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AcademicJournal of Consumer Research, 2024

"I feel like" persuaded more than "it feels like" for the same recommendation

Positioning & messaging

Reader Note:
This is the paper's cross-study conclusion rather than a single experiment's result. A personal phrasing names the speaker — "I think," "I'd argue," "it feels to me like" — while a general one uses parallel wording with nobody attached, such as "it seems" or "it feels like." Outcomes varied by study and included product ratings, willingness to buy, article choice and seven-point persuasion scales. The paper's own explanation is perceived confidence, with mediation analyses in Studies 1, 3, 4A and 4B reporting that this perception fully accounts for the difference. The behavioural test was the weaker one: in Study 2B (N = 111) 63% chose the recommended article under "Looks to me like this will be a great article," 44% under "Looks like this will be a great article" and 68% under no hedge at all, so the general phrasing cost 24 points against saying nothing (p = .038) while the personal-versus-general gap is marginal by the paper's own account (p = .10). The paper gives no single pooled effect size across all studies, and does not say when the studies ran.
Evidence:
Experimental
Vendor interest:
None
Sample:
Six online experiments, mostly with Prolific participants; disclosed samples include N=15, 21, 111, 111, 400, 527, and 456, plus 3 independent coders in Study 1.

Good for

Backing budget and pricing decisions in similar situations.

Not for

  • Situations far from the one tested, without checking again.
  • This was measured in one market. It may not hold where you are.
  • The source never says when this data was collected. It could be considerably older than the publication date suggests.
  • This is an aggregated or average number that covers very different cases. Real results in a particular segment may differ.

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