EXPLORING HOW PAIN SHAPES CONSUMER CHOICE AND TEMPORAL DECISION MAKING

Joshua Groves

EXPLORING HOW PAIN SHAPES CONSUMER CHOICE AND TEMPORAL DECISION MAKING Abstract by Joshua N. Groves, Ph.D. Washington State University May 2026 Co-Chairs: Elizabeth Howlett and Kunter Gunasti This dissertation examines pain as an important but underdeveloped construct in consumer behavior by investigating how different forms of pain shape temporal decision making, perceived control, and consumer choice. Drawing on theory and evidence from psychology, medicine, economics, and marketing, it advances a biopsychosocial perspective on pain and develops two empirical essays. The first essay shows that anticipating physical pain systematically changes decision timing. Across multiple studies, consumers expecting a painful medical procedure were more likely to resolve an unrelated pending choice immediately rather than delay it. This act-now effect was specific to anticipated physical pain, did not emerge for equally negative comparison states such as sadness or regret, and was robust across individual differences and temporal distance. Evidence further supports a serial process in which anticipated pain reduces perceived control, which heightens mental load avoidance and shifts consumers toward the option that feels most manageable. In approach-oriented contexts this process increases immediate action, whereas in more avoidance-oriented or cognitively burdensome contexts it can instead increase delay. The second essay extends the analysis from anticipatory pain to anticipated, acute, and chronic pain in temporal discounting. It provides modest evidence that anticipated pain is associated with greater temporal discounting, while a laboratory acute-pain study yielded inconclusive evidence. The strongest evidence comes from a large, nationally diverse longitudinal dataset showing that individuals living with chronic pain discount future outcomes more steeply than matched controls, particularly at longer time horizons, and that lower perceived personal control accounts for a significant portion of this association. Together, these findings position pain as a meaningful influence on temporal preference, decision urgency, and future-oriented choice, with implications for healthcare marketing, financial vulnerability, public policy, and consumer well-being. Keywords: pain, anticipatory pain, chronic pain, temporal decision making, temporal discounting, perceived control, consumer behavior, consumer well-being

EXPLORING HOW PAIN SHAPES CONSUMER CHOICE AND TEMPORAL DECISION MAKING

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