







































Humanitas: Indonesian Psychological Journal  

Vol. 21 (1), February 2024, 26-39 

ISSN:  2598-6368(online); 1693-7236(print)                                                                 

       humanitas@psy.uad.ac.id            http://journal1.uad.ac.id/index.php/Humanitas            https://doi.org/10.26555/humanitas.v21i1.387 

The dynamic of decision-making: Effect of intertemporal choice on 
clothing products 

Amabel Kylila, Honey Wahyuni Sugiharto Elgeka 

Faculty of Psychology, Universitas Surabaya, Indonesia   
Corresponding author: honeywahyuni@staff.ubaya.ac.id 
 

 

This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license. 

 

Introduction 

People often have various choices or alternatives in all their activities which require them to 
make decisions, including the decision to purchase clothing products. People sometimes 
choose to purchase new arrival products that tend to have high prices to be up to date with 
clothing trends. Conversely, they can save up by waiting to purchase some products until 
the 'discount season' comes. Those describe the phenomenon of intertemporal choice,   a 
process by which individuals make decisions on several alternatives at various times 
(Camerer et al., 2005). This concept represents an individual's present and future 
consumption model, which aims to achieve maximum satisfaction throughout his/her life 
that might be affected by several aspects such as the size, time, risk, and composition of the 
choices or alternatives (Bota, 2021). The alternatives for intertemporal choice are divided 
into two types: an alternative that provides instant small rewards or the smaller-but-sooner 
(SS) option and an option that provides delayed large rewards or a larger-but-later (LL) 

ARTICLE  INFO 

 

ABSTRACT  

 

Article history 

Received: March 16, 2023 

Revised: August 25, 2023  

Accepted: September 26, 2023 

 Individuals' emotional states (i.e., happy and sad emotions) might 
influence the intertemporal choice process, a decision of choosing 
between instant alternatives with small advantages or delayed 
alternatives with enormous benefits, when purchasing a product. 
This study tested the role of emotional states in individual 
intertemporal choices, especially when buying clothing products. 45 
active students were involved as participants in this experimental 
study.' The results indicated that happy and sad emotions do not 
significantly differ in individuals' intertemporal choices, specifically 
in purchasing clothing products (ꭓ2 = 5.293, p > 0.05). This study 
also found that intertemporal choice was influenced by gender (F = 
6.431, p < 0.05). This gender difference was significant (ꭓ2 = 4.099, 
p < 0.05), in which female participants had a higher average delayed 
gratification than male participants. Even though differences in 
income did not significantly impact the differences in intertemporal 
choice (ꭓ2 = 5.962, p > 0.05), individual income influenced 
intertemporal choice (F = 4.381, p < 0.05), in which participants 
with smaller incomes tended to choose cheaper clothing product. 
Moreover, the system of three thinking inhibited irrationality and 
made students more rational when making purchase decisions in 
accordance with their income or pocket money. 

 

    

 
Keywords 

Clothing products 

Customer decision-making 

Emotional state 

Gratification 

Intertemporal choice 

Shopping 

 

 

http://journal1.uad.ac.id/index.php/Humanitas
https://doi.org/10.26555/humanitas.v21i1.387


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Amabel Kylila et.al (The dynamic of decision-making: Effect of intertemporal choice on…)   

option (Zhou et al., 2022). The individuals' tendency to choose the SS option is called 
immediate gratification, while the inclination to choose the LL alternative is regarded as 
delayed gratification (Cheng et al., 2012). Intertemporal choice influenced by individual's 
emotional state in which different emotions can lead to different intertemporal choice 
tendencies However,  research on the effect of emotions on intertemporal choice revealed 
different results (Suo et al., 2021). Takemura (2021) found that positive emotions will 
shorten the duration of the decision-making process, which is related to the activity of 
system one thinking which operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and 
no sense of voluntary control. Moreover, happiness, one of the positive emotions, can 
encourage individuals to seek immediate gratification and choose the smaller but sooner 
(SS) option (Zhou et al., 2022). Negative emotions, on the other hand, will slow the 
individual's decision-making, as it relies on the individual's system two which is more 
logical, analytical, conscious and effortful (Takemura, 2021). These negative emotions 
encourage individuals to delay gratification and choose a larger but later (LL) option (Zhou 
et al., 2022) However, those differs from the research by (Liu et al., 2013), which found that 
positive emotions would encourage individuals to do delayed gratification, and negative 
emotions would encourage immediate gratification.  

Based on the explanation above, this research was carried out to test the role of 
emotional state (happy and sad) in affecting intertemporal choice in purchasing clothing 
products.This research is important to complement the previous research and become a 
reference for future research on related topics. This research is also important in providing 
public knowledge to consumers regarding the role of the emotional state in decision-
making, especially in purchasing clothing products as well as helping the clothing producer 
create a marketing strategy that targets the consumer's emotions, which can influence 
purchasing decisions. This study is equipped with two research hypotheses, namely: 
H1: There is a role difference between happy and sad emotions in immediate gratification. 
H2: There is a role difference between happy and sad emotions in delayed gratification. 

Method 

Research Design 

This study used an experimental method to examine the role of emotional state on 
intertemporal choice (Valente & MacKinnon, 2017). There were two experimental groups 
and one control group, in which participants were randomised through a random 
assignment, divided into these three groups, and given different treatments. Experimental 
group 1 received treatment by inducing happy emotions, and experimental group 2 received 
treatment by inducing sad emotions. Meanwhile, the control group did not receive any 
treatment. The University of Surabaya Ethics Committee issued the ethical clearance letter, 
and the number for this experimental research is 104/KE/VIII/2022. See Figure 1. 
 
Figure 1 
Experiment Design  

 

 

 

 

 

KE 1, KE 2 and KK refer to experimental group 1 (happy group), experimental group 2 (sad group) and 
control group, respectively. 



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Participants 

The study involved forty-five active students (64,4 % Female, Mage = 20.47, SD = 0.89, 
range 18-22 years old) recruited from the University of Surabaya, Indonesia. The sampling 
technique used was non-random convenience sampling, with the criteria of those with 
experience purchasing H&M products. Data was collected from September 2022 to October 
2022, all through several Google Form links and QR codes. 

Procedures 

The films and music were tested through offline tryouts during the preparatory stage before 
the experiment. This tryout was conducted on 20 people to test the ability of film and music 
to stimulate or induce an emotion by comparing the pretest and posttest about their 
emotional state check. Based on the tryout it was found that all films and music proved to 
induce emotions as expected.  

All participants who met the criteria were randomised using Excel, divided into three 
groups (i.e., happy group, sad group and control group), and invited to join the Line group 
according to their respective groups. The informed consent sheet was then given through the 
groups, and all participants immediately filled out and sent the informed consent to the 
researcher. Afterwards, information about the experimental implementation schedule was 
conveyed to each group. Several things participants needed to prepare, such as gadgets and 
internet networks, were also conveyed via group chat. 

The experiment was conducted offline. The participants were brought together in a 
class according to their group schedules. The participants sat inside the class, and the 
researcher then gave a briefing as an introduction. The researcher gave a welcome greeting 
and thanked the participants for their presence, and then explained the process of the 
experiment. After the initial instruction, participants were directed to answer the first 
emotional state check via the QR or Google Form link on the screen. This initial emotional 
state check was used to eliminate participants who have emotional states in the form of 
"very sad" (score 1) or "very happy" (score 10) because their initial emotions (before 
getting treatment) are considered to influence the decision-making process in the 
experiment.  

After the first emotional state check, participants were asked to complete an identity 
form via a QR scan or the Google Form link in class. While filling out the identity, the 
music with emotional induction according to their group was played. In experimental group 
1 (KE 1), the participants played music that induced happy emotions, and the participants in 
experimental group 2 (KE 2) played music that induced sad emotions. Music was not 
played in the control group (KK) class.  

After completing the form, the music playing in class was stopped. KE 1 and KE 2 
continued watching short films that could induce specific emotions. KE 1 watched films 
with happy emotions induction, while KE 2 watched films with sad emotions induction. For 
KK, the participants did not watch any short films.  

After watching the short film, the whole group filled out the second emotional state 
check form. Then, participants continued to work on the PANAS-X form. These two forms 
could be accessed via the QR code or the Google Form link on the screen. During the form-
filling, music with emotional induction is played in KE 1 and 2 classes (except in KK).  

After participants had filled in these two forms, the music was stopped, and the 
researcher continued to direct the participants to do the posttest. The posttest used in this 
study is an intertemporal choice scenario case. The participants were asked to imagine that 
they were shopping for clothing products, in which they had to choose the price and time of 
purchase they were most interested in.  

The experimental process then continued to the last stage, which was the debriefing 
stage. At this stage, the researcher gave some information that needed to be conveyed or 



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Amabel Kylila et.al (The dynamic of decision-making: Effect of intertemporal choice on…)   

clarified, which was used to neutralise the participants' emotions. First, the researcher 
conveyed that the real purpose of experimental research is to find out how the emotional 
state influences the participants' decision-making tendencies. In addition, the researcher 
informed the procedure for withdrawing research data for participants who wanted their 
data processed only after a while. However, from the three experimental schedules that 
were carried out, not a single participant wanted to withdraw their data after receiving the 
debriefing. See Figure 2.  
 
Figure 2 
Experiment Flow Diagram 

 

Experiment Manipulation 

Happy emotions were induced by a YouTube video entitled "SUCRD - Girls Mastering the 
Senses," which shows an atmosphere full of laughter and happy expressions, considered 
capable of inducing happy emotions (Shevchenko & Bröder, 2019) In addition, this study 
also used the Spotify playlist "Happy songs everyone knows," which contains various songs 
with fast tempos and significant modes, which are considered capable of inducing happy 
emotions (Zhou et al., 2022). Sad emotions were induced by a YouTube video entitled "IBU 
- Short Movie [SAD STORY]," which shows disharmonious relationships and scenes of 
crying, so it is considered capable of inducing sad emotions (Shevchenko & Bröder, 2019) 
Besides videos, this study also used the Spotify playlist "sad songs 2022 crying and 
depressing music", which contains various songs with slow tempos and minor modes, 
which are considered capable of inducing sad emotions (Zhou et al., 2022). 

Instruments 

Emotional State Check 
An emotional state check is one of the experiment materials (in the form of a Google 

Form) useful for knowing participants' emotional states during the experimental process. 



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This form only determines the participant's emotional state through one question ("If you 
were asked to describe your current feelings, what would you choose?"). Response options 
include very sad (1 to 2), sad (3 to 4), neutral (5 to 6), happy (7 to 8), and very happy (9 to 
10). This emotional state check was given twice before and after the treatment. This 
instrument was used to identify the changes in the participants' emotional states before and 
after the treatment. 

PANAS-X 
The expanded version of Positive and Negative Affect Schedule with (PANAS-X) 

created by (Watson & Clark, 1999) provided in a Google Form, was used to measure the 
participants' emotional state. This scale measures 11 individual emotional states in 60 
statement items. Of the 11 emotional states, this study only used data on items that describe 
happy emotions, namely joviality items (8 items), and those that describe sad emotions, 
namely sadness items (5 items). The subject matter expert gave the content validity of 
PANAS-X. This instrument also has internal consistency with Alpha Cronbach's score of 
0.971 for positive affect and 0.972 for negative affect (reliable). 

Statements on joviality items consist of happy, joyful, cheerful, delighted, energetic, 
enthusiastic, excited, and lively (Watson & Clark, 1999). Meanwhile, sadness consists of 
being alone, blue, downhearted, lonely, and sad. Participants were asked to give scores from 
1 (Not at all), 2 (Slightly), 3 (Moderate), 4 (Excellent), to 5 (Very). Then, all the answers on 
the emotional aspects of joy (happy emotions) and sadness (sad emotions) items from the 
participants were calculated. The total score for the emotional aspects of joy ranged from 8 
to 40, while the total score for the emotional aspects of sadness ranged from 5 to 25. 
Different from emotional state checks, which focused on knowing emotional changes 
before and after the treatment, this instrument was addressed to collect scores obtained by 
participants on certain emotional aspects, the stronger these emotions are felt by participants 
(Watson & Clark, 1999). 

Intertemporal Choice Scenario Case 
Based on the participants' decision, the intertemporal choice assessed  using 18 

purchase clothing products scenario case items whith two choices presented: immediate or 
delayed rewards, which were delivered via Google Form questionnaire  as posttest. This 
instrument has internal consistency with Alpha Cronbach's 0.760 (reliable) and content 
validity that determined by subject matter experts. 
 
Figure 3  
Intertemporal Choice Scenario Case's Item 

 



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Data Analysis 

The study involved forty-five active students (64,4 % Female, Mage = 20.47, SD = 0.89, 
range 18-22 years old) recruited from the University of Surabaya, Indonesia. The sampling 
technique used was non-random convenience sampling, with the criteria of those with 
experience purchasing H&M products. Data was collected from September 2022 to October 
2022, all through several Google Form links and QR codes. 

Kruskal-Wallis 
The hypothesis was tested trough Kruskal Wallis to see whether there is a significant 

difference in intertemporal choices among the experimental and control groups (Brabar et 
al., 2021). This test conducted to examine whether different emotions affecting the 
participants' tendency to make intertemporal choices. The alternative hypothesis (H1 and 
H2) would be accepted if the p-value < 0.05, and vice versa. 

ANACOVA 
This study used ANACOVA as an additional data analysis test. Besides comparing 

the mean between groups, ANACOVA calculates the correlation with other variables. In 
ANACOVA, the independent variable can interact with the controlled variable or the 
covariate. The test was conducted to compare the participants' intertemporal choices 
regarding their emotional states while connecting the intertemporal choice with other 
variables, such as sex, age, and monthly income. If the p-value > 0.05, the test shows no 
statistically significant interaction between the independent and covariates in their effect on 
the dependent variables.  

Results 

The demographic data of the participants of this study are presented in Table 1, which 
consists of sex, age, monthly income, and purchasing priority. 
 

Table 1 

Participants' Demographic Data 

 

 Category Frequency Percentage 

Sex 
Male 16 35.6% 

Female 29 64.4% 

Age 

18 1 2,2% 

19 7 15,6% 

20 9 20% 

21 26 57,8% 

22 2 4,4% 

Monthly 

Income 

< 500.000 9 20% 

500.000-1.000.000 10 22,2% 

1.000.000-1.500.000 5 11,1% 

1.500.000-2.000.000 7 15,6% 



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Table 1 

(Continued) 

 

Table 1 shows that 64.4% of participants were female, and 57.8% in 21 years old. 

Most participants' income (per month) is below Rp 2,000,000.00 (68.9%), and the 

participants are active students. Besides that, it is also known that most participants choose 

food as their purchasing priority (64.4%). There are only 6 participants who prioritise the 

purchase of clothing products, which is the topic of this experimental research.  

Participants completed several forms, including PANAS-X and intertemporal choice 

scenario case. The results of measuring emotional state with PANAS-X show the level of 

happy and sad emotions participants felt. The following is a depiction of the results: 

 
Figure 4 
Average Emotional State – Happy Emotions (PANAS-X) 

 

 

0,00

5,00

10,00

15,00

20,00

25,00

30,00

35,00

40,00

KE 1 KE 2 KK

Emotional State - Happy (Jovialty)

Male Female

 Category Frequency Percentage 

Monthly 

Income 
> 2.000.000 14 31,1% 

Purchasing 

Priority 

Food 29 64,4% 

Clothing products 6 13,3% 

College needs 6 13,3% 

Gadget 1 2,3% 

Savings 1 2,3% 

Urgent needs 2 4,4% 



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Amabel Kylila et.al (The dynamic of decision-making: Effect of intertemporal choice on…)   

Figure 5 

Average Emotional State – Sad Emotions (PANAS-X) 

 

 
 

Based on Figure 4 and Figure 5, the average emotional state of participants in the 

experimental groups followed the induction of emotions. KE 1, which received treatment 

with happy emotions, showed a higher Joviality score than KE 2 and KK, meaning they 

experienced happy emotions more than the other groups. Meanwhile, KE 2, which 

received treatment with sad emotions, showed a higher Sadness score than KE 1 and KK, 

meaning they experienced sad emotions higher than the other groups.  

In addition, participants' intertemporal choice tendencies are divided into three 

categories: immediate gratification, delayed gratification, and immediate and delayed 

gratification. The following is a depiction of the results: 

 

Figure 6 

Average Score of Intertemporal Choice Scenario Case 'Postest’ 

 

 

0,00

5,00

10,00

15,00

20,00

25,00

KE 1 KE 2 KK

Emotional State - Sad (Sadness)

Male Female

27,00

28,00

29,00

30,00

31,00

32,00

33,00

34,00

35,00

36,00

KE 1 KE 2 KK

Intertemporal Choice Scenario Case

Male Female



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Table 2 

Intertemporal Choice Categories 

Category Frequency Percentage 

Doing delayed gratification 37 82,22% 

Doing delayed gratification and immediate 

gratification 
8 17,78% 

Doing immediate gratification 0 0% 

 

Based on the three categories of intertemporal choice, Table 2 shows that none of the 

participants was categorised as doing immediate gratification (H1 cannot be analysed). 

Most participants were categorised as having delayed gratification (82.2%).  

Figure 6 shows that the average intertemporal choice score of participants in KE 1 

(happy emotions) showed a tendency to do delayed gratification, which was higher than in 

KE 2 and KK. KE 2 (sad emotions) has the lowest average intertemporal choice score. In 

addition, it can also be seen that female participants had a higher average intertemporal 

choice score than male participants, who tend to do more delayed gratification.  

Furthermore, Kruskal-Wallis's test was conducted using SPSS 26.0 to test H2 

("There is a role difference between happy and sad emotions in delayed gratification") 

because no participant is categorised as doing immediate gratification (see Table 2).  

The results t showed that the p-value is 0.071 ((ꭓ2 = 5.293; p > 0.05), and there was 

no significant role of emotional state (happy emotions and sad emotions) on intertemporal 

choice, especially in purchasing clothing products (H2 rejected).  

Additional tests were also conducted, including the ANACOVA and Kruskal Wallis 

tests to some measurement tool data and participants' demographic data. 

 

Tabel 3 

ANACOVA Test 

Measurement F Sig 

Emotional State 

(Jovialty and Sadness) 

0.361 0.552 

Sex 6.431 0.016 

Age 0.604 0.442 

Monthly Income 4.368 0.044 

 

 

Based on Table 3, the ANACOVA test showed no significant effect of emotional 

state and age on participants' intertemporal choice (p > 0.05). However, participants' sex 

and monthly income significantly influenced individuals' intertemporal choice (p < 0.05). 

Kruskal Wallis test was then conducted to see the difference in intertemporal choice 

between several categories of sex, monthly income, and age. Based on Table 4, the Kruskal 

Wallis test results show no significant difference in intertemporal choice between 

participants' income and age groups (p > 0.05).  

 

 



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Tabel 4 

Kruskal Wallis Test 

Measurement Kruskal-Wallis H df p 

Sex 4.099 1 0.043 

Monthly Income 5.962 4 0.202 

Age 2.537 4 0.638 

 

However, there is a significant difference in intertemporal choice between 

participants' sex (p < 0.05) between female and male participants, in which female 

participants, on average, tended to do delayed gratification (see Figure 6). 

Discussion 

This experimental research aims to test the role of emotional states (happy and sad 
emotions) in affecting individual intertemporal choice, specifically in purchasing clothing 
products. Previous research found that positive emotions increase impulsivity in decision-
making where individuals tend to do immediate gratification. Conversely, negative 
emotions encourage individuals to do delayed gratification (Takemura, 2021; Zhou et al., 
2022). However, research needs to examine the role of these emotional states in decision-
making when buying clothing products that illustrate the phenomenon of intertemporal 
choice. 

This study has two hypotheses examining the role of happy and sad emotions on the 
tendency of intertemporal choice between immediate and delayed gratification. However, 
hypothesis 1 was not analysed because no one choose immediate gratification. 
Nevertheless, on the hypothesis test of H2, it is known that there was no significant 
difference between happy and sad emotions on the tendency of participants to do delayed 
gratification, so the research hypothesis was rejected. This suggests that participants tended 
to have low risk-seeking tendencies and high loss aversion,  which make participants avoid 
losses because losses have more 'impact' than gains on individuals (Tversky & Kahneman, 
1992). The success in avoiding the 'risk' of loss will be considered as 'gain' (Takemura, 
2021). In addition, participants tended to choose alternative clothing products with lower 
prices, even though they had to delay their acceptance, which showed the phenomenon of 
delayed gratification (Zhou et al., 2022). 

This study showed that emotion did not impact intertemporal choice (decision), which 
aligns wih (Houdé, 2019) that emotional states is influenced by system three thinking, 
which has the ability to inhibit the role of emotions in the system one thinking process and 
diverting it in system two, which is based on reasoning. System three thinking is the 
metacognitive system responsible for correcting bias from stereotypes, perceptual matching, 
and particular belief biases.When an individual experiences mental conflict, system three 
thinking will take a few times to block the intuition of system one thinking, and then the 
individual can express his/her actual logical capacities. Individuals who are initially 
emotional and want immediate gratification to get a small reward will be encouraged to do 
delayed gratification, which brings a large delayed reward. Accroding to (Houdé, 2019), 
system three thinking prevents people from bias and heuristics and leads individuals to use 
actual logical capacities and  make people doubt their emotions, consider system one 
thinking response, inhibit impulsive response, and respond differently. This result indicates 
that participants' emotional states resulting from the induction of treatment emotions might 
be inhibited by system three thinking. Thus, the emotions evoked from watching movies 



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and listening to music could not influence the participants' decision-making process. 
Moreover, as the participants' system two thinking became active, it helped them to do 
delayed gratification related to financial activities (purchasing clothing products), which is 
considered a more rational decision-making process (He, 2023).  

Furthermore, intertemporal choice is also influenced by prioritising the types of 
products purchased. The findings indicated that the majority of participants prioritised their 
spending on food, whereas only small number of them prioritised their spending on clothes. 
The small number of participants who prioritise purchasing clothing products indicates a 
low level of fashion involvement among the participants. Fashion involvement shows 
individual attachment to fashion-related concepts, including awareness, reaction, interest, 
and knowledge (Dhurup, 2014). That can directly or indirectly influence impulse 
purchasing (Liapati et al., 2015). Low fashion involvement in most of these participants 
might creates a tendency to avoid impulsive buying of fashion products, or in other words, 
not to do immediate gratification. Moreover, COVID-19  is considered to have impacts on 
consumers' socio‐economic status, including customer purchase behavior in which people 
prioritise their spending on primary needs. Past research found that  There was an increase 
of more than 40% in the need to buy food before the COVID-19 era  meanwhile, the need to 
buy clothes for students decreased by around 25% from before the COVID-19 era (Utari et 
al., 2020)  

We also found that  income of participants with the status of primarily unemployed 
students affected the tendency of their intertemporal choice. Kruskal Wallis test shows no 
difference between several monthly income ranges with the intertemporal choice tendency. 
The difference is caused by most participants having an income below Rp 2,000,000 which 
is less than the average monthly income of Indonesians. Theoretically, economic 
circumstances influence individual intertemporal choices (Mishra & Sharestha, 2019) 
Research by (Hanum, 2017) found a positive relationship between the amount of student 
income and there found a positive relationship between the amount of student income and 
their consumption behavior. The post-test intertemporal choice scenario case used in this 
study shows a wide selection of clothing products at a high price compared to the 
participant's income. The finding differs from research by (Mani et al., 2013; Oshri et al., 
2019), who found that poverty is associated with decision-making preferences for 
immediate gratification as an impact of cognitive overload.  

In addition, we found that sex significantly influences participants' intertemporal 
choice. The Kruskal Wallis test result showed that male and female participants 
significantly differ in intertemporal choice. Based on the average, the tendency to do 
delayed gratification is higher in female than male participants. This alighn with (McLeish 
& Oxoby, 2007) that found that female participants have a higher level of patience when 
making decisions, whereas male participants will make decisions that seem more significant 
now. The study also found positive emotions that reduce impulsivity and increase the self-
control of female participants, making them more focused on long-term goals. Following 
what happened in happy experiement group, female participants who received treatment 
with induced happy emotions had the highest average intertemporal choice, which means 
they tend to have delayed gratification when experiencing happy emotions.  

Although the research hypothesis cannot be proven statistically,  happy  group has the 
highest average for delayed gratification based on the post-test results. In contrast,  sad 
group showed the lowest average for delayed gratification. Based on the emotional state 
induced through treatment according to the group, it is known that sad emotions have a 
more decisive influence on immediate gratification than the influence of happy emotions. 
Achar et al., (2016) found that impulsivity when purchasing will increase when feeling sad 
and ultimately lead individuals to immediate gratification which the result was consistent 
with sad experiement group  which did delay gratification less than  happy group.  



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Amabel Kylila et.al (The dynamic of decision-making: Effect of intertemporal choice on…)   

We did not measure the participants' initial emotional state before to treatment, which 
may have affected the treatment's potential to produce emotions in the subsequent steps of 
the experimental process. Further study needs to measure the participants' initial emotional 
state prior to the treatment to ensure that the difference in the participants' emotional state is 
influenced by the treatment. 

Conclusion 

This experimental research found that happy and sad emotions did not significantly differ in 
individuals' immediate and delayed gratification tendencies, especially when buying 
clothing products. Based on the post-test average, participants chose the alternative of 
buying the product at a lower price despite waiting some time to purchase. The role of 
emotional state induced in this study became insignificant because the participants used 
system three thinking. System three thinking inhibited system one thinking, so the 
emotional states could not affect the decision-making process. Then, system two thinking is 
activated to encourage participants to make rational decisions and make participants avoid 
detrimental immediate gratification alternatives and choose delayed gratification 
alternatives because they are considered the most rational. 

Acknowledgment 

The authors thank the University of Surabaya for the internal grants obtained and all 

students willing to participate in this data collection experiment. 

Declarations  

Author contribution. First author contributed to designing the study, collecting data, and 
writing the draft manuscript. Second author contributed to supervising study design, 
consulting data analysis, reviewing manuscripts, and finalizing manuscripts . 
Funding statement. This research was funded by the Research and Community Service 
Institution (LPPM) of the University of Surabaya. 
Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest. 
Additional information. No additional information is available for this paper. 

 
 

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