
Prof. Dr. Arnd Florack
- Media Contact
Arnd Florack is Professor of Psychology at the University of Vienna, where he leads the Applied Social Psychology and Consumer Research Group. His research applies social psychological theories to consumer behavior, with interests including digital technology use, advertising, branding, sustainability, food beliefs, and self-regulation. He examines how consumers form perceptions, make choices, and adapt to uncertainty, with projects on topics like digital maturity, sustainable consumption, and psychological barriers to adopting alternative proteins. His research has been supported by the European Union (including Horizon programmes), the Austrian Science Fund (FWF), the Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), and the German Research Foundation (DFG).
Previously, Florack was a full professor at Zeppelin University and held assistant professor positions at the Universities of Basel and Münster. He has published over 100 articles and book chapters, and his work appeared in leading journals such as Psychological Science, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of International Business Studies, Appetite, and Journal of Advertising. Together with Torsten Reimer and Lyn van Swol he is editor of the Routledge Handbook of Social Cognition and Communication.
Honors and Awards
Research and Writing
- Emerald Outstanding Paper Award, 2022, for an article published in published in the International Marketing Review
- Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence (Highly Commended Paper), 2017, for a paper published in the Journal of Consumer Marketing
Other Honors and Awards
- Scholarship, German Academic Scholarship Foundation (Studienstiftung des Deutschen Volkes), 1994 + 1998
Primary Interests:
- Applied Social Psychology
- Communication, Language
- Culture and Ethnicity
- Group Processes
- Intergroup Relations
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Motivation, Goal Setting
- Persuasion, Social Influence
- Prejudice and Stereotyping
- Self and Identity
- Social Cognition
Research Group or Laboratory:
Journal Articles:
- Büttner, O. B., Florack, A. Leder, H., Paul, M. A., Serfas, B. G. & Schulz, A. M. (2014). Hard to ignore: Impulsive buyers show an attentional bias in shopping situations. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5, 343–351.
- Büttner, O. B., Wieber, F., Schulz, A. M., Bayer, U. C., Florack, A., & Gollwitzer, P. M. (2014). Visual attention and goal pursuit: Deliberative and implemental mindsets affect breadth of attention. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 1248–1259.
- Burgstaller, L., & Florack, A. (2025). Sacrificing for the environment: The role of non-zerosum beliefs. Journal of Environmental Psychology.
- Diamantopoulos, A., Florack, A., Halkias, G., & Palcu, J. (2017). Explicit versus implicit country stereotypes as predictors of product preferences: Insights from the stereotype content model. Journal of International Business Studies, 48, 1023–1036.
- Florack, A., Bless, H., & Piontkowski, U. (2003). When do people accept cultural diversity. Affect as determinant. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27, 627-640.
- Florack, A., Egger, M., & Hübner, R. (2020). When products compete for consumer attention: How selective attention affects preferences. Journal of Business Research, 111, 117–127.
- Florack, A., Friese, M., & Scarabis, M. (2010). Regulatory focus and reliance on implicit preferences in consumption contexts. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 20, 193-204.
- Florack, A., & Hartmann, J. (2007). Regulatory focus and investment decisions in small groups. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 43, 626-632.
- Florack, A., Ineichen, S., & Bieri, R. (2009). The impact of regulatory focus on two-sided advertising. Social Cognition, 27, 37-56.
- Florack, A., Koch, T., Haasova, S., Kunz, S., & Alves, H. (2021). The differentiation principle: Why consumers often neglect positive attributes of novel food products. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 31(4), 684–705.
- Florack, A., Piontkowski, U., Rohmann, A., Balser, T., & Perzig, S. (2003). Perceived intergroup threat and attitudes of host community members towards immigrant acculturation. Journal of Social Psychology, 143, 633-648.
- Florack, A., & Scarabis, M. (2006). How advertising claims affect brand preferences and category-brand associations: The role of regulatory fit. Psychology & Marketing, 23, 741-755.
- Florack, A., Scarabis, M., & Bless, H. (2001). When do associations matter?: The use of implicit associations towards ethnic groups in person judgments. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 37, 518-524.
- Genschow, O., & Florack, A. (2014). Attention on the source of influence reverses the impact of cross-contextual imitation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 40(3), 1248–1259.
- Genschow, O., Florack, A., & Wänke, M. (2013). The power of the movement: Evidence for context-independent movement imitation. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 142(3), 763–773.
- Glaser, M., Reisinger, H., & Florack, A. (2024). You are my friend but we are from different worlds: Actor type effects on audience engagement in narrative video advertisements. Journal of Advertising, 53, 568-587.
- Kleber, J., Dickert, S., Peters, E., & Florack, A. (2013). Same numbers, different meanings: How numeracy influences the importance of numbers for pro-social behavior. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49(4), 699–705.
- Kunz, S., Haasova, S., Pivecka, N., Schmidt, J., & Florack, A. (2023). Food is all around: How contexts create misbeliefs about the health–taste relationship. Psychological Science, 34(5), 568-580.
- Laaber, F., Koch, T., Hubert, M., & Florack, A. (2024). Young people’s digital maturity relates to different forms of well-being through basic psychological need satisfaction and frustration. Computers in Human Behavior, 157, 108077.
- Matser, C. I., van Oudenhoven, J. P., Askevis-Leherpeux, F., Florack, A., Hannover, B., & Rossier, J. (2010). Asymmetrical international attitudes. Applied Psychology: An International Review, 59, 143-158.
- Piontkowski, U., Florack, A., Hoelker, P., & Obdrzalek, P. (2000). Predicting acculturation attitudes of dominant and non-dominant groups. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 24, 1-26.
- Piontkowski, U., Rohmann, A., & Florack, A. (2002). Concordance of acculturation attitudes and perceived threat. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 5, 221-232.
- Ramelli, M., Florack, A., Kosic, A., & Rohmann, A. (in press). Being prepared for acculturation: On the importance of the first month after immigrants enter a new culture. International Journal of Psychology.
- Rohmann, A., Florack, A., & Piontkowski, U. (2006). The role of discordant acculturation attitudes in perceived threat: An analysis of host and immigrant attitudes in Germany. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 30, 683-702.
- Samochowiec, J., & Florack, A. (in press). Intercultural contact under uncertainty: The impact of predictability and anxiety on the willingness to interact with a member from an unknown cultural group. International Journal of Intercultural Relations.
- Scarabis, M., Florack, A., & Gosejohann, S. (2006). When consumers follow their feelings: The impact of affective or cognitive focus on the basis of consumers’ choice. Psychology & Marketing, 23, 1005-1036.
- Serfas, B., Florack, A., Büttner, O., & Vögeding, T. (2017). What does it take for sour grapes to remain sour? Persistent effects of behavioral inhibition in go/no-go tasks on the evaluation of appetitive stimuli. Motivation Science, 3(1), 1–18.
Other Publications:
- Florack, A., Scarabis, M., & Gosejohann, S. (2005). Regulatory focus and consumer information processing. In F. R. Kardes, P. M. Herr, & J. Nantel (Eds.), Applying social cognition to consumer-focused strategy (pp. 235-263). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Prof. Dr. Arnd Florack
University of Vienna
Universitaetsstrasse 7 (NIG)
1010 Vienna
Austria
- Phone: +43 1 4277 473 52