Academic Research
How Do Consumers Respond to Female Electoral Victories? Evidence From Indian State Elections
Female political leadership is associated with increased investments in health and education, and lower corruption. However, social norms and stereotypes favor male leaders globally. This research examines the impact of the gender of leaders who won 1,319 state legislative assembly elections in India, on monthly post-election expenditures of 44,884 households. Identification relies on the occurrence of mixed-gender elections with narrow victory margins. Model estimates reveal that households in districts with more female leaders spend lesser. However, this negative effect is mitigated in rural districts with longstanding reservation for women in local governing bodies, and in districts where at least 10% of elected leaders are women. These results support a mechanism that consumer confidence in female leadership increases with increased exposure to female leaders, in ways that impact household expenditure. These results have implications for consumers faced with female leaders, female politicians, and for the recently passed Women’s Reservation Bill in India.
Paper Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11002-024-09762-2
Authors: Vishal Narayan, Ishani Tewari
ABSTRACT
Female political leadership is associated with increased investments in health and education, and lower corruption. However, social norms and stereotypes favor male leaders globally. This research examines the impact of the gender of leaders who won 1,319 state legislative assembly elections in India, on monthly post-election expenditures of 44,884 households. Identification relies on the occurrence of mixed-gender elections with narrow victory margins. Model estimates reveal that households in districts with more female leaders spend lesser. However, this negative effect is mitigated in rural districts with longstanding reservation for women in local governing bodies, and in districts where at least 10% of elected leaders are women. These results support a mechanism that consumer confidence in female leadership increases with increased exposure to female leaders, in ways that impact household expenditure. These results have implications for consumers faced with female leaders, female politicians, and for the recently passed Women’s Reservation Bill in India.
(In)Attention to Attractive Brand Alternatives
Understanding how consumers maintain their brand relationships has important implications for marketers as committed consumers contribute significant value to firms. In the present research, we propose and test one such way consumers protect their brand relationships, namely through attentional avoidance of attractive alternative partners. Across multiple studies, we find support for our theory that committed consumers avoid attending to alternative brand partners by recalling less about and spending less time focused on attractive alternatives. We further find that this inattention occurs because consumers view the competing brand as a threat to the consumer’s current relationship. In addition, we investigate a boundary condition of this effect, highlighting the importance of internally (as opposed to externally) guided (in)attention for protecting brand relationships. By identifying a novel, behavioral way consumers protect their brand relationships, we contribute to the literature on branding and brand relationships, self-threats, and reactance.
Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-024-09752-4
Authors: Danielle J. Brick, Veronica L. Thomas
ABSTRACT
Understanding how consumers maintain their brand relationships has important implications for marketers as committed consumers contribute significant value to firms. In the present research, we propose and test one such way consumers protect their brand relationships, namely through attentional avoidance of attractive alternative partners. Across multiple studies, we find support for our theory that committed consumers avoid attending to alternative brand partners by recalling less about and spending less time focused on attractive alternatives. We further find that this inattention occurs because consumers view the competing brand as a threat to the consumer’s current relationship. In addition, we investigate a boundary condition of this effect, highlighting the importance of internally (as opposed to externally) guided (in)attention for protecting brand relationships. By identifying a novel, behavioral way consumers protect their brand relationships, we contribute to the literature on branding and brand relationships, self-threats, and reactance.
A Meta-analysis of the Effects of Sponsorship Disclosure in Influencer Marketing
To disclose or not? Despite valuable insights on the impact of influencer disclosure, marketers and influencers remain hesitant. This research quantitatively integrates 288 effect sizes from 37 studies involving 12,721 participants to draw generalized conclusions. Our findings reveal that influencer sponsorship disclosure increases persuasion knowledge and brand recall, but reduces credibility, while its overall effects on attitude and conative responses are insignificant. To address the heterogeneity in affective and conative consumer responses, and guide disclosure practices, we identify four moderator groups—disclosure characteristics, stimulus characteristics, consumer characteristics, and controls—and examine their moderating effects through a meta-regression model. Our findings suggest that sponsorship disclosure is more effective when disclosed by others (vs. the influencer), presented as a hashtag (vs. a statement), longer in length, appeared in video (vs. text or image) post, and shown to adults (vs. children and adolescents). This research is significant for influencers, marketers, and policymakers in promoting ethical and effective consumer communication.
Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-024-09757-z
Authors: Xia Liu, Hong Zhao
ABSTRACT
To disclose or not? Despite valuable insights on the impact of influencer disclosure, marketers and influencers remain hesitant. This research quantitatively integrates 288 effect sizes from 37 studies involving 12,721 participants to draw generalized conclusions. Our findings reveal that influencer sponsorship disclosure increases persuasion knowledge and brand recall, but reduces credibility, while its overall effects on attitude and conative responses are insignificant. To address the heterogeneity in affective and conative consumer responses, and guide disclosure practices, we identify four moderator groups—disclosure characteristics, stimulus characteristics, consumer characteristics, and controls—and examine their moderating effects through a meta-regression model. Our findings suggest that sponsorship disclosure is more effective when disclosed by others (vs. the influencer), presented as a hashtag (vs. a statement), longer in length, appeared in video (vs. text or image) post, and shown to adults (vs. children and adolescents). This research is significant for influencers, marketers, and policymakers in promoting ethical and effective consumer communication.