Fresh start mindset and attitudes toward the banks: the mediating role of optimism judgment bias and face arousal

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the effects of a fresh start mindset on attitudes toward the banks. Furthermore, we try to predict how optimism judgment bias and arousal can affect the effects of the fresh start mindset through three research questions. Design/methodology/approach Three experiments explored the effect of the fresh start mindset in the banking sector. Study 1 collects data in a laboratory. Study 2 is an online experiment. Study 3 collects data in a laboratory through facial movements. Findings Our results clarify research gaps in studies regarding financial decisions by demonstrating that a fresh start mindset increases attitudes toward banks. In this way, a fresh start mindset can influence the optimism judgment bias by promoting underlying mechanisms that highlight the change through new paths regardless of past or present, thus promoting positive attitudes. Our results also confirm a hypothesis that stimulation of a new reality can generate arousal in cognitive processing and consumers’ willingness to interact. Practical implications Understand how campaigns and nudges around fresh starts can increase marketing campaigns’ success and help customers improve their financial well-being. Originality/value Our paper demonstrates how previous studies in the banking sector have neglected the fresh start mindset and offers mechanisms to understand the effects of optimism judgment bias and phasic arousal expression on attitudes toward the banks.