a new and innovative
product are affected by personality traits and that the effects of
mental simulation vary with the type of mental simulation involved.
Given that mental simulation requires cognitive thinking and
limits cognitive resources, low motivation and cognitive ability can
mitigate the effects of mental simulation (Shiv & Huber, 2000).
Mental simulation is an imagination-inducing perceptual experience
using simulation scenarios created in a virtual environment, making
cognitive thinking essential. NFC has been shown to have varying
effects on mental simulation (Escalas & Luce, 2004). Individuals high
in NFC formed more favorable evaluations of a highly innovative new
product under the outcome-focused simulation condition than under the process-focused simulation condition. However, individuals
low in NFC demonstrated no signicant differences in product
evaluation under either simulation condition. We therefore investigated how NFC is associated with mental simulation.
3. Hypotheses
Consumer innovativeness serves as a crucial element at the time
of adoption of a new product or service. As demonstrated in earlier
studies, innovativeness can be treated as a process variable that
affects time of adoption and the diffusion of new products and
services. Early adopters have a tendency to enjoy new experiences,
ranging from cognitive stimulation-seeking to complex problemor puzzle-solving. Therefore, outcome-focused simulation is likely
to be more effective than process-focused simulation for testing
new brand apps. In general, later adopters have a stronger tendency
to seek a sense of safety, whereas early adopters tend to focus more
on functional and symbolic end benets than uncertainty when
adopting an innovation. We therefore predicted differential effects
of process-focused and outcome-focused simulation and also predicted that early adopters would be more likely to have positive
perceptions to inform product attitudes and adoption intentions
than late adopters.
H1. All other things being equal, subjects who are exposed to an
outcome-focused mental simulation versus those exposed to a
process-focused mental simulation are more likely to form:
a) stronger intentions to adopt the application, and
b) favorable attitudes toward the brand.
H2. All other things being equal, early adopters (with higher
innovativeness) are more likely than later adopters to form:
a) stronger intentions to adopt the branded apps, and
b) favorable attitudes toward the brand.
Consumers high in NFC and innovativeness focus on explanations, facts, and how things work and are interested in understanding mechanisms when doing new things. They like to be
involved in situations that require a lot of thinking and understanding of cause-and-effect relationships and exercise their
cognitive abilities (Haugtvedt & Petty, 1992). Such consumers try to
nd information on a new product, evaluate its performance, and
familiarize themselves with how it operates and how they can use
it. Previous studies have claimed that consumer attitudes towards
new products are predictable based on cognitive responses when
consumers are high in NFC. However, consumer attitudes are not
predictable for those low in NFC (Haugtvedt & Petty, 1992). That is,
a signicant association between the degree of cognitive response
and consumer attitudes was observed in consumers high in NFC;
they try to learn something from a new product and purchase it to

685

exercise their cognitive abilities while using the product, nding

comfort in the entire process (Venkatraman, 1991). We therefore
hypothesize that level of NFC affects adoption intentions and brand
attitudes toward new brand apps.
H3. All other things being equal, subjects who have low NFC are
more likely than those with high NFC to form:
a) stronger intentions to adopt the application, and
b) favorable attitudes toward the brand.
Given the abovementioned ndings, it is clear that mental
simulation requires mental exertion. Since people low in NFC tend
to avoid situations that require mental exertion, the effects of
mental simulation on their attitudes should be insignicant. That is,
their attitudes toward new products should not differ whether they
focus on the process involved in or the outcome of using the
product, regardless of the product's level of innovativeness. However, consumers high in NFC are considered enthusiastic about
adopting newly updated brand apps and will focus on the benets
provided by the apps because they want to ensure their economic
power and social image through acquiring such apps. We expect
process-focused simulation to be less efcacious for purchase intentions of consumers high in NFC. Based on ndings according to
which they actively seek out new product information and have
high potential for engaging in mental simulation that requires
cognitive performance, we derived the following hypotheses and
behavioral patterns. In hypothesis 4, it is assumed that degree of
innovativeness and level of NFC could moderate the effects of
differently grouped mental simulation on attitude formation. As
noted in the extant literature, the degree of personal innovativeness and level of NFC with newly developed apps is highly correlated with dependent variables such as intention to adopt the apps
and attitude towards the brand. Therefore, the following hypothesis is posited:
H4. Analysis will reveal three-way interaction between mental
simulation (process-focused vs. outcome-focused), innovativeness
(early adopters vs. late adopters), and NFC (high vs. low) that affect
the intention to adopt branded apps and attitudes towards the brand.

4. Research methodology
4.1. Pilot study and pretesting of the brand apps stimuli
The study selected two apps from cosmetic brands, which are
innovative in design and methods, as experimental stimuli. We
chose the selected brand apps because they encourage user participation and make consumers feel fullled with amusing content and
competition for rewards. A pretest was conducted with 35 students
from the business administration department at a Korean university
to assess innovative features of the selected apps. The assessment
items included: this brand app is created with new methods and
this brand app's design and function are innovative (Ali, Krapfel, &
Labahn,1995). Each response was measured on a 5-point Likert scale
(i.e., Very Unlikely to Very Likely, with Cronbach's a .823). The
results of the pretest in which a brief explanation and photos were
presented revealed that the level of innovation that respondents
perceived in the brand apps with gamication was high (M 3.89),
making the apps valid as experimental stimuli.
4.2. Experimental design and procedure
The experiment was conducted using 288 college and graduate
students from the college of business administration at a Korean

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C.-H. Jin / Computers in Human Behavior 54 (2016) 682e690

university using a 2  2  2 between-subjects factorial design (type

of mental simulation: process/outcome; innovativeness: early/late;
need for cognition: low/high). We manipulated mental simulation
with simulation instructions, as has been done in previous studies
that have used mental simulation to evaluate stimuli in experi~ o, Sujan, Kacker, & Sujan, 2008; Zhao et al., 2007).
ments (Castan
Respondents' innovativeness and NFC were measured and split at
the median into low and high groups. Respondents were men and
women in their 20s and 30s with interest in cosmetics. They were
then randomly assigned to either the process-focused group or the
outcome-focused group for the simulation experiment. Before the
experiment, we explained that the study was designed to identify
consumer responses to existing brand apps and instructed respondents to read the simulation scenario, view the advertisements, and ll out the questionnaire. The scenario was designed to
help respondents understand a brief introduction to the apps and
the downloaded status of these apps. The scenario for processfocused simulation encouraged respondents to focus on the process involved in using the brand apps. For instance, the simulation
instruction imagine the process of using this app and yourself
using it was presented. Outcome-focused simulation was, however, focused on the resulting benets of each brand app and on
understanding why respondents use it. The simulation instruction
imagine the benets that would be provided by this app and
yourself having used it was presented.

4.3. Measurements
Pre-existing items developed by Escalas and Luce (2004) were
used to verify whether the simulation scenarios were executed as
intended. Two items were modied and organized into four items
to measure simulation exercisesdtwo items each for process- and
outcome-focused simulation, respectively: I focused on the process of using the new brand app; I focused on how I would use the
new brand app; I focused on why I would use the new brand
app; I focused on the benets that would be provided by this
brand app.
The measurement tools for innovativeness and NFC used in the
study were veried by their use in a previous study. An adopter
characteristics questionnaire was developed from generalizations
about innovativeness (Rogers & Shoemaker, 1971). Moore and
Benbasat (1991) noted that the questions through which the instrument was used were tested for reliability and validity and were
developed with respect to a particular IT innovation for a particular
audience. The researchers suggested that they could be easily
reworded by substituting the names of alternative IT innovations
(Moore & Benbasat, 1991). The adopter characteristics questionnaire used in this study was a slightly altered version of a ve-point
Likert scale, 16-item instrument developed by Moore and Benbasat
(1991) and Rogers (2003).
Eighteen items were selected on the basis of factor loadings,
item total correlation, and item difculty, while maintaining a
multi-faceted scale. Participants had to check-mark their agreement or disapproval on a ve-point scale (with 1 indicating
strongly disagree and 5 indicating strongly agree). Cacioppo,
Petty and Kao (1984) developed a 34-item Need for Cognition
Scale (NCS) which was reduced to an 18-item scale in order to increase its administrative efciency (MacKenzie & Lutz, 1989). Factor
loading and Cronbach's alpha are described in Table 1.
Based on assessment results regarding levels of innovativeness
and NFC, the items on these two variables were used for calculating
indices, and the median was used to split respondents into two
adopter categories based on their level of innovativeness, forming
an early adopter group and a later adopter group. NFC was

measured, and respondents were divided into a low-NFC group and

a high-NFC group.
Adoption intention refers to the extent to which consumers want
to perform a certain activity (Davis, 1989). In this study, it was
manipulated as the extent to which participants want to use the
brand apps. In this study, a 3-item scale was organized using a 5point Likert scale: I will use this brand app, I have the intention
to use this brand app, and I will continue using this brand app.
Reliability was measured at .883 (three items for intention to adopt).
Items from the 3-item scale developed by MacInnis and Park
(1991) were modied as follows to measure brand attitude: This
brand is favorable, This brand holds value to me, and This brand
is useful to me. Reliability was measured at .933 (three items for
the brand).
5. Experimental results
Mental simulation, innovativeness, and NFC served as the three
independent variables. Dependent variables were analyzed
through analysis of variance (ANOVA).
5.1. Manipulation checks
A manipulation check was performed by analyzing the mean
value of the two items measuring outcome-focused thinking. The
mean value was signicantly higher in the group that was exposed
to the outcome-focused simulation instruction (M 2.74) than in
the group that was exposed to the process-focused simulation instruction (M 3.82, t 16.094, p < .05). In the analysis of the two
items measuring process-focused thoughts, we also found a
signicantly higher mean value in the group that was exposed to
the process-focused simulation instruction (M 3.52) than in the
other group that was exposed to the outcome-focused simulation
instruction (M 2.74, t 13.865, p < .05). Thus, simulation was
successfully manipulated as intended. The manipulation check of
the innovativeness measure consisted of three items to determine
the extent to which the participants attended to the stimuli. For the
manipulation of degree of innovativeness, independent sample ttests were performed. A t-test indicated that the intended manipulation could be successful. Thus, participants perceived the difference between early and later adopters (Mean early 3.95,
Meanlater 3.10, t 21.41, p < .05). The manipulation check of the
NFC measure consisted of three items used to determine the extent
to which participants attended to the stimuli. For the manipulation
of degree of NFC, independent sample t-tests were performed. A ttest indicated that the intended manipulation could be successful.
Thus, participants perceived the difference between low and high
need for cognition (Meanlow 2.81, Meanhigh 3.75, t 21.52,
p < .05). The inter-item total-correlation coefcient value among
the nine items for a priori attitude towards the brand ranged from
.67 to .90 (p < .05).
Data were analyzed using a MANOVA on the dependent variables. The dependent variables were intention to adopt the branded
app and attitude towards the brand. A 2  2  2 between-subjects
factorial design was used (two forms of mental simulation
[outcome-focused and processefocused]  degree of innovativeness [early and later adopters]  degree of NFC [low and high NFC]).
Tables 2 and 3 present the MANOVA and ANOVA results, including
means, standard deviations, and Wilks's Lambda.
5.2. Hypothesis tests
The differential effects of mental simulation, innovativeness,
and NFC on the dependent variables and related test results are
summarized in Tables 2 and 3.

C.-H. Jin / Computers in Human Behavior 54 (2016) 682e690

687

Table 1
The EFA of innovativeness and NFC.
Construct

FL

Survey measures

Innovativeness

.872

.769
.652
.725
.760
.659
.817
.671
.714
.748
.716

I am procient in using new information technologies

My life is more enjoyable because of new information technologies
I have a strong tendency to adopt new information technologies for which I have no immediate need
I have a strong daily tendency to read articles related to information technology issues
Computer and Internet use are a daily necessity
I frequently use advanced mobile phone functions (text messaging, camera, music, video, applications, etc.)
I frequently use wireless Internet on my mobile phone or tablet PC
I am very curious about new information technology and products
I am much more likely to purchase new information technology products than other types of products
I am very condent in my ability to learn or be trained to use information technology equipment,
even when it is complicated
I strive to keep abreast of information age trends
I very often use a computer or surf the Internet as a leisure activity, a hobby, or for entertainment
I frequently use the Internet for studying and working
I am very familiar with terms related to information technology
I often make nancial transactions using the Internet
I often use social media and social networking sites
I would prefer complex to simple problems.
I like to have the responsibility of handling a situation that requires a lot of thinking.
Thinking is not my idea of fun.
I would rather do something that requires little thought than something that is sure to challenge my thinking abilities.
I try to anticipate and avoid situations where there is likely a chance I will have to think in depth about something.
I nd satisfaction in deliberating hard and for long hours.
I only think as hard as I have to.
I prefer to think about small, daily projects to long-term ones.
I like tasks that require little thought once I've learned them.
The idea of relying on thought to make my way to the top appeals to me.
I really enjoy a task that involves coming up with new solutions to problems.
Learning new ways to think doesn't excite me very much.
I prefer my life to be lled with puzzles that I must solve.
The notion of thinking abstractly is appealing to me.
I would prefer a task that is intellectual, difcult, and important to one that is somewhat important but
does not require much thought.
I feel relief rather than satisfaction after completing a task that required a lot of mental effort.
It's enough for me that something gets the job done; I don't care how or why it works.
I usually end up deliberating about issues even when they do not affect me personally.

Need for Cognition

.743

.723
.752
.669
.789
.748
.714
.699
.743
.775
.722
.642
.711
.725
.702
.683
.767
.684
.689
.681
.692
.753
.657
.714
.739

Notes: FL: Factor Loadings; a: Cronbach's alpha.

Hypotheses 1a and 1b predicted that subjects who are exposed

to outcome-focused mental simulation rather than to processfocused mental simulation are more likely to form a strong intention to adopt the application and a favorable attitude towards the
brand. A subject's valence of cognitive processes would therefore
better explain the results when subjects are exposed to outcomefocused mental simulation to measure attitude towards the
brand. Hypothesis 1b was supported (F[1, 288] 7.75, p < .05).
However, the main effect of type of mental simulation (e.g.,
outcome- or process-focused) was not signicant on intention to
adopt the brand app (F[1, 288] .612, p .435). Thus, H1a was not
supported. Hypotheses 2a and 2b predicted that subjects who are
early adopters (with higher innovativeness) rather than later
adopters would be more likely to form a strong intention to adopt
the brand app and a favorable attitude towards the brand. Hypothesis 2a was supported (F[1, 288] 7.11, p < .05), and the degree
Table 2
MANOVA results.
Treatments
Mental
Simulation(A)
Innovativeness
(B)
NFC(C)
AB
AC
BC
ABC

Dependent
Variables

Note: NFC: Need for Cognition.

Wilks's
Lambda

d.f

.968

4.66

(1, 288)

.010

.975

3.55

.030

.961
.979
.990
.998
.980

5.64
3.00
1.39
.321
2.83

.004
.051
.250
.726
.061

of innovativeness at a marginally signicant level for attitude towards the brand, supporting H2b (F[1, 288] 3.06, p .081). Thus,
H2a and 2b were supported.
As seen above, hypotheses 3a and 3b predicted that subjects
with low NFC are more likely than those with high NFC to from a
strong intention to adopt the application and a favorable attitude
toward the brand. Hypothesis 3a was not supported (F[1,
288] .204, p .652). However, the main effect of degree of NFC
(e.g., low and high NFC) was signicant on attitude towards the
brand (F[1, 288] 8.22, p < .05). Thus, H3b was supported, but H3a
was not supported.
Hypothesis 4 predicted a three-way interaction effect of mental
simulation, degree of innovativeness, and NFC on the dependent
variables. As shown in Tables 2 and 3, the interaction effects are
marginally signicant (Lambda .980, F(1, 288) 2.83, p .061).
The types of mental simulation, degree of innovativeness, and level
of NFC, respectively, were statistically signicant for intention to
adopt and attitude towards the brand (F[1, 288] 4.13, p < .05, F[1,
288] 5.07, p < .05). Thus, H4 was supported. In addition, there was
no two-way interaction effect of mental simulation, innovativeness,
and NFC on intention to adopt or attitude towards the brand.
However, there was statistically signicant two-way interaction
between types of mental simulation and degree of innovativeness
NFC on intention to adopt the branded app (F[1, 288 5.71, p < .05).

6. Discussion and conclusions

The results of this study are summarized as follows: As
hypothesis 1 predicted, subjects who are exposed to outcome-

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C.-H. Jin / Computers in Human Behavior 54 (2016) 682e690

Table 3
Results of between-subjects analysis by condition.
Treatment (mean/S.D)
Mental Simulation (A)

Innovativeness (B)

Need for Cognition (C)

Mental Simulation  Innovativeness (A  B)

Mental Simulation  Need for Cognition (A  C)

Innovativeness  Need for Cognition (B  C)

D.V
Outcome (2.63/.07)
Process (2.55/.08)
Outcome (2.81/.08)
Process (2.50/.08)
Early (2.73/.07)
Late (2.45/.08)
Early (2.76/.08)
Late (2.56/.08)
Low (2.61/.07)
High (2.56/.08)
Low (2.82/.80)
High (2.50/.08)
Outcome
Early (2.65/.12)
Late (2.62/.09)
Process
Early (2.82/.09)
Late (2.28/.13)
Outcome
Early (2.85/.12)
Late (2.78/.10)
Process
Early (2.66/.09)
Late (2.35/.13)
Outcome
Low (2.71/.10)
High (2.56/.11)
Process
Low (2.52/.10)
High (2.58/.11)
Outcome
Low (2.95/.10)
High (2.68/.11)
Process
Low (2.69/.11)
High (2.32/.12)
Early
Low (2.72/.10)
High (2.74/.11)
Late
Low (2.51/.10)
High (2.39/.12)
Early
Low (2.91/.11)
High (2.60/.11)
Late
Low (2.72/.11)
High (2.40/.12)

Outcome

Early
Late

Process

Early
Late

Outcome

Early
Late

Process

Early
Late

.450

p
.612

.435

Brand

6.29

7.75

.006

Intention

5.23

7.11

.008

Brand

2.49

3.06

.081

Intention

.150

.204

.652

Brand

6.67

8.22

.004

Intention to Adopt

4.20

5.71

.018

Attitude toward Brand

.940

1.16

.283

Intention to Adopt

.753

1.02

.313

Attitude toward Brand

.124

.152

.697

Intention to Adopt

.304

.413

.521

Attitude toward Brand

.001

.001

.972

Treatment (mean/s.d/n)
Mental Simulation  Innovativeness  Need for Cognition (A  B  C)

MS

Intention

Low (2.80/.66/31)
High (2.49/.85/25)
Low (2.62/.81/49)
High (2.61/.90/42)
Low (2.64/.84/43)
High (3.04/.98/49)
Low (2.39/.86/29)
High (2.17/.87/20)
Low (3.11/.68/31)
High (2.59/1.2/25)
Low (2.79/.81/49)
High (2.76/.83/42)
Low (2.72/.92/43)
High (2.61/.94/49)
Low (2.66/.99/29)
High (2.04/.82/20)

D.V

MS

Intention to Adopt

3.03

4.13

.043

Attitude toward Brand

4.12

5.07

.025

Mental Simulation (Outcome versus Process)  Degree of Innovativeness (Early versus Later)  Level of Need for Cognition (Low versus High) Scales for mean scores are from 1
to 5 with 5 being most positive. n 288.

focused mental simulation are more likely to form favorable attitudes towards a brand than are those exposed to process-focused
mental simulation. However, there were no signicant differences
by type of mental stimulation regarding intention to adopt a brand
app. Still, the study found that outcome-focused thinking more
positively inuences brand attitude than process-focused thinking.
Hypothesis 2 was also supported by the nding of signicant
effects of innovativeness on respondents' adoption intentions and
brand attitudes towards a brand app. Early adopters (high in
innovativeness) formed stronger positive adoption intentions and
brand attitudes toward a brand app compared with late adopters,
and their behavioral attitudes were more positive than were those
of later adopters.

Hypotheses 3a and 3b predicted that subjects with low NFC are

more likely to form favorable attitudes towards a brand than are
those with high NFC. However, we found no signicant difference
between low and high NFC regarding intention to adopt a branded
app. NFC has, however, a greater impact on forming an attitude
towards a brand than on intention to adopt a brand app. Subjects
who are less inclined to exert cognitive effort are more likely to
respond by forming a positive attitude towards a brand than are
those who are more inclined to exert cognitive effort.
As Hypothesis 4 predicted, we found signicant evidence of
three-way interaction between types of mental simulation, degree
of innovativeness, and level of NFC during the experiment. When
these factors interacted, subjects were more likely to form an

C.-H. Jin / Computers in Human Behavior 54 (2016) 682e690

intention to adopt a brand app and a positive attitude towards a

brand.

689

(low in innovativeness) tend to hesitate or exhibit reluctance when

adopting a new product due to the uncertainty associated with new
product adoption.

6.1. Theoretical implications

6.2. Implications for practice
This study explored the effects on intention to adopt a brand app
and attitude towards the brand of three important factors: mental
simulation, innovativeness, and NFC. These factors were analyzed
by type of mental simulation (process-focused vs. outcomefocused), type of innovativeness (early adopters vs. later
adopters) and degree of NFC (low vs. high) in the analysis of survey
responses regarding the adoption of new branded apps and the
formation of attitudes towards brands.
Previous studies have distinguished two types of mental simulations: outcome-focused simulations and process-focused simulations (Pham & Taylor, 1999; Taylor et al., 1998). As noted, mental
simulations are dened as the process of visualizing the future
followed by regulating one's behavior and emotions in such a way
that the anticipated future becomes a reality (Taylor et al., 1998).
The effects of process-focused and outcome-focused simulations
have been investigated for their effects on marketing-related outcomes in the course of product evaluation (Zhao et al., 2011), new
~ o et al., 2008), and judging the effectiveproduct adoption (Castan
ness of advertising claims (Escalas & Luce, 2004). This study has
demonstrated differential effects of these two types of mental
simulation in IT and service contexts. The stimulus of this research
is slightly different from that of previous studies that have
concentrated mainly on actual branded products rather than on
tools used to market those products. As the ndings indicate,
mental simulation was not a signicant factor in the adoption of
new brand apps. However, consumer-oriented outcome-focused
simulation was seen to be more likely to lead subjects to form
favorable attitudes towards a brand than process-focused
simulation.
In this study we examined how innovativeness and NFC interact
with mental simulation when consumers consider adopting new
brand apps. The identication of relevant personality traits associated with consumer behavior is crucial for promoting the diffusion of innovative products or services in a market.
This study could prove valuable by enhancing studies related to
this topic as researchers learn how NFC inuences consumer attitudes and attitude change. This study was organized as a model for
portraying the manner in which individual differences (e.g., in
types of innovativeness and NFC) inuence consumer attitude
formation and behavioral attitudes. Since individual differences
amplify limitations in people's information processing or decisionmaking behaviors, this knowledge is likely to help both marketing
scholars and practitioners better understand consumer characteristics through a conceptual model as well as help them develop
tools that will enable marketers to be more effective in developing
new IT-related software and service products that target specic
audiences.
We examined the differential effects of such personality traits
on the results of mental simulation in consumers adopting new
innovative products and identied the role of consumer innovativeness and NFC in generating the effects of mental simulation,
which can be useful in developing marketing strategies. That is, this
study demonstrated the effectiveness of mental simulation as a
marketing technique by identifying its association with relevant
consumer personality traits for adopting new products and services
and extended the theory of mental simulation. When a corporation
launches a new product on the basis of the results of this study, the
message in the ad should convey the features of the product and
encourage outcome-focused simulation to emphasize its advantages, features, and benets for effective results. Later adopters

The most important implication of the study is that marketers

targeting potential brand app users should communicate what and
how much desirable content and services mobile applications
provide. This study's ndings suggest that marketers or providers
of brand apps should target specic consumers to have the greatest
impact on practitioners seeking to improve the components and
services of brand apps within their domains of inuence. They
should target early adopters to provide the necessary leadership.
Previous studies have found that early adopters form more
positive adoption intentions for innovations and product information compared with later adopters. Moreover, those who are
earlier in adopting a new product because of their higher innovativeness are characterized by high social status, relative youth,
higher incomes and education levels, and high exposure to mass
media (Rogers, 2003). Because of their tendency to purchase new
products on a regular basis, early adopters engage in rational prepurchase activities, including comparison pricing, searching for
information, and seeking a product experience. If marketing strategies are established for early and late adopters based on the results of this study, the rst strategy can be aimed at mass
mediaebased advertisements that deliver product information.
After a certain period of time, more aggressive promotion tactics
using outcome-focused simulation can be aimed at later adopters
and delivered to them via various channels including non-mass
media, emphasizing functional benets and social image for
stronger effects on product sales. Early adopters play an important
role in the diffusion of new products, and they should be identied
rst to formulate an effective marketing strategy. Early adopters
tend to provide word-of-mouth recommendations regarding the
effectiveness of new products among majority consumers, mitigating the perceived risks associated with new products and
eventually reducing marketing costs for manufacturers.
Although innovators constitute a small fraction of a potential
market for any new product, innovators can be targeted, spending
limited marketing resources, as a means of boosting efciency in
marketing a new product. Given the importance of innovators,
many researchers have documented the characteristics of innovators in terms of demographic and psychological factors. This
study also suggests the need for identifying and targeting early
adopters, dened as a segment high in NFC and innovativeness, for
efcient marketing of a new product.
6.3. Limitations and directions for further research
This study veried the impact of mental simulation combined
with relevant personality traits on consumer behavioral attitudes
to new branded apps through an experiment, but is subject to
several limitations. First, respondents' involvement with the brands
evaluated in this study was included in the analysis. The selection of
branded apps should take place rst in conjunction with data
indicating the lifestyles of consumers in their 20s and their degree
of involvement with specic brands. Men in their 20s have high
involvement with high-tech products and more positive attitudes
toward innovations. Including men in their 20s in the study limits
the validity of broader generalizations. Second, actual brand apps
were used in this study. Fictitious brands are recommended for
future research to reduce the confounding effect, thereby maximizing the effects of mental simulation and permitting generalization of the study results. Lastly, we could not identify an

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C.-H. Jin / Computers in Human Behavior 54 (2016) 682e690

association between the salience of the stimuli and mental

simulation.
The interactive effects on adoption intentions for the branded
apps of individual NFC and mental simulation were found to be
insignicant, but their effects on brand attitudes were found to be
signicant. This result is likely due to the nature of the brands used
as stimuli in the experiments. Specically, functions, features, usage
methods, and the benets of the branded apps may be too weak to
evoke NFC, so measurement along that dimension is not feasible. If
a more complex product or brand were used for the experiments,
respondents' NFC could be measured free of compounding
elements.
The study did not determine the relationship between various
dimensions of consumer risks, including perceived risk, functional
and social risks, and other variables. Previous studies have
addressed various dimensions of consumer risk and explained the
conceptual differences regarding each of these dimensions. Further
analysis of these risk dimensions is therefore needed.
Acknowledgement
This work was supported by Kyonggi University Research Grant
2014.
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Chang-Hyun Jin is an assistant professor in the department of business Administration

at Kyonggi University, Korea. He received a Ph.D from the University of Florida and an
MA from the University of Texas. His main research interest is in marketing communication strategies such as branding, sponsorship, consumer psychology, and information technology. His work has been published in several journals.