iPhones for Friends, Refrigerators for Family: How Products Prime Social Networks

Lalin  Anik; Michael I. Norton

Article | Social Influence | July 2012

iPhones for Friends, Refrigerators for Family: How Products Prime Social Networks

Abstract

We show that priming consumers with products associated with specific social networks increases the salience of those networks, influencing both word-of-mouth intentions and consumption. Consumers were exposed to friend- or family-related products (e.g., game consoles or refrigerators); when asked to list the first people they knew who came to mind, they were more likely to list members of primed networks (Study 1). Product priming also increases the speed with which product-relevant individuals come to mind (Study 2). In Study 3, consumers felt subjectively closer to networks primed by specific products, and this felt closeness predicted subsequent word-of-mouth intentions. Finally, Study 4 shows that priming relevant networks (e.g., family or friends) makes products associated with those networks more attractive.

Keywords: Family and Family Relationships; Product; Customers; Familiarity; Social and Collaborative Networks;

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Citation:

Anik, Lalin, and Michael I. Norton. "iPhones for Friends, Refrigerators for Family: How Products Prime Social Networks." Social Influence 7, no. 3 (July 2012): 154–171.

Emotional expression in digital form has become increasingly ubiquitous via the proliferation of computers and handheld devices. Using online surveys and live chat experiments across four studies and 1,325 individuals (Study 1A-B and 2A-B), and a large social media dataset spanning 4.9 billion individuals (Study 3), we examine whether digital emotion expression (emojis) predicts happiness at the individual and national levels. Our studies converge on three central findings. First, people use emojis in text-based communication to convey emotional experience. Second, the amount and diversity of emojis causally increases happiness during social interactions. Third, across 122 countries, higher total amount and greater diversity of emoji usage per capita and per user correlate with higher national happiness. Across levels of analysis, our results suggest that both the amount and diversity of digital emotion expression influences well-being.

Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2018

Backhanded Compliments: How Negative Comparisons Undermine Flattery

Ovul Sezer, Alison Wood Brooks and Michael I. Norton

Seven studies (N = 2352) examine backhanded compliments—seeming praise that draws a comparison with a negative standard—a distinct self-presentation strategy with two simultaneous goals: eliciting liking (“Your speech was good…”) and conveying status (“…for a woman”). Backhanded compliments are common, from delivering feedback in work settings to communicating in casual conversation and take several distinct forms (Studies 1a-b). Backhanded compliments have mixed effectiveness, as people who deliver backhanded compliments erroneously believe that they will both convey high status and elicit liking (Studies 2a-2b), but recipients and third-party evaluators grant them neither (Studies 3a-3b); however, backhanded compliments are successful in reducing recipients’ motivation (Study 3c). We identify two constructs useful in determining the general effectiveness of ingratiation: excessive concern with image drives negative perceptions of backhanded compliment givers, while perceptions of low relative rank in a distribution drives the reduced motivation of backhanded compliment recipients.

Keywords: backhanded compliments; Self-presentation; impression management; interpersonal perception; liking; Status; image concern; Interpersonal Communication; Status and Position; Perception; Motivation and Incentives;

Citation:

Sezer, Ovul, Alison Wood Brooks, and Michael I. Norton. "Backhanded Compliments: How Negative Comparisons Undermine Flattery." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 18-082, February 2018. View Details

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iPhones for Friends, Refrigerators for Family: How Products Prime Social Networks

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