Abstract: Increasing political polarization in the United States and worldwide necessitates understanding of the key factors that can help shift different political groups’ attitudes and behaviors regarding vital issues. In this article, we provide a systematic review of the research literature on political ideology and persuasion. By organizing the literature at three levels (self, social, and system), we propose an organizing framework for thinking about various persuasive factors that can encourage attitude and behavior change among conservatives and liberals. Our review highlights that considering the three levels at which persuasion operates can guide future theory and research, as well as provide practical tools for marketers and policymakers wishing to decrease ideological extremity and foster attitude and behavior change across both sides of the political divide.

Abstract: Over the past several decades, scholars have highlighted the obligations and opportunities for marketing as a discipline to play a role in creating a better world-or risk becoming irrelevant for the largest problems facing consumers and society. This paper provides a framework to enhance the relevance and rigor of research in marketing that not only contributes new knowledge to science, but also makes a positive difference in the world. To make such impact, we urge authors and reviewers to foster cross-fertilization from different theoretical and methodological silos, to bolster robustness through multiple methods, and to expand the domain of research to explore different populations and cultures. In doing so, we hope to encourage further consideration of the role of marketing scholarship in providing a novel lens into potential solutions for societal concerns.

Abstract: At the time of this writing, COVID-19 has spread rapidly worldwide. Even though the United States became the epicenter of the pandemic in April 2020, partisan differences have been observed in terms of willingness to engage in coronavirus-prevention behaviors. Across four studies and an exploratory pilot study, we demonstrate that conservatives differ from liberals in their perceptions of preventive behaviors. Conservatives view preventative actions as being less impactful on others, which is partially due to their beliefs regarding personal responsibility. Building on this, we also demonstrate the downstream benefits of using self-benefit versus other-benefit appeals to target conservatives versus liberals. In doing so, we show that communicating about self-benefits can minimize differences between conservatives and liberals in COVID-19 prevention-behavior compliance. This work contributes to the literature on political ideology and offers practical implications for policy makers and health organizations making every effort to encourage behaviors that prevent the spread of viral infections.

Abstract: Spending time in nature has many psychological benefits for people, including stress reduction and improved mood. Using behavioral measures and field study settings, we demonstrate that exposure to nature also leads to prosocial behaviors, such as increasing charitable donations. We show these prosocial effects are explained by an increased sense of self-transcendence, whereby a person feels connected to something greater than oneself or the social groups one belongs to. When self-transcendence is not experienced, such as when people feel separate or distinct from others, these effects are no longer observed. The theoretical and practical implications of the research are discussed.

Abstract: The potential for deceased donor organ transplants to save lives is severely limited by the number of people registered as donors around the world. Various national and regional health organizations often emphasize low registration rates (i.e. low descriptive norms) in an effort to demonstrate need and encourage registration. However, we predict and find that combining low descriptive norms with high injunctive norms, making salient the discrepancy between what people think they should do and what they actually do, results in greater organ donor registrations than communicating either descriptive or injunctive norms separately. We demonstrate these effects across three focal studies and two follow‐up studies conducted online, in the lab, and in the field, and show that the findings are mediated by feelings of responsibility. We also demonstrate that making the situation feel psychologically close increases responsibility and intentions to register for low descriptive and high injunctive norms, to the level of combined norms. Our research contributes to the literature on norms and responsibility and can help policy makers and marketers design more effective communication strategies.

Abstract: We review recent articles on how to change consumer behavior in ways that improve climate impacts, with a special focus on those articles using experimental interventions and measuring actual behaviors. We organize the findings using the SHIFT framework to categorize behavior change strategies based on five psychological factors: Social influence (e.g. communicating that others are changing to plant-based diets doubled meatless lunch orders), Habit (e.g. consumer collaboration to establish new, value-based practices helped to reduce food waste), Individual self (e.g. when women made up half of the group, 51% more trees were conserved), Feelings and cognition (e.g. anticipated guilt reduced choice of unethical attributes in made-to-order products), and Tangibility (e.g. concrete representations of the future of recycled products improved recycling behavior).

Abstract: Crowdfunding has emerged as an alternative means of financing new ventures wherein a large number of individuals collectively back a project. This research specifically examines reward-based crowdfunding, in which those who take part in the crowdfunding process receive the new product for which funding is sought in return for their financial support. This work illustrates that consumers make fundamentally different decisions when considering whether to contribute their money to crowdfund versus purchase a product. Six studies demonstrate that compared with a traditional purchase, crowdfunding more strongly activates an interdependent mindset and, as a result, increases consumer demand for social-good products (i.e., products with positive social and/or environmental impact). The research further highlights that an active involvement in the crowdfunding process is necessary to increase demand for social-good products: when a previously crowdfunded product is already to market, the effect is eliminated. Finally, it is demonstrated that crowdfunding participants exhibit an increased demand for social-good products only when collective efficacy (i.e., one’s belief in the collective’s ability to bring about change) is high.

Abstract: Past research demonstrates that reminders of one’s own mortality can lead to materialistic and self-serving consumer behaviors. In contrast, across five studies, we explore a condition under which mortality salience (MS) leads to increased tendency to give away one’s possessions—when the donation act is high in transcendence potential. We propose and find that consumers are more likely to donate their possessions to charity under MS (vs. comparison conditions) when the product is considered highly (vs. not highly) connected to the self. Moreover, we demonstrate that this tendency manifests only when transcendence is attainable through donation. In support of the proposition of transcendence as the underlying mechanism, the observed effects are attenuated under conditions where: (1) transcendence has already been satiated via alternative means or (2) the donated possession will not transcend the self (i.e., its physical integrity is lost by being broken down and recycled). The theoretical and practical implications of the work are discussed.

Abstract: This research documents how negative reviews, when perceived as unfair, can activate feelings of empathy toward firms that have been wronged. Six studies and four supplemental experiments provide converging evidence that this experienced empathy for the firm motivates supportive consumer responses such as paying higher purchase prices and reporting increased patronage intentions. Importantly, this research highlights factors that can increase or decrease empathy toward a firm. For instance, adopting the reviewer’s perspective when evaluating an unfair negative review can reduce positive consumer responses to a firm, whereas conditions that enhance the ability to experience empathy—such as when reviews are highly unfair, when the identity of the employee is made salient, or when the firm responds in an empathetic manner—can result in positive consumer responses toward the firm. Overall, this work extends the understanding of consumers’ responses to word of mouth in the marketplace by highlighting the role of perceived (un)fairness. The authors discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the findings for better management of consumer reviews.

Abstract, Introduction: Given existing regulations that ban the tobacco industry from engaging in traditional forms of advertising and require warning labels on cigarette packaging, we suggest that one response on the part of tobacco manufacturers has been to make alterations to design elements of cigarette packages themselves. The current research seeks to examine how cigarette manufacturers have altered elements of cigarette packaging in response to regulatory changes by the Government of Canada in 2011, which increased health warning sizes on cigarette packages from 50% of the principal display surface to 75%.

Introduction: In recent years, the topic of prosocial consumer behavior has garnered more and more attention from consumer researchers, resulting in a steady increase in published journal articles on the subject—from 186 articles in 2000 to 1,763 articles in 2018 (fig. 1; see http://www.webofknowledge.com). Drawing on this momentum, this special issue of the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research on “The Prosocial Consumer” highlights different perspectives on the causes, motivations, and consequences of prosocial consumer behaviors. We conceptualize prosocial consumer behavior broadly and view it as encompassing any consumer behavior that leads to some cost to the self in order to achieve some benefit for others (Small and Cryder 2016). As such, prosocial consumer behavior could refer to an action that involves helping or benefitting a specific person or persons but could also reflect more general behaviors that benefit wider society. Prosocial consumer behaviors can include (but are not limited to) charitable giving and other donation behaviors (such as blood donation, organ donation, etc.), volunteering, altruistic consumer behaviors, ethical purchasing, cause-related engagement, and consumer advocacy or activism.

Abstract: Highlighting the important role of marketing in encouraging sustainable consumption, the current research presents a review of the academic literature from marketing and behavioral science that examines the most effective ways to shift consumer behaviors to be more sustainable. In the process of the review, the authors develop a comprehensive framework for conceptualizing and encouraging sustainable consumer behavior change. The framework is represented by the acronym SHIFT, and it proposes that consumers are more inclined to engage in pro-environmental behaviors when the message or context leverages the following psychological factors: Social influence, Habit formation, Individual self, Feelings and cognition, and Tangibility. The authors also identify five broad challenges to encouraging sustainable behaviors and use these to develop novel theoretical propositions and directions for future research. Finally, the authors outline how practitioners aiming to encourage sustainable consumer behaviors can use this framework.

Abstract: In this research, we propose that, by their very nature, issues linked to environmental sustainability feel psychologically distant to people. Because of this, the mindset that an individual holds can predict reactions to eco-friendly products. Across five experiments, the authors demonstrate that construing information at an abstract (vs. concrete) level is associated with more positive reactions to eco-friendly products. This differential response is driven by the fact that an abstract construal is compatible with a focus on the future. Eco-friendly products can potentially be made somewhat more appealing to individuals with a concrete construal by strategically altering communications about these products to match this construal. We demonstrate that this can be accomplished by presenting detailed, concrete information about the sustainable attributes of the product. We also present results suggesting that explicitly framing communications about eco-friendly products to focus on the present (vs. the future) may accomplish the same goal.

Abstract: This research shows that activating public self-awareness leads individuals to increase their association with symbolic representations of their identity. When a social identity was threatened, participants high rather than low in public self-awareness were more likely to select options that reinforced their association with the identity (Studies 1a, 1b, and 2). This response was mediated by the desire to convey a consistent self to others (Study 2). In line with the view that the effects are driven by public self-consistency motives, the effects emerge only among those motivated to convey a consistent public self-image (Study 3) and when product choices can be viewed by others (Study 4). Finally, when identity threat occurred in the presence of an ingroup audience, those high (but not low) in ingroup identification were more likely to select identity-reinforcing options when public self-awareness was heightened (Study 5). The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.

Abstract: This research examines the effectiveness of public recognition in encouraging charitable giving, demonstrating that public recognition can sometimes decrease donations. While previous work has largely shown that making donations visible to others can motivate donors, the present research shows that the effectiveness of public recognition depends on whether potential donors are under an independent (i.e., separate from others) or interdependent (i.e., connected with others) self-construal. Across seven experimental studies, an independent self-construal decreases donation intentions and amounts when the donor will receive public recognition compared to when the donation will remain private. This effect is driven by the activation of an agentic motive, wherein independents are motivated to make decisions that are guided by their own goals and self-interests, rather than being influenced by the opinions and expectations of others. This research contributes to the understanding of the nuanced roles of both public recognition and self-construal in predicting donation behavior.

Abstract (Shortened): Cues that highlight the presence of online product information are commonplace in offline purchase settings. For instance, salespeople or signage at retail stores mention product websites. We refer to such reminders as a ‘cue-of-the-cloud,’ and we examine the downstream consequences of these cues on consumers’ offline decision making. While past work has shown how reminders of the presence of online information have negative consequences (Sparrow, Liu, and Wegner 2011), we propose and find that when consumers absorb relatively large amounts of unfamiliar product information in offline purchase settings, a reminder of online content can enhance purchase intentions and choices. This occurs even when consumers do not visit the online site. We show this effect across four studies, including two studies that take place in a real purchase setting.

Abstract: While past research has suggested that consumers have fundamentally different responses to thinking about money versus time, the current work clarifies an important nuance in terms of how consumers construe these two resources. We demonstrate that, in the domain of charitable giving, money is construed relatively more concretely, whereas time is construed relatively more abstractly. This difference in the construal of these two resources has implications for how appeals for charitable contributions or money versus time should be framed. When the construal level at which the consumer considers the cause is aligned (misaligned) with the construal level of the resource being requested, contribution intentions and behaviors increase (decrease). In addition, the moderating role of resource abundance is examined. In particular, when money is considered abundant (vs. nonabundant), consumers no longer exhibit more concrete thoughts in response to money compared to time. Finally, when the donation request makes consumers think of money in a more abundant manner, monetary donations can be successfully motivated with a more abstract call for charitable support. The theoretical and practical implications for marketers and charitable organizations are discussed.

Abstract: This research examines the notion that guilt, the negative emotion stemming from a failure to meet a self-held standard of behavior, leads to preferences for products enabling self-improvement, even in domains unrelated to the original source of the guilt. Examining consumer responses to real products, this research shows that such effects arise because guilt—by its focus on previous wrongdoings—activates a general desire to improve the self. This increase in desire for self-improvement products is only observed for choices involving the self (not others), is not observed in response to other negative emotions (e.g., shame, embarrassment, sadness, or envy), and is mitigated when people hold the belief that the self is nonmalleable. Building on past work that focuses on how guilt often leads to the motivation to alleviate feelings of guilt either directly or indirectly, the current research demonstrates an additional, novel downstream consequence of guilt, showing that only guilt has the unique motivational consequence of activating a general desire to improve the self, which subsequently spills into other domains and spurs self-improving product choices. These findings are discussed in light of their implications for research on the distinct motivational consequences of specific emotions and on consumer well-being.

Abstract: 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 behaviors. In particular, when a consumer learns that a dissociative out-group performs comparatively well on a positive behavior, the consumer is more likely to respond with positive intentions and actions when the setting is public (vs. private). The authors suggest that this occurs because learning of the successful performance of a dissociative out-group under public conditions threatens the consumer’s group image and activates the desire to present the group image in a positive light. The authors show that although group affirmation mitigates these effects, self-affirmation does not. They also examine the moderating role of the positivity of the behavior and the mediating role of group image motives. Taken together, the results highlight conditions under which communicating information about the behaviors of dissociative out-groups can be used to spur consumers to engage in positive actions.

Abstract: Prior research offers competing predictions regarding whether an initial token display of support for a cause (such as wearing a ribbon, signing a petition, or joining a Facebook group) subsequently leads to increased and otherwise more meaningful contributions to the cause. The present research proposes a conceptual framework elucidating two primary motivations that underlie subsequent helping behavior: a desire to present a positive image to others and a desire to be consistent with one’s own values. Importantly, the socially observable nature (public vs. private) of initial token support is identified as a key moderator that influences when and why token support does or does not lead to meaningful support for the cause. Consumers exhibit greater helping on a subsequent, more meaningful task after providing an initial private (vs. public) display of token support for a cause. Finally, the authors demonstrate how value alignment and connection to the cause moderate the observed effects.

Abstract: The authors explore how injunctive appeals (i.e., highlighting what others think one should do), descriptive appeals (i.e., highlighting what others are doing), and benefit appeals (i.e., highlighting the benefits of the action) can encourage consumers to engage in relatively unfamiliar sustainable behaviors such as “grasscycling” and composting. Across one field study and three laboratory studies, the authors demonstrate that the effectiveness of the appeal type depends on whether the individual or collective level of the self is activated. When the collective level of self is activated, injunctive and descriptive normative appeals are most effective, whereas benefit appeals are less effective in encouraging sustainable behaviors. When the individual level of self is activated, self-benefit and descriptive appeals are particularly effective. The positive effects of descriptive appeals for the individual self are related to the informational benefits that such appeals can provide. The authors propose a goal-compatibility mechanism for these results and find that a match of congruent goals leads to the most positive consumer responses. They conclude with a discussion of implications for consumers, marketers, and public policy makers.

Abstract: The market share of brands positioned using ethical attributes typically lags behind brands that promote attributes related to product performance. Across four studies, the authors show that situational factors that heighten consumers’ self-accountability (i.e., activation of their desire to live up to their self-standards) lead to increased preferences for products promoted through their ethical attributes. They investigate their predictions regarding self-accountability in multiple ways, including examining the moderating roles of awareness of the discrepancy between a person’s internal standards and actual behavior, self-accountability priming, and the presence of others in the decision context. Furthermore, they demonstrate that the subtle activation of self-accountability leads to more positive reactions to ethical appeals than explicit guilt appeals. Finally, they show that preference for a product promoted through ethical appeals is driven by the desire to avoid anticipated guilt, beyond the effects of impression management. Taken together, the results suggest that marketers positioning products through ethical attributes should subtly activate consumer self-accountability rather than using more explicit guilt appeals.

Abstract: The current research examines the conditions under which consumers demonstrate associative versus dissociative responses to identity-linked products as a consequence of a social identity threat. Across four studies, the authors test the notion that reactions to social identity threat may be moderated by self-construal by examining subcultural differences in ethnic background, priming self-construal, and investigating cross-national differences in cultural background. Those with more independent self-construals tend to avoid identity-linked products when that identity is threatened versus not threatened. Those with more interdependent self-construals, in contrast, demonstrate more positive preferences for identity-linked products when that aspect of social identity is threatened. These effects arise because, while independents are motivated to restore positive self-worth when a social identity is threatened, interdependents access a repertoire of social identities to fulfill belongingness needs when threatened.

Abstract: In seven studies of naturally occurring, “real-world” emotional events, people demonstrated an immediacy bias in social-emotional comparisons, perceiving their own current or recent emotional reactions as more intense compared with others’ emotional reactions to the same events. The events examined include crossing a scary bridge (Study 1a), a national tragedy (Study 1b), terrorist attacks (Studies 2a and 3b), a natural disaster (Study 2b), and a presidential election (Study 3b). These perceived differences between one’s own and others’ emotions declined over time, as relatively immediate and recent emotions subsided, a pattern that people were not intuitively aware of (Study 2c). This immediacy bias in social-emotional comparisons emerged for both explicit comparisons (Studies 1a, 1b, and 3b), and for absolute judgments of emotional intensity (Studies 2a, 2b, and 3a). Finally, the immediacy bias in social-emotional comparisons was reduced when people were reminded that emotional display norms might lead others’ appearances to understate emotional intensity (Studies 3a and 3b). Implications of these findings for social-emotional phenomena are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)

Abstract: 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 that signal the ability of packaging to regulate food intake) and, as a result, increase consumption levels when packages are small (vs. large or absent). Factors that highlight the external control properties of small packages, such as the visibility of product quantity, location of the caloric content, and communicated caloric content, further increase consumption, particularly among people with low ASE. The underlying process appears to be, at least in part, cognitively driven. The effects are mitigated when participants are under cognitive load, and the findings are mediated by cognitions regarding the ability of small packages to regulate food intake. The results have important practical implications suggesting that to quell the effects of small packages on overconsumption, emphasis on the external control properties of small packages should be minimized.

Abstract: Although consumers report positive attitudes toward ethical goods, their intentions and behaviors often do not follow suit. Just-world theory highlights the conditions under which consumers are most likely to prefer fair-trade products. This theory proposes that people are motivated to construe the world as a just place where people get what they deserve. In the current research, when people are confronted with high levels of injustice (communicated need is high) and avenues for justice restoration seem uncertain or unavailable, assisting others by supporting fair trade decreases. However, highlighting how injustice can be redressed through purchases enhances fair-trade support under conditions of high need. The effects are moderated by justice sensitivity factors, such as just-world beliefs and whether the product type (indulgence vs. necessity) makes the injustice of consumer privilege salient. The results suggest that communicating high need when requesting consumer prosocial actions can sometimes backfire. Marketers employing high need appeals should heighten perceptions of justice restoration potential and activate fairness-related thoughts through product positioning to encourage fair-trade purchases.

Abstract: In a series of four experiments, the authors examine the implications of one consumer’s possession being mimicked by another consumer. The results demonstrate that when distinctiveness concerns are heightened, greater dissociation responses (i.e., possession disposal intentions, recustomization behaviors, and exchange behaviors) arise in response to being mimicked by a similar as opposed to dissimilar other. These effects are driven by threats to distinctiveness. Finally, these effects are mitigated when the imitated possession is nonsymbolic in nature and when a low degree of effort is exerted to initially obtain the possession. Implications for marketers and consumers are discussed.

Abstract: Across three studies, this research elucidates when loss- versus gain-framed messages are most effective in influencing consumer recycling by examining the moderating role of whether a more concrete or abstract mind-set is activated. First, in a field study, the authors demonstrate that loss frames are more efficacious when paired with low-level, concrete mind-sets, whereas gain frames are more effective when paired with high-level, abstract mind-sets. This is an important, substantive finding that persisted over a significant time span. in addition, in two additional laboratory studies, they find further evidence for this matching hypothesis, in which a pairing of loss- (gain-) framed messages that activates more concrete (abstract) mind-sets leads to enhanced processing fluency, increased efficacy, and, as a result, more positive recycling intentions. The findings have implications for marketers, consumers, and society as a whole.

Abstract: This research examines consumer reactions to an emerging trend among corporate social responsibility initiatives—the promotion of decreased usage of the company’s own core products. The results across three experiments suggest that the presence of a decreased usage message that highlights incongruity between the marketing message and the company’s goals leads to negative company evaluations. The authors demonstrate that elaborative processing underlies these effects by examining the moderating role of the need for cognition and cognitive load. Further, perceived incongruity and cognitive elaboration mediate the findings. The implications for marketers and consumers are discussed.

Abstract: Despite the growing need, nonprofit organization marketers have not yet fully delineated the most effective ways to position charitable appeals. Across five experiments, the authors test the prediction that other-benefit (self-benefit) appeals generate more favorable donation support than self-benefit (other-benefit) appeals in situations that heighten (versus minimize) public self-image concerns. Public accountability, a manipulation of public self-awareness, and individual differences in public self-consciousness all moderate the effect of appeal type on donor support. In particular, self-benefit appeals are more effective when consumers’ responses are private in nature; in contrast, other-benefit appeals are more effective when consumers are publicly accountable for their responses. This effect is moderated by norm salience and is related to a desire to manage impressions by behaving in a manner consistent with normative expectations. The results have important managerial implications, suggesting that rather than simply relying on one type of marketing appeal across situations, marketers should tailor their marketing message to the situation or differentially activate public self-image concerns to match the appeal type.

Abstract: Although marketers often link brands with an aspect of consumer social identity, the current research demonstrates that such brand-identity linkages may sometimes have negative consequences. Consumers motivated to protect and maintain feelings of individual self-worth alter their product evaluations and choices to avoid a threatened aspect of their own social identity. Whereas those low in collective self-esteem (CSE) tend to exhibit such identity avoidance effects, those high in CSE maintain associations with an identity-linked brand even when that social identity is threatened. Moreover, when the consumer feels positively about the self via self-affirmation, the effect among low CSE consumers is mitigated. Finally, it is demonstrated that differences in the use of identity as a resource underlie the effects.

Abstract: The current research explores the effects of dissociative reference groups on consumer preferences. Males had more negative evaluations of, and were less inclined to choose, a product associated with a dissociative (i.e., female) reference group than a neutral product (Study 1). This finding was moderated by whether the product was consumed in public or private (Study 2) and public self-consciousness (Study 3). We suggest the mechanism underlying our effects is a desire to present a positive self-image to others. The role of dissociative reference groups in marketing communications is discussed.