JCR Authors in the News
 | Pacific Standard Does Davos Actually Do Anything? January 23, 2015 A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research addresses the impact of the forum on consumers. The WEF claims that it is working to solve problems like poverty and global warming, but those are bold claims. Rather than solving the major issues society faces today, the study argues, they’re re-framing them -— an area where the non-profit has had success in the past. Creating the Responsible Consumer: Moralistic Governance Regimes and Consumer Subjectivity by Markus Giesler, Ela Veresiu |
 | TIME Why You Should Never Buy Stuff When You're Sad January 23, 2015 When retail therapy backfires. If you lose out on a plum assignment or get passed over for a promotion, your first tendency might be to head to the mall or click over to Amazon for a pick-me-up in the form of some discretionary splurging. It’s a common response, but a new study says it’s not the best one. Perils of Compensatory Consumption: Within-Domain Compensation Undermines Subsequent Self-Regulation by Monika Lisjak, Andrea Bonezzi, Soo Kim, Derek D. Rucker |
 | Daily Mail Why Indulging in Retail Therapy Can Actually Make You Feel Worse January 23, 2015 When consumers experience a psychological threat to how they would like to see themselves, buying products that signal accomplishment in the same area of their life could ironically cause them to dwell on their shortcomings. This can strip consumers of their mental resources and impair their self-control. Perils of Compensatory Consumption: Within-Domain Compensation Undermines Subsequent Self-Regulation by Monika Lisjak, Andrea Bonezzi, Soo Kim, Derek D. Rucker |
 | Le Monde Le juste prix, une affaire de virgule January 23, 2015 Fixer le juste prix. La question est vieille comme le monde, ou du moins comme le commerce. Un coup d’œil aux rayons des magasins laisse songeur. Qui, en effet, peut croire que 39,90 euros est très différent de 40 euros ? À l’inverse, comment expliquer une étiquette à 40,20 euros? This Number Just Feels Right: The Impact of Roundedness of Price Numbers on Product Evaluations by Monica Wadhwa, Kuangjie Zhang |
 | New York Sometimes Retail Therapy Only Makes You Feel Like More of a Failure January 22, 2015 We all occasionally face threats to the way we'd like to view ourselves a setback at work could prompt you to buy luxury goods or other items associated with success. But, according to a new paper published online this week in the Journal of Consumer Research, this is the wrong way to go about making yourself feel better, because it may end up prompting you to dwell on the very thing you were trying to get over. Perils of Compensatory Consumption: Within-Domain Compensation Undermines Subsequent Self-Regulation by Monika Lisjak, Andrea Bonezzi, Soo Kim, Derek D. Rucker |
 | Daily Mail The Science of Shopping January 22, 2015 A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that rounded numbers such as £50 appeal to shoppers and make them more likely to buy ‘emotional’ products, than if they are priced at £49.99, for example. When a purchase is driven by feelings, rounded prices lead to a subjective experience of feeling right. This Number Just Feels Right: The Impact of Roundedness of Price Numbers on Product Evaluations by Monica Wadhwa, Kuangjie Zhang |
 | CITY A.M. Davos Delegates: Saving the World from Populist Temptations January 21, 2015 A special few head to Davos each year for four days of hobnobbing with world leaders, enjoying Alpine views and putting the world to rights. But attendees at the World Economic Forum see themselves as holding a special place in the world, according to researchers Markus Giesler and Ela Veresiu, who conducted interviews on different types of delegate over an eight year period. Creating the Responsible Consumer: Moralistic Governance Regimes and Consumer Subjectivity by Markus Giesler, Ela Veresiu |
 | The Huffington Post Davos Pedagogy January 21, 2015 Is there a better way to create the responsible consumer? We believe so. Indeed, in a longitudinal study of the World Economic Forum, which ran for 8 years and was recently published in the Journal of Consumer Research, we found that the forum's biggest hurdle to accomplishing its positive goal of "improving the state of the world" might be its poisonous pedagogy. Creating the Responsible Consumer: Moralistic Governance Regimes and Consumer Subjectivity by Markus Giesler, Ela Veresiu |
 | The Consumerist Do Funny Consumer Complaints Lead To Better Results Or Just Hurt Your Case? January 21, 2015 The researchers wanted to see whether humorous complaints garnered more attention than others and whether that attention led to a better resolution or whether the use of humor might result in what they describe as a “benign violation,” where the complainer gives a false impression that all is okay because they are cracking jokes about it. Humorous Complaining by A. Peter McGraw, Caleb Warren, Christina Kan |
 | Fast Company How to Disarm a Defensive Audience January 13, 2015 Listeners willingly lose themselves in stories—a phenomenon called "transportation." According to a meta-analysis published by the Journal of Consumer Research, transported listeners may be less likely to resist counter-attitudinal messages within stories because the messages don’t provoke much scrutiny. The Extended Transportation-Imagery Model: A Meta-Analysis of the Antecedents and Consequences of Consumers’ Narrative Transportation by Tom van Laer, Ko de Ruyter, Luca M. Visconti, Martin Wetzels |
 | New York Times The Risk of ‘Material Parenting’ January 8, 2015 A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that when parents use material objects to reward children for good behavior or performance (or take them away when they’re bad), those children grow up to be adults who associate buying and owning nice things with success and accomplishment. Material Parenting: How the Use of Goods in Parenting Fosters Materialism in the Next Generation by Marsha L. Richins, Lan Nguyen Chaplin |
 | New York Times If You Want to Meet That Deadline, Play a Trick on Your Mind January 3, 2015 It’s just a few days into the new year. How are you doing on your resolutions? Wait: Have you even started on them yet? Recognizing that the hardest part of many tasks is beginning them at all, two researchers have sought to determine whether certain outside cues can jump-start us toward reaching our goals. Such cues, which manipulate our perception of time, are simple yet effective. The Categorization of Time and Its Impact on Task Initiation by Yanping Tu, Dilip Soman |
 | U.S. News & World Report How to Set (and Conquer) Your 2015 Money Goals December 30, 2014 It’s time to set your big financial goals for the year and make a plan for achieving them. It’s very important to visualize your goal. You need to know what you’re working toward. In fact, clearly keeping the goal in mind by posting it where you see it every day could also keep your motivation at the forefront of your mind and help you think more abstractly about reaching the goal. Letting Good Opportunities Pass Us By: Examining the Role of Mind-Set during Goal Pursuit by Julia Belyavsky Bayuk, Chris Janiszewski, Robyn A. Leboeuf |
 | CTV News Resolutions That Stick: Science Finds the Secret Isn't Willpower, Discipline or DNA December 30, 2014 A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that when participants focused on multiple goals, they struggled to create detailed plans for each goal and they became less committed to meeting those goals. The reason is pretty simple: when we have multiple goals, we anticipate greater difficulty. Too Much of a Good Thing: The Benefits of Implementation Intentions Depend on the Number of Goals by Amy N. Dalton, Stephen A. Spiller |
| Boston Globe One of Everything, Please December 28, 2014 In several experiments, women who were in the fertile days of their menstrual cycle were more interested in variety—in picking different kinds of lipstick, nail polish, high heels, restaurants, yogurt, or candy bars—especially if they were in a relationship but were weakly attached or were put in an unattached frame of mind. Playing the Field: The Effect of Fertility on Women’s Desire for Variety by Kristina M. Durante, Ashley Rae Arsena | |
 | The Huffington Post 15 Phrases That Will Change Your Life In 2015 December 28, 2014 Tempted by those leftover holiday cookies while working on your healthy resolutions? Swap "can't" for "don't." A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that people who used phrases like "I don't eat cookies" had more self-control and positive behavior changes than those who said "I can't eat cookies." “I Don’t” versus “I Can’t”: When Empowered Refusal Motivates Goal-Directed Behavior by Vanessa M. Patrick, Henrik Hagtvedt |
 | Slate People Don’t Hate Millennials; They Hate 21st-Century Technology December 26, 2014 A study in the Journal of Consumer Research might shed light on why the Ice Bucket Challenge was such a success. The study found that people whose initial support of an organization is public -- such as a Facebook “like” or wearing a pin -- were less likely to donate or volunteer later than those who contributed privately. The Nature of Slacktivism: How the Social Observability of an Initial Act of Token Support Affects Subsequent Prosocial Action by Kirk Kristofferson, Katherine White, John Peloza |
 | Daily Mail Hitting the Shops Today? Then Read On Before You Spend More Than You Bargained For December 26, 2014 People are less likely to spend if they are carrying a £50 note compared to when they have ten £5 notes because they are reluctant to break into a bigger note. By contrast, psychologically, paying with contactless technology can almost feel like not paying at all. As no cash changes hands or there is no significant transaction using a credit card with a PIN tapped into a machine, people feel that they are not spending money. Money: A Bias for the Whole by Himanshu Mishra, Arul Mishra, Dhananjay Nayakankuppam |
 | Smithsonian Don’t Give Your Kids Gifts to Show Affection December 23, 2014 The holidays are prime time to roll out complaints about materialism taking over our society. If you’re looking for ammunition for your rants, science has got your back: A new study in the Journal of Consumer Research says that rewarding children with gifts can set them up to crave material goods. Researchers drew connections between gift-giving patterns and materialism. Material Parenting: How the Use of Goods in Parenting Fosters Materialism in the Next Generation by Marsha L. Richins, Lan Nguyen Chaplin |
 | The Huffington Post 7 Science-Backed Ways to Give Less-Bad Gifts December 23, 2014 A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that when people buy gifts for several friends at once, they tend to place more emphasis on finding unique gifts for each individual -- even when that led to purchasing not-quite-right gifts, and even when gift getters didn't know each other and would have no way of ever finding out that they each received the same thing. Overindividuation in Gift Giving: Shopping for Multiple Recipients Leads Givers to Choose Unique but Less Preferred Gifts by Mary Steffel, Robyn A. LeBoeuf |
 | Boston Globe Three Ways to Raise a Materialistic Child December 19, 2014 A new study reveals that there are, in fact, three easy ways to position your child for a lifetime of materialism and possible misery. So bear this in mind before you suffer a complete Yuletide meltdown over last-minute holiday gifts. If your favorite store is out of that coveted Ninja Turtle lair or life-sized Frozen doll with a motorized head, well, it could be for the best. Material Parenting: How the Use of Goods in Parenting Fosters Materialism in the Next Generation by Marsha L. Richins, Lan Nguyen Chaplin |
 | Miami Herald Shopper Beware: Nostalgia Can Make Your Wallet Open Too Wide December 19, 2014 Nostalgia is the longing for a pleasant time in the past and it’s always positive. It also happens to be an emotional state during which marketers know we’ll spend money. New research reveals why: Nostalgia connects us to people in our history, and when we're feeling sentimental for those social associations, we just don't care about money. Nostalgia Weakens the Desire for Money by Jannine D. Lasaleta, Constantine Sedikides, Kathleen D. Vohs |
 | Smithsonian How to Give the Best Gifts, According to Science December 19, 2014 Aunt Edna's fruitcake. Pink bunny pajamas. Jelly of the Month Club. Ever feel like you just didn't get what you wanted for the holidays? Science can help explain why: The person who gave you that dubious present actually wanted you to like it too much. Why Feasibility Matters More to Gift Receivers than to Givers: A Construal-Level Approach to Gift Giving by Ernest Baskin, Cheryl J. Wakslak, Yaacov Trope, Nathan Novemsky |
 | Scientific American Banish Procrastination by Thinking Differently About Deadlines December 18, 2014 What makes some tasks harder than others to tackle? It turns out the time allotted for the work matters less than how our mind perceives the deadline. When a deadline feels like it is part of the present—say, falling within the current calendar month—we are more likely to begin the task. The Categorization of Time and Its Impact on Task Initiation by Yanping Tu, Dilip Soman |
 | ABC News Radio Gift-Giving to Kids Can Have Its Pitfalls December 18, 2014 Parents love giving presents to their children almost as much as kids love getting them. However, when moms and dads use material possessions to manage their children’s behavior, it can create problems when their youngsters become adults themselves. Material Parenting: How the Use of Goods in Parenting Fosters Materialism in the Next Generation by Marsha L. Richins, Lan Nguyen Chaplin |
 | The Globe and Mail Bad Santa: The Psychology behind Ghastly Gifts December 18, 2014 An article published in the Journal of Consumer Research earlier this year found that gift givers tended to focus on the perceived desirability of a gift, rather than its feasibility, or ease of use. For instance, if you know your friend loves Italian food, you might get buy him a gift certificate at a top-notch Italian restaurant an hour away, without considering what a pain it would be for him to get there. Why Feasibility Matters More to Gift Receivers than to Givers: A Construal-Level Approach to Gift Giving by Ernest Baskin, Cheryl J. Wakslak, Yaacov Trope, Nathan Novemsky |
 | The Globe and Mail ’Tis the Season for Shame and Guilt? December 18, 2014 The holidays are a prime shopping season. And all that excess spending can trigger feelings of guilt and shame. Marketers might try to capitalize on those feelings to induce consumers to spend more. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that feelings of guilt and shame can influence our judgment and purchasing decisions Emotions Shape Decisions through Construal Level: The Case of Guilt and Shame by DaHee Han, Adam Duhachek, Nidhi Agrawal |
 | Daily Mail Bad News for Kids: Too Many Christmas Presents Can Lead to Unhappiness in Later Life, Researchers Warn December 17, 2014 t may be the Christmas grinch of scientific studies - but researchers have warned parents not to buy their children every present they ask for. Experts warn they may be setting children up for difficulties later in adulthood. Buying too many presents for children can turn them into materialistic adults and cause behavioural issues in later life. Material Parenting: How the Use of Goods in Parenting Fosters Materialism in the Next Generation by Marsha L. Richins, Lan Nguyen Chaplin |
 | Entrepreneur Blast from the Past: Nostalgia Becomes a Marketing Strategy December 16, 2014 “Fans thirsty for a taste of ’90s nostalgia …” begins Coca-Cola’s September announcement of the revival of Surge, a citrus-flavor soda that it discontinued 12 years ago. The company reintroduced the drink at the behest of The Surge Movement, a Millennial-led online fan base that had spent years lobbying for its return. Nostalgia Weakens the Desire for Money by Jannine D. Lasaleta, Constantine Sedikides, Kathleen D. Vohs |
 | Yahoo! Finance 5 Unhealthy Workplace Habits to Break in 2015 December 12, 2014 A study in the Journal of Consumer Research examining the impact of mental stress on food choices found that a majority of the participants selected an unhealthy food (chocolate cake) over a healthy food (fruit) after completing a complicated memorization task. Researchers ascribed this behavior to participants' having “lower levels of processing resources” after having spending so much energy on cognitive tasks. Heart and Mind in Conflict: the Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making by Baba Shiv, Alexander Fedorikhin |
 | Inc. Productivity Management Tips for Startups December 12, 2014 Do you want to boost your performance on creative activities? Listening to ambient sounds may be a great idea. According to one study that was published within Journal of Consumer Research, scientists assessed the effects that various noise levels possessed on productivity. During the study, they discovered that a moderate level of ambient sound assisted in significantly enhancing creative output. Is Noise Always Bad? Exploring the Effects of Ambient Noise on Creative Cognition by Ravi Mehta, Rui (Juliet) Zhu, Amar Cheema |
 | Entrepreneur 5 Unhealthy Workplace Habits to Break in 2015 December 12, 2014 The more stressed people are, the less mindful they are of their eating patterns. In a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research that examined the impact of mental stress on food choices, a majority of the participants selected an unhealthy food (chocolate cake) over a healthy food (fruit) after completing a complicated memorization task. Heart and Mind in Conflict: the Interplay of Affect and Cognition in Consumer Decision Making by Baba Shiv, Alexander Fedorikhin |
 | New York 7 Science-Backed Ways to Give Less-Bad Gifts December 12, 2014 Don’t be afraid to buy the same present for several people on your list. A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that when people buy gifts for several friends at once, they tend to place more emphasis on finding unique gifts for each individual — even when that led to purchasing not-quite-right gifts, and even when gift getters didn’t know each other and would have no way of ever finding out that they each received the same thing. Overindividuation in Gift Giving: Shopping for Multiple Recipients Leads Givers to Choose Unique but Less Preferred Gifts by Mary Steffel, Robyn A. LeBoeuf |
 | MarketWatch Spending Money on These Things May Make You Happier December 10, 2014 Materialism can lead to loneliness, which can lead to more materialism, according to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research. A study of 2,500 consumers over six years found that people who valued possessions as a sign of material success felt more lonely, while those who sought possessions for sheer joy actually felt less lonely. Bidirectional Dynamics of Materialism and Loneliness: Not Just a Vicious Cycle by Rik Pieters |
 | Pacific Standard Will Low-Fat Foods Ever Taste as Good as Full-Fat Versions? December 10, 2014 Scientists have only recently begun to investigate the sensory information our mouths give us about the food we eat. A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research shows that people ate more soft brownies when they were not asked to think about calories, but they ate more crunchy brownies when they were. Something to Chew On: The Effects of Oral Haptics on Mastication, Orosensory Perception, and Calorie Estimation by Dipayan Biswas, Courtney Szocs, Aradhna Krishna, Donald R. Lehmann |
 | Fortune 10 Subliminal Retail Tricks You’re Probably Falling For December 3, 2014 Don Draper was on to something with his sentimental pitch for a Kodak campaign. But the abundance of families, puppies, and childhood ephemera in the ads you see every day is more than a simple ploy to tug on your heartstrings. Recent research shows nostalgia makes people value money less and feel willing to pay more for purchases. Nostalgia Weakens the Desire for Money by Jannine D. Lasaleta, Constantine Sedikides, Kathleen D. Vohs |
 | Psychology Today Music and the Shopper December 3, 2014 Why do retailers play music? Is it simply to create a certain mood and atmosphere? Ambience may certainly be part of the equation, but there is more. A study in the Journal of Consumer Research found that diners spent more time eating their meals when the background music was in a slow tempo as compared to a fast tempo. The Influence of Background Music on the Behavior of Restaurant Patrons by Ronald E. Milliman |
 | TIME 10 Ways Companies Trick You Into Buying More December 3, 2014 Consuming even one free chocolate increases shoppers’ desire for nonfood luxuries —- including expensive watches, dressy designer shirts, and Mac laptops —- right after eating it, according to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research. Behavioral Consistency and Inconsistency in the Resolution of Goal Conflict by Juliano Laran, Chris Janiszewski |
 | The Wall Street Journal Thanksgiving and Gratitude: The Science of Happier Holidays November 28, 2014 A study published in the Journal of Consumer Research found that more-materialistic people feel less satisfied both with their lives as a whole and with the amount of fun and enjoyment they get out of day-to-day life. A Consumer Values Orientation for Materialism and Its Measurement: Scale Development and Validation by Marsha L. Richins, Scott Dawson |