Immediate and Delayed Emotional Consequences of Indulgence: The Moderating Influence of Personality Type on Mixed Emotions

The majority of literature looking at self-control dilemmas has focused on short-term positive and long-term negative affective outcomes arising from indulgence. In two studies, we find evidence for more complex emotional responses after indulgent consumption. We show that consumers feel simultaneous mixtures of both positive and negative emotions in response to indulgences and that the specific components of those emotional mixtures vary, depending on differences in individual impulsivity. Further, these mixtures are resolved differently over time, leading to differences in subsequent choices. In addition we show that more prudent consumers are likely to seize an opportunity to get rid of, or “launder,” their negative emotions after an indulgence by subsequently making utilitarian versus hedonic choices.