Bittersweet Minds, Better Selves: How Mixed Emotions Shape Preferences for Self‐Improvement Products

ABSTRACT

Bittersweet mixed emotion—the simultaneous experience of happiness and sadness—is a common but underexplored form of mixed emotion. This research examines how bittersweet emotion shapes consumers' preferences for self‐improvement products. Across five complementary studies, including three laboratory experiments and two secondary data analyses, we show that bittersweet emotion increases preferences for self‐improvement products relative to single emotional states of happiness or sadness. We further identify perceived self‐discrepancy as the underlying mechanism: bittersweet emotion heightens awareness of the discrepancy between the actual self and the ideal self, thereby strengthening preferences for self‐improvement products. In addition, this effect is moderated by consumers' beliefs in self‐malleability. These findings advance the mixed emotions literature by highlighting the constructive role of bittersweet emotion in consumer decision making and offer practical implications for the marketing of self‐improvement products and services.