When Do Consumers Avoid Imperfections? Superficial Packaging Damage as a Contamination Cue

Journal of Marketing Research - Tập 53 Số 1 - Trang 110-123 - 2016
Katherine White1, Lily Lin2, Darren W. Dahl3, Robin Ritchie4
1Behavioral Science, with a Professorship in Consumer Insights, Prosocial Consumption, and Sustainability, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
2College of Business and Economics, California State University, Los Angeles
3Behavioral Science, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia
4Sprott School of Business, Carleton University

Tóm tắt

Across six experiments, the authors demonstrate that superficial imperfections in the form of packaging damage can engender negative consumer reactions that shape subsequent attitudes and behaviors in ways that are not always objectively justified. Their findings show that these reactions function in a relatively automatic fashion, even emerging under conditions in which the packaging damage does not convey information about a health and safety threat from the product. The authors extend work on contagion to show that superficial packaging damage can act as a contamination cue, automatically activating thoughts of contamination and health and safety concerns. This tendency to avoid superficial packaging damage can be eliminated by counteracting these thoughts of contamination. This can be done with positive brand associations (i.e., by branding the product as organic) or by creating a physical buffer between the packaging damage and the product itself. The authors close with a discussion of implications for marketers, consumers, and public policy makers.

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