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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

  From Sweetheart to Scapegoat: Brand Selfie-Taking Shapes Consumer Behavior

  Reto Hofstetter, Gabriela Kunath and Leslie K. John

  Increasingly, consumers are taking self-photos and marketers, eager to capitalize on this trend, have been asking consumers to take self-photos with brands (i.e., brand selfies). We suggest that consumer compliance with such requests sparks a self-inferential process that leads the consumer to feel connected to the brand (e.g., “If I took the brand selfie, I must feel connected to this brand”), increasing brand preference. Eight studies support this account. In a dataset of 283,140 user reviews from Yelp, study 1 documented a positive association between a reviewer’s propensity to take a brand selfie and the star rating he gives the restaurant. Seven experiments point to causality: participants randomized to take brand selfies felt greater self-brand connection and exhibited heightened brand preference, relative to those randomized to take: no photo at all (study 2a), a selfie (without the brand; studies 2b-6), or a photo of the brand (without the self; study 3). Two studies point to process in convergent ways, via serial mediation (study 4) and moderated mediation (study 5). A final study documented a crucial moderator: dissatisfaction with one’s appearance in the selfie triggers defensive processing, reducing self-inference and thereby, the capacity for brand selfie-taking to increase brand preference.

  Citation:

  Hofstetter, Reto, Gabriela Kunath, and Leslie K. John. "From Sweetheart to Scapegoat: Brand Selfie-Taking Shapes Consumer Behavior." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-085, February 2020.  View Details

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• Article | Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) | February 2020

  Why Prosocial Referral Incentives Work: The Interplay of Reputational Benefits and Action Costs

  Rachel Gershon, Cynthia Cryder and Leslie K. John

  While selfish incentives typically outperform prosocial incentives, in the context of customer referral rewards, prosocial incentives can be more effective. Companies frequently offer “selfish” (i.e., sender-benefiting) referral incentives, offering customers financial incentives for recruiting new customers. However, companies can alternatively offer “prosocial” (i.e., recipient-benefiting) referral incentives. In two field experiments and an incentive-compatible lab experiment, recipient-benefiting referrals recruited more new customers than sender-benefiting referrals. In five additional experiments, we test a process account that invokes two countervailing forces: reputational benefits and action costs. First, at the referral stage, senders anticipate reputational benefits for referring when recipients receive a reward. As a result, recipient-benefiting referrals are just as effective as sender-benefiting referrals at this stage. Second, at the uptake stage, recipient-benefiting referrals are more effective than sender-benefiting referrals: recipient-benefiting referrals directly incentivize uptake (i.e., signing up for a new product or service), which is a high-effort action in referral programs. The preponderance of sender-benefiting (vs. recipient-benefiting) referral offers in the marketplace suggests these effects are unanticipated by marketers who design incentive schemes.

  Keywords: incentives; prosocial behavior; judgment and decision-making; referral rewards; Motivation and Incentives; Consumer Behavior; Decision Making;

  Citation:

  Gershon, Rachel, Cynthia Cryder, and Leslie K. John. "Why Prosocial Referral Incentives Work: The Interplay of Reputational Benefits and Action Costs." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 57, no. 1 (February 2020): 156–172.  View Details

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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2020

  Fostering Perceptions of Authenticity via Sensitive Self-Disclosure

  Li Jiang, Maryam Kouchaki, Francesca Gino, Reihane Boghrati and Leslie John

  Leaders’ perceived authenticity—the sense that a leader is acting in accordance with her “true self” —is associated with positive outcomes for both employees and organizations alike. How might a leader foster this impression? Using field and experimental data, we test whether sensitive self-disclosures—for example, revealing an aversion to public speaking—make leaders come across as authentic and lead to positive outcomes, such as an enhanced desire to work with that leader (Studies 1, 2A, 2B, and 3). Stemming from our conceptual account, we show that these benefits emerge when the self-disclosure is mild to moderately sensitive in nature (Study 4) and made voluntarily (as opposed to by requirement) (Study 6) by a relatively high-status person (Study 5). Would-be disclosers do not intuit these positive consequences of self-disclosure (Study 7), suggesting that leaders may under employ an effective tool for making a positive impression.

  Keywords: Authenticity; disclosure; Leaders; impression management; Leadership Style; Personal Characteristics; Communication Intention and Meaning; Perception;

  Citation:

  Jiang, Li, Maryam Kouchaki, Francesca Gino, Reihane Boghrati, and Leslie John. "Fostering Perceptions of Authenticity via Sensitive Self-Disclosure." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-070, January 2020.  View Details

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