Andrea C. Morales

I’ll Have What She’s Having: Effects of Social Influence and Body Type on the Food Choices of Others

This research examines how the body type of consumers affects the food consumption of other consumers around them. We find that consumers anchor on the quantities others around them select but that these portions are adjusted according to the body type of the other consumer. We find that people choose a larger portion following another consumer who first selects a large quantity but that this portion is significantly smaller if the other is obese than if she is thin. We also find that the adjustment is more pronounced for consumers who are low in appearance self-esteem and that it is attenuated under cognitive load.

The Effects of Reduced Food Size and Package Size on the Consumption Behavior of Restrained and Unrestrained Eaters

This research examines the moderating role of attempted dietary restraint on the amount of food consumed from small food in small packages versus large food in large packages. Four experiments demonstrate that restrained eaters consume more calories from small food in small packages, while unrestrained eaters consume more calories from large food in a large package. For restrained eaters, overconsumption of the small food in small packages results from a lapse in self-control caused by the stress of perceiving conflicting food information: the small food in small packages is perceived as both diet food and high in calories. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Product Contagion: Changing Consumer Evaluations Through Physical Contact with "Disgusting" Products

This research demonstrates the strong influence of disgust in a consumer context. Specifically, it shows how consumer evaluations may change in response to physical contact with products that elicit only moderate levels of disgust. Using evidence from six studies, the authors develop a theory of product contagion, in which disgusting products are believed to transfer offensive properties through physical contact to other products they touch, thus influencing evaluations.

Positive Consumer Contagion: Responses to Attractive Others in a Retail Context

This research examines the impact of attractiveness on consumers during a consumption experience. Specifically, it examines the effects of an attractive social influence in the context of touching and contamination of store products by investigating how consumers respond when they see attractive others touching the same products they want to purchase. In doing so, it provides the first experimental evidence of a positive contagion effect in either the marketing or the psychology literature. Across three field experiments using an actual retail shopping environment, the authors find that product evaluations are higher when consumers perceive a product as having been physically touched by a highly attractive other. Moreover, they identify sex as a critical moderating variable in the realization of this positive contagion effect; the contact source and observing consumer must be of the opposite sex for positive contagion to occur. Finally, in contrast to previous work, the authors demonstrate that these effects are driven by a physical model of contagion.

How Disgust Enhances the Effectiveness of Fear Appeals

The current research explores the role of disgust in enhancing compliance with fear appeals. Despite its frequent use in advertising and prevalence in consumer settings, little is known about the specific role that disgust plays in persuasion. This article explores the unique characteristics of disgust and examines its distinctive effect on persuasion. The results across a series of four studies demonstrate that adding disgust to a fear appeal appreciably enhances message persuasion and compliance beyond that of appeals that elicit only fear. Importantly, the results trace the persuasive effects of disgust to its strong and immediate avoidance reaction.

Spillover Effects: How Consumers Respond to Unexpected Changes in Price and Quality

This article examines how unexpected changes in the marketing mix of one product in a retail setting can influence demand for other, unrelated, items. Results from two laboratory studies show that spillover effects can occur in response to both positive and negative changes in either the price or quality of a product, such that positive changes increase total spending on other items and negative changes reduce it. The results also demonstrate that an attributional process underlies these effects, indicating that consumers experience specific affective responses directed at the retailer that lead them either to reward or punish the retailer accordingly.

Social Information in the Retail Environment: The Importance of Consumption Alignment, Referent Identity, and Self-Esteem

This research focuses on understanding when low body esteem consumers are most likely to engage in negative social comparisons and examines how this process influences product evaluations. In a series of three studies, we find that two pieces of social information are needed for negative comparisons in a retail environment to occur: (1) an attractive social referent must be actively consuming (i.e., wearing) the product and (2) the consumer must also be actively consuming (i.e., wearing) the product. If only one of these conditions holds, there is no alignment in consumption, and a negative comparison does not occur. Importantly, we also show that the identity of the social referent is critical to these effects. By identifying key factors that determine when comparative information will influence consumers, this research highlights how marketing strategies impact the consumer inside and outside of the retail environment.

Messages from the Food Police: How Food-Related Warnings Backfire Among Dieters

This research shows when and how food-related warnings can backfire by putting consumers in a state of reactance. Across three studies, we demonstrate that dieters (but not nondieters) who see a one-sided message focusing on the negative aspects of unhealthy food (vs. a one-sided positive or neutral message) increase their desire for and consumption of unhealthy foods. In contrast, dieters who see a two-sided message (focusing on both the negative and positive aspects of unhealthy food) are more likely to comply with the message, thereby choosing fewer unhealthy foods. Our research suggests that negatively worded food warnings (such as public service announcements) are unlikely to work—nondieters ignore them, and dieters do the opposite. Although preliminary, our findings also suggest that two-sided messages may offer a better solution.

The Influence of Disorganized Shelf Displays and Limited Product Quantity on Consumer Purchase

The current research explores how shelf display organization and limited product quantity together influence consumer purchase. The authors find that, in certain cases, shelves that are disorganized and not fully stocked tend to reduce sales, but in other cases, disorganized shelves that are not fully stocked tend to increase sales. In particular, for products that are ingested (e.g., juice), purchase likelihood is reduced when the product appears to be disorganized and product quantity is limited. However, for products that are not ingested (e.g., fabric softener), purchase likelihood increases when the product appears to be disorganized and product quantity is limited. Importantly, the authors also show that brand familiarity moderates these effects.

Hedonic Contamination of Entertainment: How Exposure to Advertising in Movies and Television Taints Subsequent Entertainment Experiences

ABSTRACT These three studies found support for a process termed hedonic contamination, whereby exposure to advertisements before a movie or television show activates persuasion knowledge, directs attention to the product placements, and reduces consumption enjoyment. Study 1 showed that exposure to in-theater commercials led to more negative attitudes toward product placements in the feature movie and reduced overall enjoyment of the movie. Study 2 implemented an eye-tracking experiment showing that advertising exposure increased eye fixations on product placements in a subsequent television episode. Study 3 identified the activation of persuasion knowledge as the underlying process driving hedonic contamination. The collective results suggest new research directions for understanding the interplay between advertising exposures and how consumers respond to subsequent entertainment content and marketing messages.