Although consumers like to touch products while shopping, the authors propose a theory of consumer contamination, positing that consumers evaluate products previously touched by other shoppers less favorably. The authors test the theory by manipulating cues that increase the salience that...

Four experiments demonstrate that self‐threatening social comparison information motivates consumers to lie. Factors related to self‐threat, including relevance of the social comparison target (i.e., the importance of the comparison person), comparison discrepancy (i.e., the magnitude of the...

Three studies investigate the influence of empathy and the level of fictionality of short stories on consumers’ evaluations of emotional melodramatic entertainment. We find that high empathizers’ evaluations are more favorable when the story is low in fictionality (i.e., real) versus high....

This research examines the impact of attractiveness on consumers during a consumption experience. Specifically, it examines the effects of an attractive social influence in the context of touching and contamination of store products by investigating how consumers respond when they see attractive...

We show that minimal physical contact can increase people's sense of security and, consequently, lead them to increased risk-taking behavior. In three experiments, with both hypothetical and real payoffs, a female experimenter’s light, comforting pat on the shoulder led participants to greater...

Recent research has demonstrated that linguistic characteristics of brand names can cognitively affect product evaluations. In six experiments, the authors demonstrate that affect arising from sound repetition may also be influential. The results reveal across multiple brand names and product...

This research examines the implications of telling an “innocent” white lie after a negative interpersonal encounter. We propose that if a white lie falls outside an acceptable range of dishonesty, cognitive dissonance will arise and produce negative affect. Deceivers will then be motivated...

Prior research has found that under certain conditions, small packages can paradoxically increase consumption. The authors build on this work by suggesting that people low in appearance self-esteem (ASE) are particularly sensitive to external control properties (i.e., packaging-related factors...

Despite the common belief that seating arrangements matter, little research has examined how the geometrical shape of a chair arrangement can impact persuasion. Across three studies, this research demonstrates that the shape of seating arrangements can prime two fundamental human needs which in...

Previous research has found that people tend to avoid products or behaviors that are linked to dissociative reference groups. The present research demonstrates conditions under which consumers exhibit similar behaviors to dissociative out-group members in the domain of positive consumption...