Consumers generally prefer natural to synthetic drugs, a phenomenon known as the “natural preference.” Through six experiments and one archival study, the current research shows that while consumers have a general preference for natural drugs over synthetic drugs, this preference is stronger when the goal is to treat psychological rather than physical conditions. Process evidence indicates an important mechanism that explains the amplified natural preference for treating psychological conditions: Consumers are more concerned about their true selves being altered when treating psychological conditions, and they perceive natural drugs to be less likely than synthetic drugs to affect their true selves. The current research provides novel insights into the natural preference. It also offers policy and managerial implications for marketing natural remedies and pharmacological treatments for mental health conditions.
Prof. Tianyi LI
Marketing
Assistant Professor
3910 3088
KK 722
Academic & Professional Qualification
- PhD in Psychology, University of Chicago
- PhD in Marketing, University of Illinois Chicago
Biography
Tianyi Li received her first PhD in Psychology from the University of Chicago. She then pursued a second PhD in Marketing at the University of Illinois Chicago due to family circumstances that required her to stay in Chicago and an interest in consumer behaviour. Tianyi’s research interests include health decision-making, group-based and individual-based impression formation, and consumer well-being.
Tianyi’s research has been published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, Cerebral Cortex, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, Psychological Science, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, etc.
Research Interest
- Health Decision-Making
- Impression Formation
- Consumer Well-being
Selected Publications
- Li, T., & Gal, D. (2024). Consumers Prefer Natural Medicines More When Treating Psychological Than Physical Conditions. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 34(3), 425-444.
- Li, T., Parker, J., & Clarkson, J. (2022). Degree of Group Consensus Shapes Perceived Power Structures and Decision-Process Evaluations of Groups. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 26(8), 1931-1950.
- Li, T. (2022). The impact of advertising exposure on the gendered perceptions of men with mental health concerns. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 39(6), 610-620. (First Journal Attempted)
- Li, T., & Gal, D. (2021). The Marlboro men don’t cry: Understanding the gendered perceptions of people seeking mental health care. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 28(2), 423–437.
- Handley, G., Kubota, J. T., Li, T., & Cloutier, J. (2021). Impact of interracial contact on inferring mental states from facial expressions. Royal Society Open Science, 8(7), 202137.
- Mattan, B. D., Kubota, J. T., Li, T., Venezia, S. A., & Cloutier, J. (2019). Implicit evaluative biases toward targets varying in race and socioeconomic status. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45(10), 1512-1527.
- Handley, G., Kubota, J. T., Li, T., & Cloutier, J. (2019). Black “Reading the Mind in the Eyes” task: The development of a task assessing mentalizing from black faces. PLOS One, 14(9), e0221867.
- Mattan, B. D., Kubota, J. T., Li, T., Dang, T. P., & Cloutier, J. (2018). Motivation modulates brain networks in response to faces varying in race and status: A multivariate approach. ENeuro, 5(4).
- Li, T., Cardenas-Iniguez, C., Correll, J., & Cloutier, J. (2016). The impact of motivation on race-based impression formation. NeuroImage, 124, 1-7.
- Cloutier, J., Li, T., Mišić, B., Correll, J., & Berman, M. G. (2017). Brain network activity during face perception: the impact of perceptual familiarity and individual differences in childhood experience. Cerebral Cortex, 27(9), 4326-4338.
- Cloutier, J., Cardenas-Iniguez, C., Gyurovski, I., Barakzai, A., & Li, T. (2016). Neuroimaging investigations of social status and social hierarchies. In Neuroimaging personality, social cognition, and character (pp. 187-203). Academic Press.
- Cloutier, J., Li, T., & Correll, J. (2014). The impact of childhood experience on amygdala response to perceptually familiar black and white faces. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 26(9), 1992-2004.
- Lapate, R. C., Rokers, B., Li, T., & Davidson, R. J. (2014). Nonconscious emotional activation colors first impressions: A regulatory role for conscious awareness. Psychological Science, 25(2), 349-357.
- Cloutier, J., Norman, G. J., Li, T., & Berntson, G. G. (2013). Person perception and autonomic nervous system response: The costs and benefits of possessing a high social status. Biological Psychology, 92(2), 301-305.
Recent Publications
1Jul
1 Jul 2024
Journal of Consumer Psychology