The Role of Optimum Stimulation Level in Exploratory Consumer Behavior.

This study examines the role of optimum stimulation level (SOL) in exploratory consumer behavior. The concept of SOL and its measurement are discussed, and the literature on exploratory consumer tendencies and their relationship with SOL is reviewed. Hypotheses are developed concerning the relationship between SOL and cognitive responses to ads, ad repetition, information search, variety seeking, decision making under risk, gambling, and innovative behavior, and these hypotheses are investigated in a series of experiments. Four well-known instruments are used to measure people's characteristic preference for stimulation, and SOL is operationally as a weighted composite of a person's score on these scales. The results of the study indicate that consumers' SOL is systematically related to curiosity-motivated consumer behaviors, variety seeking, and risk taking. Copyright 1992 by the University of Chicago.