The ups and downs of online dating: Effects of positive and negative anticipatory emotions on participant volition behaviour

Abstract

Existing literature on customer emotions devotes much attention to postconsumption emotions, which are feelings elicited towards actual external stimuli. However, little is known about the concrete impact of consumers' anticipatory emotions - the pre-factual, mentally stimulated emotions due to anticipation of possible outcomes - on consequent volition behaviours that are cognitive-driven where individuals are determined to act in a planned way. In this study, I integrate (hot and emotional) anticipatory emotions with (cold and cognitive-based) volition processes into a single research model. I chose to model seven positive anticipatory emotions (PAEs) and 10 negative anticipatory emotions (NAEs) on three dimensions of behavioural volition: territory planning, account-specific planning and effort. A sample of 93 real paying members registered on online dating websites in China was employed to test the model empirically. This context entails a high personal stake and exhibits a high level of intrinsically motivating and goal-directed behaviour that appears most suitable to elicit the anticipatory emotions for this study. Partial least squares structural equation modelling techniques validate the hypotheses and yield some interesting findings regarding the interplay among PAEs, NAEs and three types of volition.