Public Policy and Consumer Behavior: The Role of Regulatory Approaches in Shaping Purchase Intention through Mental Imagery Processing

In the field of consumer behavior, exploring the relationship between environmental stimuli, mental imagery, and purchase intention has been a hot research topic. Based on relevant theories and literature review, this paper puts forward four hypotheses, collects data from 1850 consumers, and uses SmartPLS software to conduct correlation analysis, linear regression and interaction term regression analysis results show that there is a significant positive correlation between environmental stimulation (ES) and positive degree of mental imagery (PI), r=0.49, P<0.01, i.e., the relationship between environmental stimulation and of mental imagery are positively correlated. Facilitation focus (RF) has a significant positive effect on the processing mode of consumers' mental imagery with a non-standard coefficient of 0.466 and a standard coefficient of 0.472, and defense focus also has a significant positive effect on the processing mode of consumers' mental imagery. The non-standard coefficient is 0.783 and the standard coefficient is 0.837, and the regression coefficient of the degree of positive mental imagery (PI) on purchase intention is 0.529, which indicates that the more positive the mental imagery formed by consumers, the stronger their purchase intention. The interaction term between environmental stimuli and regulatory focus type (ES × RF) has a significant positive effect on purchase intention, with a regression coefficient of 0.368, and is significant at the 0.05 level with a P-value of 0.012, which means that the interaction between socio-environmental stimuli and the regulatory focus theory affects purchase intention.