From the ArcaMax Publishing, Health & Fitness Newsletter:
http://www.arcamax.com/news/healthtips/s-568274-722014
KENT RIDGE, Singapore (UPI) -- The sweet taste of success is made even
sweeter with the anticipation of waiting, researchers in Singapore and
Hong Kong found.
The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, found
winners enjoy waiting to discover what they've won.
The researchers conducted two studies in which participants played and
won simulated lucky-draw games. Some learned immediately what their
prizes were; others were told they had won something from a pool of
prizes.
"We find that consumers will be more delighted after winning a lucky
draw when they do not know immediately the exact prize they will
receive than when they do," Yih Hwai Lee of National University of
Singapore and Cheng Qiu of the University of Hong Kong said in a
statement.
The researchers said prize winners enjoyed imagining using the
potential prizes and such "virtual consumption" prolonged positive
feelings and made them receptive to marketing messages.
Participants who got clues about the nature of the possible prizes --
such as knowing it was an electronic product -- responded even more
favorably. They also favored sensory-stimulating prizes that were
capable of eliciting mental imagery such as chocolates or aroma
therapy candles.
However, functional items like cutlery and digital clocks failed to
stimulate, the study said.