Indulgence varies widely across individuals. While some become absorbed in options that offer unnecessary pleasure, others manage to restrain their pursuit of hedonic gratification. What accounts for these marked individual differences? This paper introduces the concept of psychological connectedness as a framework for understanding indulgence and offers a theoretical basis for developing preventive strategies to reduce indulgent behavior.
Drawing on secondary data and three laboratory experiments, this paper investigates how psychological connectedness influences indulgent behavior.
Individuals with low psychological connectedness are more likely to engage in indulgence, as they are less likely to consider future consequences. However, the vividness of the future self can moderate this effect, enabling those with low connectedness to better resist indulgence.
Recognizing the role of psychological connectedness in consumer indulgence allows practitioners to identify individuals with weaker links to their future selves—those more susceptible to indulgent behavior. This understanding can inform the design of targeted intervention strategies to help these individuals reduce indulgence.
