The proportion of lone shoppers was higher in a used versus a regular bookstore, lone individuals were more likely to select a used over a new product, people without a date on Valentine’s Day expressed stronger preference for used products

Feeling Lonely Increases Interest in Previously Owned Products. Feifei Huang and Ayelet Fishbach. Journal of Marketing Research, Volume 58, Issue 5, Jun 22 2021. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437211030685

Abstract: Consumption of used products has the potential to symbolically connect present and previous users of these products, something that may appeal to lonely consumers. Accordingly, across seven studies, feeling lonely increased consumers’ preference for previously owned products. Specifically, the authors found that the proportion of lone shoppers was higher in a used versus a regular bookstore, lone individuals (vs. those sitting in pairs) were more likely to select a used over a new product, people without (vs. with) a date on Valentine’s Day expressed stronger preference for used products, and individual differences in loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic predicted interest in used products. Other studies documented that the desire to symbolically connect underlies the effect of loneliness on consumption. At a time when loneliness is on the rise, the authors discuss implications for the marketing of used products and how loneliness might motivate consumers to reduce waste.

Overall, mental effort felt aversive in different tasks, in different populations, and on different continents; paradoxically, some also love chess or brain teasers

David, Louise, Eliana Vassena, and Erik Bijleveld. 2022. “The Aversiveness of Mental Effort: A Meta-analysis.” PsyArXiv. October 25. psyarxiv.com/m8zf6

Abstract: Influential theories in psychology, neuroscience, and economics assume that the exertion of mental effort should feel aversive. Yet, this assumption is usually untested, and it is challenged by casual observations and previous studies. Here we test (a) whether mental effort is generally experienced as aversive and (b) whether the association between mental effort and aversive feelings depends on population and task characteristics. We meta-analyzed a set of studies (358 tasks, 4670 people) that assessed perceived mental effort and negative affect. As expected, we found a strong positive association between mental effort and negative affect. Surprisingly, just one of our 15 moderators had a significant effect (effort felt somewhat less aversive in studies from Asia vs. Europe and North America). Overall, mental effort felt aversive in different tasks, in different populations, and on different continents. Supporting theories that conceptualize effort as a cost, we suggest that mental effort is inherently aversive.