• Augmented Reality

Perception and effects of augmented reality and the measurement of augmentation quality.
Example publication:
Schein, Katrin E.; Praxmarer-Carus, Sandra; Rauschnabel, Philipp A. (2022): The Local Presence Construct in Augmented Reality: Drivers, Characteristics and Consequences, International XR Conference.

• Brand Experiences and Brand Attachment

Example publication:
Fischer, D., Praxmarer-Carus, S. (2021): What consumer responses make a brand experience create brand attachment? Marketing ZFP – Journal of Research and Management, Vol. 43/3, pp. 35–48.

• Business Relationships and Trust

Example publication:
Praxmarer-Carus, S. (2014): Why the proposal of a complex contract may harm or foster a partner’s trust, Journal of Business Research (JBR), Vol. 67/1, pp. 142–129.

• We are also interested in various aspects of consumer well-being.

Our research focuses in particular on persuasive communication in the context of social marketing.

We examine how different types and formats of information can be designed to achieve the highest possible persuasive impact. This is investigated in a variety of empirical studies.

Among other things, we analyze the effects of statistical versus narrative/anecdotal information, message framing, and fear appeals, as well as various psychological positioning strategies for information.

The effectiveness of such information and its presentation is typically studied under varying conditions, including:

• Characteristics of the recipients (e.g., optimism, vaccine skepticism, gender identity),
• Characteristics of the promoted behavior and message appeal (e.g., psychological distance to the target group),
• Characteristics of the depicted protagonists (e.g., similarity).

Specific research questions that we have already examined can be found under 'Current Publications'.

Risk: Risk Communication and Protective Behavior

We study the effectiveness of various types and formats of information in influencing:

• individuals’ risk perception, and
• protective behavior across different risk-related contexts, such as vaccine uptake, purchasing insurance, or refraining from using mobile phones while driving.

The types of information we analyze include statistical and anecdotal risk information, message framing, and fear appeals. We investigate their impact depending on relevant conditions such as:

•  recipient characteristics (e.g., optimism, perception of risk), and
• message or protagonist characteristics (e.g., expressed regret).
  
  Selected publications in this area include:
• Praxmarer-Carus, S.; Wolkenstörfer, S. (2022): How the Effect of Adding Regret to Fear Appeals Depends on the Perceived Likelihood of the Negative Event, AMA Marketing and Public Policy Conference.
• Praxmarer-Carus, S.; Wieluch, M.I. (2022): Now or Never? Temporal Framing in Risk Messages and the Moderating Effect of Comparative Optimism, Zeitschrift für die gesamte Versicherungswissenschaft, Vol. 111.

Public Task Management: Persuasion in Public Communication

We investigate how public communication can promote socially desirable behavior. Governmental and public organizations often invest considerable resources in campaigns that encourage behaviors such as energy saving, vaccination, preventive healthcare, reducing risky behavior (e.g., traffic safety), or charitable donations.

Our research examines the effectiveness of different information types and positioning strategies to influence individual behaviors (e.g., getting vaccinated, acting environmentally friendly, or donating). We test these approaches across various contexts.

Examples include:

• strategies for persuading vaccine skeptics,
• effects of psychological framing in environmental messaging,
• use of statistical vs. anecdotal information in donation appeals, and
• message framing.

Selected publications in this area include:

• Praxmarer-Carus, S.; Wolkenstörfer, S. (2018): Enhancing the Effectiveness of Narratives Among Vaccine-Skeptical Parents, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 46.
•  Gathen, C.; Praxmarer-Carus, S. (2020): Is Effort Required by a Green Product Always Negative? Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 48.
• Praxmarer-Carus, S.; Wolkenstörfer, S.; Dijkstra, A. (2021): Outcome presence and regulatory fit, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Vol. 21/2, pp. 310–327.