You ought to know: Why consumers think companies can foresee bad (but not good) side effects

Brandon J. Reich, Sean M. Laurent

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Routine business activities often lead to unintended side effects. Prior research suggests that consumers ascribe greater corporate foreknowledge when side effects are harmful (vs. helpful) but offers a controversial explanation and insufficient exploration of its consequences. The current research fills these gaps, offering a heuristic-based explanation steeped in consumer behavior, while demonstrating the importance of this asymmetry to consumer response. First, a Pilot Study confirms the theoretical processes underlying our explanation. Study 1 tests the role of this foreknowledge asymmetry in predicting implicit bias toward the company. Studies 2 and 3 provide moderation evidence for our heuristic-based explanation and connect the phenomenon to motive inferences and blame judgments, respectively. In sum, this work provides a novel explanation for a common marketplace phenomenon while establishing its effects on several important consumer response variables.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)610-623
Number of pages14
JournalPsychology and Marketing
Volume40
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2023

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Applied Psychology
  • Marketing

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