Consumers Prefer System 2 Marketing Tactics: Dual Process Intuitions: Consumers’ Beliefs about Persuasion Processing Drive Morality of Marketing Communication

Not every form of marketing persuasion is considered manipulative. How
do consumers decide whether persuasion is morally acceptable or not?
In three studies, we test the hypotheses that moral evaluation of
persuasion depends on individuals’ beliefs about information
processing—Dual Process Intuitions: (i) If people think persuasion is
processed fast and without much effort (that is, by system 1), they will
consider it more immoral than persuasion thought to be processed more
slowly and with much effort (that is, by system 2). This is because (ii)
people will find system 1 processing more automatic than system 2
processing. Since system 2 persuasion will be seen as more morally
acceptable, (iii) there will be a larger effect of system 2 persuasion on
attitude change than that of system 1 (although both system 1 and
system 2 persuasion can lead to a positive attitude change). (See
conceptual framework on the right.)