How Do Consumers Respond to Female Electoral Victories? Evidence From Indian State Elections

Paper Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11002-024-09762-2

Authors: Vishal Narayan, Ishani Tewari

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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.

Recovering Customer Satisfaction After a Chatbot Service Failure – The Effect of Gender

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104257

Authors: Alexandra Rese, Lennart Witthohn

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ABSTRACT

Chatbots in customer service often fail to meet customer expectations, largely because they are considered prone to comprehension errors. Service recovery can decisively restore perceived humanness and user satisfaction through perceived warmth and competence after a service failure. In this study, we investigate the effect of the chatbot's gender on the user in service recovery. The majority of chatbots in customer service display female characteristics. We use a pre-study (n = 30) to determine the perceived gender of several chatbot avatars and a scenario-based experiment (n = 300) in which the service recovery after an outcome failure and the gender of the chatbot are manipulated. The results show that the service recovery significantly improved user satisfaction with the chatbot. In addition, the chatbot was perceived as significantly warmer and more competent, which resulted in higher perceived humanness and increased user satisfaction. Male chatbots were perceived as less warm in failure situations when service recovery was not achieved. However, following service recovery, there are no differences in the perception of the chatbot's warmth and gender. Perceived warmth is correlated with perceived competence. Gender incongruence between the chatbot and the respondent resulted in a higher perceived humanness of the chatbot in service recovery. Therefore, firms should pay particular attention to the contexts in which chatbots are used and whether gender matching is appropriate.

Avatars' Phygital Social Presence in the Metaverse: An Engaged Theory Perspective

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22191

Authors: David E. Sprott, Linda D. Hollebeek, Valdimar Sigurdsson, Moira K. Clark, Sigitas Urbonavicius

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ABSTRACT

While prior authors have explored the notions of human and/or automated social presence, these concepts have been predominantly assessed either individually or as mutually exclusive theoretical entities. However, we draw on engaged theory to develop the hybrid concept of phygital social presence that comprises aspects of both the human and automated social presence of metaverse avatars. We define phygital social presence as the degree to which a metaverse avatar instils the feeling in other users that they are in the company of a social entity, as elicited by the avatar's (a) human social presence (i.e., the actions taken by its human user, in line with engaged theory's “ways of acting”), and (b) automated social presence (i.e., the avatar's embodiment or its appearance, look, design, and the character that these emit, in line with engaged theory's “ways of being”). We next propose a conceptual framework and a set of propositions, which suggest that metaverse avatars' (a) human social presence primarily impacts metaverse users' positive or negative behavioral engagement in the metaverse, and (b) automated social presence chiefly influences users' positive or negative cognitive and emotional engagement. Moreover, an avatar's ways of relating, as also informed by engaged theory, primarily impact users' positive or negative social engagement.

Phygital Products: Effects and Boundaries of Metaverse-First Retail Strategies

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2025.01.002

Authors: Davide C. Orazi, Greg Nyilasy

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ABSTRACT

The metaverse offers unique opportunities to retail Phygital Products (PPs)—combined physical-digital offerings whose components are linked together using NFTs. Despite their rising popularity and operational efficiencies, PPs pose a number of distribution challenges likely to influence customer valuations of these products. This research investigates how different retail strategies (metaverse-first vs. physical store-first) influence willingness to pay for PPs. Five experimental studies, including one conducted in a simulated metaverse store, show that metaverse-first retail strategies decrease willingness to pay (Studies 1A-1C) due to decreased investment value (Study 2). This valuation penalty can be mitigated by manipulating arousal through in-store atmospherics. Specifically, increasing music tempo reverses the negative effect of metaverse-first retail strategies on investment value and willingness to pay (Study 3). Our findings inform actionable strategies on how to retail PPs in the metaverse to maximize distribution reach while reducing valuation penalties.

The Metaverse: Lessons from the Front Lines of Brand Innovation

Paper Link: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/735285?af=R

Authors: David Lehman

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ABSTRACT

Few concepts in modern business have captured as much attention—and sparked as much debate— as the metaverse. For some, it represents the next great digital frontier; for others, it’s a cautionary tale of overhyped technology. Over the past few years, my team and I have engaged deeply with this evolving space, experimenting across platforms and technologies to better understand how brands can connect with customers in meaningful ways. Our exploration revealed that the metaverse isn’t one singular concept—it’s a spectrum of emerging digital experiences. To bring clarity to this complex territory we've categorized our approach into three key areas: web-based spaces (Web3), novelty digital experiences (XR), and gaming. Each offered unique opportunities and tuaght us invaluable lessons about what works, what doesn’t and where the future is headed.

Retailing in Metaverse: Cryptocurrency and Consumer Payment Choices in Virtual Reality Environments

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2025.03.001

Authors: Nandini Nim, Yoonsun Jeong, Jessica Felix Martinez, Leah Smith

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ABSTRACT

This research explores the nature of customers' payment method choices in virtual reality (VR) and metaverse retail settings. Cryptocurrency has gained momentum as a customer payment method in the metaverse. Digital wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay have become the preferred payment methods across multiple retail channels outside the metaverse. Payments are an important customer touchpoint that can lead to attrition and revenue problems for retailers. Thus, retailers must optimize payment technologies for omnichannel retail settings. We study customer payment preferences among credit cards, digital wallets, and cryptocurrency. Using a VR grocery store and online grocery shopping simulation, we explore the impact of an immersive sensory environment. Over three experiments, we find that customers are more likely to choose digital wallets and credit cards (Study 1) over cryptocurrency across both VR and non-VR retail settings. Next, we show that security assurance as educational nudge positively impacts customer willingness to choose cryptocurrency (Study 2) for a digital product in VR, and this effect is mediated by greater trust in cryptocurrency providers and lower perceived volatility of cryptocurrency (Study 3). From a strategy perspective, we build a case for retailers and other stakeholders to build blockchain-based digital wallet capabilities and explore strategic partnerships as metaverse retail evolves and more traditional consumers join it.

The Impact of Healthcare Data Breaches on Patient Hospital Visit Behavior

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2025.01.004

Authors: Eunho Park, Joon Ho Lim

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ABSTRACT

The healthcare industry is highly vulnerable to data breaches, with over half of such incidents occurring in this sector in the United States. Leveraging threat and coping appraisal frameworks from the established theory, we explore how patients respond to a data breach. This study focuses on data breaches at 12 hospitals in California over a three-year period, analyzing individual-level hospital visit data to assess the impact. Using the difference-in-differences method, we estimate the effect of a data breach on patient behavior by comparing visits before and after the breach between affected and unaffected individuals. The findings reveal that patients who experience a healthcare data breach are less likely to visit hospitals in the following months. The impact of a data breach is greater when it is a more severe incident, such as those caused by employees or large-scale breaches. However, the effect is mitigated when discontinuing hospital visits could harm patients, especially those needing ongoing care for chronic conditions. We also conduct supplementary analyses to identify boundary conditions and performed robustness checks and falsification tests to validate our findings.

On the Persistent Mischaracterization of Google and Facebook a/b Tests: How to Conduct and Report Online Platform Studies

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.12.004

Authors: Johannes Boegershausen, Yann Cornil, Shangwen Yi, David J. Hardisty

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ABSTRACT

Marketing research has increasingly relied on online platform studies, which are studies conducted in a naturalistic online environment and which leverage the A/B testing tool provided by platforms such as Facebook or Google Ads. These studies allow researchers to compare the effectiveness of different ads and the way they are delivered, and to study “real” consumer behavior, such as clicking on ads. However, they lack true random assignment of ads to consumers, preventing causal inference. In this manuscript, we present a comprehensive review of 133 published online platform studies revealing how researchers have, so far, utilized and characterized these studies; we find that most of these studies are mistakenly presented as (randomized) experiments and most of their findings are erroneously described as causal. Our review suggests limited awareness of the inherent confoundedness of online platform studies (i.e., the inability to attribute user responses to ad creatives versus the platform’s targeting algorithms). Importantly, the prevalence of these undesirable practices has remained relatively constant over time. Against this backdrop, we offer clear guidance on how to position, conduct, and report online platform studies for researchers interested in this method and for reviewers invited to evaluate it.

The Effectiveness of Advertising and Price During Conflict Delistings

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2024.12.001

Authors: Marleen Hermans, Kathleen Cleeren, Néomie Raassens

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ABSTRACT

Negotiations between manufacturers and retailers often go sour and result in conflict delistings in which the manufacturers’ products are removed from the retailers’ assortment. While conflict delistings can cause major revenue and market share losses for both manufacturers and retailers, prior literature provides little guidance on how to use marketing actions to alleviate these severe damages. To fill this gap, the authors use a contingency framework to assess the impact of advertising and price for both manufacturers and retailers in different conflict delisting situations. Using household scanner data for different conflict delistings, this study reveals that overall the impact of advertising decreases during the conflict delisting for both involved parties while price reductions become more effective for the brand manufacturer (but not the retailer). Importantly, the impact of advertising and price during the conflict delisting depends on conflict characteristics. The impact of advertising will be higher if the firm initiated the conflict and when the conflict is surrounded by a lot of publicity. Price reductions are particularly interesting for retailers, especially when the conflict involved a smaller elimination size, when the retailer was the initiator of the conflict, and when there was less publicity. Price reductions are also fruitful for brand manufacturers in case they did not initiate the conflict.

When and Why Consumers (Erroneously) Believe Income Impacts the Enjoyment of Consumption Experiences

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucaf002

Authors: Jenny G Olson, Brent McFerran, Andrea C Morales, Darren W Dahl

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ABSTRACT

We examine how people (as observers) anticipate levels of happiness from psychological consumption experiences (e.g., learning a new language or visiting a park). All else being equal, we propose and demonstrate that people expect differences in happiness based on income. Specifically, we show that relative to observers themselves, individuals simultaneously expect low-income consumers to enjoy psychological consumption experiences less and high-income consumers to enjoy them more. This is because consumers hold a lay theory that human needs must be fulfilled in a sequential, linear manner, which leads to income-based inferences of need prioritization. Thus, observers simultaneously believe that low-income consumers do (and should) prioritize their low-level physical needs first, but high-income consumers (who have presumably already fulfilled their physical needs) can prioritize their high-level psychological needs. Critically, we demonstrate that these lay theory-driven inferences are faulty, showing that the priority level assigned to these needs and the actual happiness resulting from psychological consumption experiences do not follow the predicted pattern. Namely, income either has no relationship with actual happiness (visitors to theme parks, sporting events, and concerts), or the reverse relationship, such that lower-income consumers report greater happiness than higher-income consumers (secondary data from a major league professional sports team).

The Beneficent and Maleficent Effects of Simplification on Retirement Savings

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae067

Authors: Avni M Shah, Matthew Osborne, Jaclyn Lefkowitz, Andrew Fertig, Alissa Fishbane, Dilip Soman

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ABSTRACT

Considerable research suggests making information simpler is better. Simplification improves the efficiency of information extraction and lowers psychological frictions, leading to its popularity with policymakers and practitioners worldwide. However, it remains unclear when and how simplification can be utilized most effectively, or if there are contexts where simplification may produce unintended maleficent effects. Using two large-scale field experiments (N = 126,673), we test whether simplifying account statements helps encourage retirement savings in Mexico. We partner with two retirement firms, one ranked high in rate of returns and the other ranked lower. We find that simplifying retirement account statements improves contribution rates for consumers in the high-ranking firm but reduces contribution rates for consumers in the low-ranking firm. Five follow-up experiments provide evidence consistent with a fluency amplification account. Simplifying information improves processing fluency making it easier to accurately recall firm rank relative to the control, which amplifies behavior bidirectionally: High-ranking (low-ranking) firm consumers more accurately recall their firm’s rank, subsequently increasing (decreasing) contributions. However, if simplification is harnessed in ways that improve processing fluency and lower perceived switching costs, then simplification can improve retirement savings for everyone either by boosting contributions or encouraging people to switch to higher performing alternatives.

Market Sensemaking for Consumers’ Collective Political Agency

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae072

Authors: Marlon Dalmoro, Lisa Peñaloza

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ABSTRACT

Employing the theoretical lens of Weick’s work on sensemaking, this article explains how consumers collectively decipher and pursue their political interests. Based on historiographic data among Gaúchos in Southern Brazil, the findings detail how improvised enactments of consumer culture trigger interpretive capacities that decipher the effects of the enactments on the group and how articulation of hot conflict and cool inference interpretations politicizes such enactments. Ultimately, such socially engaged articulation informs committed interpretation, compromise, and consensus, which in turn motivate and justify subsequent enactments advancing group interests. The discussion elaborates the importance of sensemaking capacities and articulation, and the significance of committed interpretation in enabling and blocking collective compromise and consensus. This research contributes to knowledge of: (1) meso-level processes of collectively reasoned action among members of a consumer culture, (2) group structure that enhances consumers’ collective market sensemaking, and (3) particular market sensemaking challenges for consumption politics in a postcolonial context. The article closes with suggestions for further research in other forms of consumer culture in postcolonial conditions.

Seeking Structure in Collections: Desire for Control Motivates Engagement in Collecting

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae071

Authors: C Clark Cao, Merrie Brucks, Martin Reimann

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ABSTRACT

Across six studies, we provide converging and robust lab and field evidence that the fundamental human desire for control motivates consumer engagement in collecting, defined as the act of acquiring items that belong to an existing collection. This is because consumers who desire control seek structure, which is created when interconnected components form a holistic entity. A collection can provide such a structure, as it comprises related items that together create a whole set. Hence, as consumers add items to a collection, they are also manifesting a structure. Indeed, we demonstrate that desire for control’s motivating effect on engagement diminishes when structure-seeking is hindered or when the collection is far from completion. This work contributes to extant consumer research by identifying desire for control as a fundamental motivation of collecting behavior, explaining when and why consumers work toward completing their collections, and explicating the structured nature of collecting. Of practical relevance, we provide implications for the enhancement of consumer well-being; the design, positioning, and communication of collectible products; and the creation of policies regulating the collectibles market.

Means-Goal Conflict and Novel Brand Choice

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae070

Authors: Jessica Gamlin, Danielle J Brick

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ABSTRACT

Globalization and technological advancements have spurred a rapid increase in the number of novel brands in the marketplace. When and why consumers choose a novel brand are increasingly important questions for marketers. The present research explores these questions and posits that consumers are more likely to choose a novel brand depending upon the choice context. Specifically, we theorize that consumers are more likely to choose a novel brand under means-goal conflict (as opposed to means-goal congruence). We suggest this effect occurs because, in contexts involving means-goal conflict, consumers are motivated to justify their choice, and novel brands afford consumers the opportunity to do so. That is, unlike familiar brands, novel brands lack strong associations in consumers’ minds, which allows consumers the ability to interpret them as less impedimental (i.e., less harmful) to their goal (a choice-justification strategy), thereby increasing choice. We test and find support for our hypotheses about novel brand choice across eight studies. The present research contributes to the literatures on branding, consumer goals and choice, and means-goal associations and has implications for managers launching new brands into the competitive global marketplace.

Brand Corporateness: Measurement and Symbolic Meaning of an Unfavorable Brand Association

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae069

Authors: Brandon J Reich, Sara Hanson

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ABSTRACT

This research establishes brand corporateness as a novel brand association that most consumers find unfavorable. Exploratory focus group findings first illuminate consumer meaning structures and attitudes around brand corporateness. An inductive grounded theory approach suggests three core (hierarchical, mechanistic, opaque) and three ancillary (ubiquitous, traditional, strategic) dimensions of the construct, informing a subsequent literature review that theoretically confirms this structure. Our theorizing also suggests that greater corporateness diminishes consumers’ self-brand connection because the symbolic meanings of its core dimensions clash with several fundamental human values, a negative effect that is heightened among more politically liberal consumers. The main empirical work then develops and validates a measure of brand corporateness across 11 studies using best practices in scale development. After a rigorous item generation and refinement process, our studies provide converging evidence for the scale’s structural, nomological, discriminant, predictive, and ecological validity.

Consumers Prefer Products That Work Using Directionally Consistent Causal Chains

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae066

Authors: Soaham Bharti, Abigail B Sussman

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ABSTRACT

Products often aim to help consumers achieve desired outcomes such as increasing energy levels or removing fabric stains. These products typically work via rich causal paths. The current research suggests that the structure of these paths influences consumer judgments of product efficacy. In particular, sequential steps in these paths can evoke distinct directionalities—either increasing or decreasing variables in each step along the way. For example, a face cream could be described as “increasing the turnover of skin cells to reduce wrinkles.” Under our framework, the action influencing skin cells would correspond to increasing directionality, while the action influencing wrinkles would correspond to decreasing directionality. Ten experiments provide evidence that consumers prefer products with directionally consistent causal chains (i.e., all steps evoking the same directionality) over those with directionally inconsistent ones (i.e., steps evoking contrasting directionalities). This occurs because consumers find directionally consistent causal chains easier to process, which in turn leads them to infer higher efficacy from products working via such consistent chains. These findings advance our understanding of how consumers evaluate product descriptions and provide prescriptions for marketers tasked with composing product descriptions to convey efficacy.

Consumer Moral Decision Making: The Impact of Alignable Versus Nonalignable Differences

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae065

Authors: Sang Kyu Park, Young Joo Cho, Jungkeun Kim, Jin Yong Lee, Jongwon Park

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ABSTRACT

Consumer choice decisions often involve a tradeoff between an alignable difference (a difference along a shared attribute) and a nonalignable difference (a difference between unique attributes of each alternative). For example, Café A provides friendly service, while Café B offers unwelcoming service (an alignable difference). However, Café A occasionally makes billing errors, and Café B has comfortable seating (a nonalignable difference). Prior research shows that alignable differences tend to have a greater impact on choice than nonalignable differences (known as the “alignability effect”). Yet, little research has examined tradeoffs involving moral attributes. Contrary to the prevailing evidence, eight studies (N = 2,861) demonstrate that in moral attribute tradeoffs, nonalignable (vs. alignable) differences have a greater impact on choice (termed the “nonalignability effect”). Consequently, consumers prefer an alternative that is superior on a nonalignable moral difference but inferior on an alignable moral difference. Moreover, in moral–quality tradeoffs, where one alternative is more ethical but is of lower quality, consumers show a stronger preference for the ethical alternative when its moral superiority is represented by a nonalignable (vs. alignable) difference. The nonalignability effect is driven by consumers’ unique decision process in making moral attribute tradeoffs, characterized by categorical valence coding and attribute-by-attribute win–loss counting.

The Contrast Pressures on Consumer-Level Food Waste in a Pandemic: The Impact of Infection Salience Versus Lockdown Salience

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae063

Authors: Huachao Gao

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ABSTRACT

Consumer food waste, with its extensive social, economic, and environmental implications, gained heightened attention during the COVID-19 pandemic, which disrupted food supply chains and exacerbated food insecurity. Amidst conflicting reports on the pandemic’s influences on consumer-level food waste, this research differentiates between the infection and lockdown facets of a pandemic. Specifically, we demonstrate that infection salience amplifies safety–health concerns, leading to increased consumer food waste, while lockdown salience raises concerns over resource scarcity, resulting in reduced consumer food waste. Considering that most pandemics or infectious diseases primarily increase infection salience without inducing lockdowns, we propose a safety–health intervention to mitigate the rise in consumer food waste driven by infection salience and the associated safety–health concerns. Through a large-scale field study, a lab experiment measuring real food waste, a country-level secondary dataset, and three supplementary experiments, we provide converging supports for our theory. These studies also showcase various implementations of the safety–health intervention, such as table tents, napkins, and to-go boxes. This research reconciles divergent perspectives on the pandemic’s impact on consumer-level food waste, enriches the understanding of pandemics and associated food waste dynamics, and offers actionable strategies for businesses and policymakers to address consumer food waste during pandemics.

Quality-Quantity Tradeoffs in Consumption

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae059

Authors: Rodrigo S Dias, Eesha Sharma, Gavan J Fitzsimons

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ABSTRACT

Tradeoffs between quality and quantity are widespread in consumer decision-making. While existing research has focused on situational and contextual factors driving choices of higher-quality or higher-quantity purchases, in the current work, we find that consumers possess generalized preferences for quality or quantity across purchase categories. Some consumers systematically prefer quality over quantity, and others systematically prefer quantity over quality. In 32 studies (N = 24,404) that use correlational, experimental, and longitudinal designs, and proprietary data from the Federal Reserve Bank, the current research introduces quality–quantity preferences as a novel facet of consumer decision-making. Studies 1–3 demonstrate quality–quantity preferences as an individual difference, develop the “quality-quantity tradeoffs” scale to measure it, and demonstrate that it is different from related existing constructs. Studies 4A–5 show that consumers who prefer quantity over quality spend more money, borrow more, and accrue more debt, indicating that quality–quantity preferences are consequential. Taken together, our findings underscore the importance of quality–quantity preferences as a driver of consumer behavior and pave the way for future research investigating the causes and consequences of consumers’ dispositions toward quality or quantity.

Hitting the Target but Missing the Point: How Donors Use Cost Information

Paper Link: https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucae061

Authors: Joshua Lewis, Deborah A Small

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ABSTRACT

Charities often advertise the cost of a given impact (e.g., $5 provides a meal). Though often intended to demonstrate cost-effectiveness, we find that donors also use the cost as a target. Therefore, the impact cost can be too low, reducing donation amounts, or too high, deterring donors from donating altogether. We propose that, whenever donors have a reference point for a reasonable donation, the revenue-maximizing impact cost is at or just below this reference point, due to loss aversion. We examined these predictions across two online studies (N = 1,711) and one field experiment conducted within a US non-profit’s mailing appeal (N = 141,161). Study 1 demonstrates that donors target impact costs; participants report giving more when the cost of a mosquito net is higher. Study 2, the field experiment, reveals the pernicious effect of setting a target too high. Study 3 tests how the reference donation amount informs the revenue-maximizing impact cost. Supplemental studies robustly support our optimal-target recommendation, while demonstrating that cost information is ubiquitous and theoretically distinct from other types of targets. Together, these results shed light on an often-unintended side effect of providing cost information, with practical insight on how to leverage it for higher donation revenue.