Effects of the over-the-counter pain reliever acetaminophen, which can alter consumers’ emotional experiences and their economic behavior well beyond soothing their aches and pains, has also memory effects

Drug influences on consumer judgments: emerging insights and research opportunities from the intersection of pharmacology and psychology. Geoffrey R. O. Durso, Kelly L. Haws, Baldwin M. Way. Marketing Letters, October 10 2019. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11002-019-09500-z

Abstract: Recent evidence at the intersection of pharmacology and psychology suggests that pharmaceutical products and other drugs can exert previously unrecognized effects on consumers’ judgments, emotions, and behavior. We highlight the importance of a wider perspective for marketing science by proposing novel questions about how drugs might influence consumers. As a model for this framework, we review recently discovered effects of the over-the-counter pain reliever acetaminophen, which can alter consumers’ emotional experiences and their economic behavior well beyond soothing their aches and pains, and also present novel data on its memory effects. Observing effects of putatively benign over-the-counter medicines that extend beyond their originally approved usages suggests that many other drugs are also likely to influence processes relevant for consumers. The ubiquity of drug consumption—medical or recreational, legal or otherwise—underscores the importance of considering several novel research directions for understanding pharmacological-psychological interactions on consumer judgments, emotions, and behaviors.

Keywords: Decision making Emotion Memory Pharmaceuticals Substances Acetaminophen





Check also Conference Talk—SMPC 2019: Effect of Acetaminophen on Emotional Sounds. Lindsay A. Warrenburg. 2019. https://osf.io/79f4d/

Description: The capacity of listeners to perceive or experience emotions in response to music, speech, and natural sounds depends on many factors including dispositional traits, empathy, and enculturation. Emotional responses are also known to be mediated by pharmacological factors, including both legal and illegal drugs. Existing research has established that acetaminophen, a common over-the-counter pain medication, blunts emotional responses to visual stimuli (e.g., Durso, Luttrell, & Way, 2015). The current study extends this research by examining possible effects of acetaminophen on both perceived and felt responses to emotionally-charged sound stimuli. Additionally, it tests whether the effects of acetaminophen are specific for particular emotions (e.g., sadness, fear) or whether acetaminophen blunts emotional responses in general. Finally, the study tests whether acetaminophen has similar or differential effects on three categories of sound: music, speech, and natural sounds. The experiment employs a randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled design. Participants are randomly assigned to ingest acetaminophen or a placebo. Then, the listeners are asked to complete two experimental blocks regarding musical and non-musical sounds. The first block asks participants to judge the extent to which a sound conveys a certain affect (on a Likert scale). The second block aims to examine a listener’s emotional responses to sound stimuli (also on a Likert scale). In light of the fact that some 50 million Americans take acetaminophen each week, this study suggests that future studies in music and emotion might consider controlling for the pharmacological state of participants.