ABSTRACT
Temporal distance is defined as how much time (e.g., past or future)
separates between the perceiver’s present time and the target event. Social distance
is defined as how distinct is the social target from the perceiver’s self (e.g.,
oneself vs others). The interpretation of events will change as different
psychological distance changes (e.g., Temporal Distance, Spatial Distance,
Social Distance) and then affect people’s reactions, judgment and
decision-making. In real life, consumers often have to make a choice between
two types of products: one of them is often called the “virtue products”, and
the other one was accordingly called the “vice products”. This study uses
experimental methods to explore the influence of temporal distance and social
distance on the choice of consumers’ preference and obtains the following
conclusions: 1) When consumers make choices for themselves, compared to now, they
are more inclined to choose the virtue product at a future time; when consumers
make choices for others, compared to now, they are more inclined to choose the
virtue product at a future time; when consumers make choices now, compared to
choose for themselves, they are more inclined to choose virtue products for
others; when consumers make choices at a future time, compared to choose for
themselves , they are more inclined to choose virtue products for others; 2)
The ANOVA of eye movements data on virtue products (i.e., fixation length and fixation count) showed that main effects
of temporal distance and social distance were significant, but there was not
interaction between both factors.