Although traditional economic theory assumes that people make decisions purely rationally based on weighing costs and benefits, behavioral economics emphasizes that decisions are also influenced by psychological factors such as emotions, biases, and heuristics. Empirical findings show that emotions are linked to economic preferences, beliefs, expectations, and decisions. However, little is known about how various unconscious emotional stimuli influence human cognition and behavior. The purpose of the research is to examine how unconscious negative emotional stimuli affect current well-being and what impact these stimuli have on consumer behavior (evaluation of the financial value of a drink, desire to consume a drink, sensory evaluation of a drink). We also examine whether the level of thirst affects the strength of the effects of these stimuli. For this purpose, we conducted an experiment with 50 participants (28 women), with an average age of 24.3 years. The experimental group (N = 25) solved logical tasks with negatively emotionally colored text, while the control group (N = 25) solved the same tasks with neutral text. After completing the tasks, we measured the expressed amount of drink that the participants wanted to consume, the financial value of the offered drink, and its sensory evaluation (sweetness, smell, overall rating). Before and after solving the logical tasks, we measured the mood of the participants using the SPANE questionnaire. The results showed that the negatively emotionally colored text, compared to the neutral text, did not have a statistically significant effect on any of the measured variables. Participants in both groups consumed a comparable amount of drink on average, attributed a similar value to the drink, and gave it similar sensory evaluations. We also did not detect any differences in mood changes between the groups. These results indicate that brief exposure to unconscious emotionally negative verbal stimuli within logical tasks does not lead to noticeable changes in the participants' consumption decisions or mood. Possible reasons for the lack of an effect of stimuli in the study are related to the nature of the stimuli used, their intensity, the cognitive load during solving the logical tasks, and individual differences among participants. The results shed light on the limitations of unconscious verbal stimuli and contribute to a broader understanding of the conditions under which emotional influences (dis)shape consumer decisions.
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