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Does scarcity increase or decrease donation behaviors? An investigation considering resource-specific scarcity and individual person-thing orientation
Abstract
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Extant research remains equivocal with respect to whether scarcity increases or decreases charitable behaviors. This research suggests a reconciliation by considering a donor's resource-specific scarcity, and their person-thing orientation (PTO), a novel personality variable that determines whether individuals are naturally attuned towards people versus things in their environment. Person-orientation predisposes preferences towards donating time, while thing-orientation predisposes preferences towards donating money. Time scarcity leads person-oriented individuals to prefer donating money, but does not affect thing-oriented individuals. Financial scarcity leads thing-oriented individuals to prefer donating time, but does not affect person-oriented individuals. Person-oriented individuals' attention towards other people and thing-oriented individuals' focus on resource evaluation form the basis for the observed relative donation preferences. Finally, PTO can also be situationally induced. Using donation intentions and real click-through behavior for diverse charitable organizations, we show in five studies that the combined effect of consumers' perceived resource-specific scarcity and PTO determines the relative preference for donating time vs. donating money. Our results have important implications for charities soliciting specific kinds of resources, as well as real-world government and social welfare initiatives critically dependent on volunteerism. Theoretically, we examine scarcity from an individual-difference perspective that has not been well understood.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-023-00938-2.
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This is an ethnography among poor migrants from Kerala, India to the Middle East. This study offers insights into how the poor accumulate sacrificial money through sufferings and self-abnegation, and earmark it for consumption in Kerala. The hardships endured to earn the sacrificial money transform it into a sacred object. The phenomena of accumulation, earmarking, and meaning making of sacrificial money by the poor can be understood through the concept of sacrificial work. Sacrificial work is a spatially demarcated circuit of accumulation of money through hardships and its conflict-ridden transfer to family, community, and self for consumption. In sacrificial work, the poor erect a boundary around this money, and earmark it as caring, communal, and transformative. By delineating the various aspects of sacrificial work, this study brings to the center a behavior that has, in spite of its ubiquity, been relegated to the margins of consumer research.
Many people living in modern society feel like they do not have enough time and are constantly searching for more. But is having limited discretionary time actually detrimental? And can there be downsides of having too much discretionary time? In two large-scale data sets spanning 35,375 Americans and two experiments, we explore the relationship between the amount of discretionary time individuals have and their subjective well-being. We find and internally replicate a negative quadratic relationship between discretionary time and subjective well-being. These results show that whereas having too little time is indeed linked to lower subjective well-being caused by stress, having more time does not continually translate to greater subjective well-being. Having an abundance of discretionary time is sometimes even linked to lower subjective well-being because of a lacking sense of productivity. In such cases, the negative effect of having too much discretionary time can be attenuated when people spend this time on productive activities. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).
Interests are an essential part of the learning process, yet no previous work has examined the relationship between learning and individual differences in domain-general interests. Across a pilot study and a confirmatory follow-up study, we tested whether the broad interest traits of person orientation and thing orientation predict memory for STEM-related topics. In both studies (total N = 624), college student participants read brief educational texts on a randomly assigned STEM topic. The topics included artificial limb design, self-driving automobiles, and the anatomy of vision. Recall performance was measured using open-ended factual questions from the readings. Participants with stronger thing-oriented interests recalled more information from the texts, while person orientation was unrelated to recall. Thing orientation also predicted performance beyond the variance explained by gender and previous knowledge. The findings from these studies highlight the cognitive consequences of interests and present implications for STEM education.
Rapid development and adoption of applications of AI, machine learning, and natural language processing challenge managers and policy-makers to harness these transformative technologies. In this context, we provide evidence of a novel word-of-machine effect, the phenomenon by which utilitarian/hedonic attribute trade-offs determine preference for, or resistance to, AI-based recommendations compared to traditional word-of-mouth, or human-based recommendations. The word-of-machine effect stems from a lay belief that AI recommenders are more competent than human recommenders in the utilitarian realm, and less competent than human recommenders in the hedonic realm. As a consequence, importance or salience of utilitarian attributes determine preference for AI recommenders over human ones, and importance or salience of hedonic attributes determine resistance to AI recommenders over human ones (studies 1-4). The word-of machine effect is robust to attribute complexity, number of options considered, and transaction costs. The word-of machine effect reverses for utilitarian goals if a recommendation needs matching to a person’s unique preferences (study 5), and is eliminated in case of human-AI hybrid decision making (i.e., augmented rather than artificial intelligence; study 6). An intervention based on the consider-the-opposite protocol attenuates the word-of-machine effect (studies 7A-7B).
It has been argued that, when they are acutely hungry, people act in self-protective ways by keeping resources to themselves rather than sharing them. In four studies, using experimental, quasi-experimental, and correlational designs (total N = 795), we examine the effects of acute hunger on prosociality in a wide variety of non-interdependent tasks (e.g. dictator game) and interdependent tasks (e.g. public goods games). While our procedures successfully increase subjective hunger and decrease blood glucose, we do not find significant effects of hunger on prosociality. This is true for both decisions incentivized with money and with food. Meta-analysis across all tasks reveals a very small effect of hunger on prosociality in non-interdependent tasks (d = 0.108), and a non-significant effect in interdependent tasks (d = −0.076). In study five (N = 197), we show that, in stark contrast to our empirical findings, people hold strong lay theories that hunger undermines prosociality. Previous studies have suggested that being hungry causes people to make more selfish and less prosocial decisions. Here, the authors carried out a series of studies to test this claim and found that the effect of acute hunger was very weak at best.
Anthropomorphism, or imbuing nonhuman entities with human traits, is widely prevalent in the marketplace. The last decade of consumer research demonstrates that when imbued with human characteristics, anthropomorphized brands and products become active participants in the consumption experience and are viewed and treated fundamentally differently than those viewed simply as objects. We identify three dimensions around how consumers relate to anthropomorphized entities: connection, comprehension, and competition. The first two C's highlight how anthropomorphized brands and products benefit consumers by fulfilling belongingness needs (connection) and helping consumers understand unfamiliar situations and products (comprehension). In contrast, the competition dimension highlights how anthropomorphized brands and products are perceived as adversaries or potential threats to consumers’ individual goals. By identifying competition as the third C, we illuminate self‐protection as an additional motivation that shapes consumers’ responses to anthropomorphized entities—a motivation that has not been directly accounted for in previous theorizing.
Research in marketing often begins with two assumptions: that consumers are able to choose among desirable products, and that they have sufficient resources to buy them. However, many consumer decision journeys are constrained by a scarcity of products and/or a scarcity of resources. We review research in marketing, psychology, economics and sociology to construct an integrative framework outlining how these different types of scarcity individually and jointly influence consumers at various stages of their decision journeys. We outline avenues for future research and discuss implications for developing consumer-based marketing strategies.
Do government expenditures shift private philanthropic donations to particular fields of welfare? We examine this association in the first cross-country study to correlate government expenditures with the level of individual private donations to different fields of welfare using the Individual International Philanthropy Database (IIPD, 2016; Ncountry = 19; Nindividual = 126,923). The results of the descriptive and multilevel analyses support the idea of crosswise crowding-in; in countries where government expenditures in health and social protection are higher, more donors give to support the environment, international aid, and the arts. The level of giving to different sectors, however, is not associated with government expenditures. The results reject the crowding-out hypothesis and provide a nuanced picture of the relationship between government funding and philanthropic giving across different fields of social welfare.
Research reflects the importance of understanding the motivational variables of ethical consumer behavior. However, existing research has been limited to more narrowly construed factors that show an obvious link with ethics. Currently, empirical work on motivational factors relevant to orientations working across context is scarce. To address this gap, this project investigated ethical consumption from the perspective of person orientation (PO) and thing orientation (TO), both of which presumably motivate individual differences. For this purpose, three main studies were conducted by using correlational and experimental approaches to assess the relationships among PO, TO, and ethical consumer behavior. Across the three studies, the current research provides strong evidence for PO as a key driver of ethical consumption behavior. In contrast, the role of TO was inconsistent. Moderating effects of gender were also somewhat apparent. The findings suggest that individual orientations are important motivational variables for better understanding ethical consumers and that future researchers should further investigate PO/TO in this context.
The academic and public interest in blood glucose and its relationship to decision making has been increasing over the last decade. To investigate and evaluate competing theories about this relationship, we conducted a psychometric meta-analysis on the effect of blood glucose on decision making. We identified 42 studies relating to 4 dimensions of decision making: willingness to pay, willingness to work, time discounting, and decision style. We did not find a uniform influence of blood glucose on decision making. Instead, we found that low levels of blood glucose increase the willingness to pay and willingness to work when a situation is food related, but decrease willingness to pay and work in all other situations. Low levels of blood glucose increase the future discount rate for food; that is, decision makers become more impatient, and to a lesser extent increase the future discount rate for money. Low levels of blood glucose also increase the tendency to make more intuitive rather than deliberate decisions. However, this effect was only observed in situations unrelated to food. We conclude that blood glucose has domain-specific effects, influencing decision making differently depending on the relevance of the situation to acquiring food. (PsycINFO Database Record
Four studies show that moral identity reduces people's aversion to giving time-particularly as the psychological costs of doing so increase. In Study 1, we demonstrate that even when the cost of time and money are held equivalent, a moral cue enhances the expected self-expressivity of giving time-especially when it is given to a moral cause. We found that a moral cue reduces time aversion even when giving time was perceived to be unpleasant (Study 2), or when the time to be given was otherwise seen to be scarce (Study 3). Study 4 builds on these studies by examining actual giving while accounting for the real costs of time. In this study, we found that the chronic salience of moral identity serves as a buffer to time aversion, specifically as giving time becomes increasingly costly. These findings are discussed in terms of the time-versus-money literature and the identity literature. We also discuss policy implications for prosocial cause initiatives. (PsycINFO Database Record
Consumers often encounter reminders of resource scarcity. However, relatively little is known about the psychological processes that such reminders instantiate. In this article, we posit that reminders of resource scarcity activate a competitive orientation, which guides consumers' decision making towards advancing their own welfare. Further, we reveal that this tendency can manifest in behaviors that appear selfish, but also in behaviors that appear generous, in conditions where generosity allows for personal gains. The current research thus offers a more nuanced understanding of why resource scarcity may promote behaviors that appear either selfish or generous in different contexts, and provides one way to reconcile seemingly conflicting prior findings.
At every waking moment, one's mode of attention is situated at some point on a spectrum ranging from experiencing, where attention is directed towards perceptions and cognitions related to the immediate physical environment, to mind-wandering, where attention is directed towards thoughts, feelings, and daydreams that are decoupled from the environment. Across five studies, the authors propose and find that people in an experiencing (vs. mind-wandering) mode place more importance on detecting change in their environment, which leads them to prioritize attention toward changeable stimuli (like price) and subsequently afford such stimuli greater weight in judgments and decisions. The research not only uncovers a novel stimuli characteristic - changeability - important in both the domain of attention modes and judgments, but also diverges from the typical characterization of price as a salient cue or heuristic to generate a unique set of findings based on price's inherently changeable nature. More broadly, the findings highlight a way in which consumers' fundamental judgment and decision making processes are shaped by cognitive mechanisms designed for the physical world.
Altruism, although costly, may promote well-being for people who give. Costly giving by adults has received considerable attention, but less is known about the possible benefits, as well as biological and environmental correlates, of altruism in early childhood. In the current study, we present evidence that children who forgo self-gain to help other people show greater vagal flexibility and higher subsequent vagal tone than children who do not, and children from less wealthy families behave more altruistically than those from wealthier families. These results suggest that (a) altruism should be viewed through a biopsychosocial lens, (b) the influence of privileged contexts on children's willingness to make personal sacrifices for others emerges early, and (c) altruism and healthy vagal functioning may share reciprocal relations in childhood. When children help others at a cost to themselves, they could be playing an active role in promoting their own well-being as well as the well-being of others.
© The Author(s) 2015.
Consumers with limited discretionary money face important trade-offs when deciding how to spend it. In the current research, we suggest that feelings of financial constraint increase consumers’ concern about the lasting utility of their purchases, which in turn increases their preference for material goods over experiences. The results of seven studies confirm that the consideration of financial constraints shifts consumers’ preferences toward material goods (rather than experiences), and that this systematic shift is due to an increased concern about the longevity of the purchase. This preference shift persists even when the material goods are more frivolous than the experiences, indicating that the effect is not driven by an increased desire for sensible and justifiable purchases. However, the shift towards material purchases disappears when the material purchase is unusually short-lived, further implicating concern about longevity as the key driver of the effect. Finally, the consideration of financial constraints increases preference for material purchases even when the potential memories that experiences can provide are made explicitly salient. Together, these results indicate that financially constrained consumers spend their discretionary money on material purchases as a means of securing long-term consumption utility.
This research examines the interplay of self-construal orientation and victim group-membership on prosocial behavior. Whereas consumers primed with an independent self-construal demonstrate similar propensities to help needy in-group and out-group others, an interdependent orientation fosters stronger commitments to aid in-group than out-group members. This interaction holds in both individualistic (i.e., the United States) and collectivistic (i.e., China) nations and seems driven by a belief system. For interdependents, the prospect of helping needy in-group (relative to out-group) members heightens the belief that helping others contributes to their own personal happiness, which in turn increases their propensity to act benevolently. Such in-group/out-group distinctions do not seem to operate among independents. The article concludes by discussing the theoretical implications of our findings for the cross-cultural, intergroup-relations, and prosocial literatures before deriving insights for practice.
Our research uniquely shows that scarcity cues, when effectively managed by the service firms, can lead to favorable purchase decisions. We investigate how service firms that are scarce on time resource (busy) vs. money resource (poor) are perceived differentially on the two basic dimensions of social perceptions: warmth and competence. Across four studies, we provide the first empirical evidence that busy service firms are perceived higher on competence and poor service firms are perceived higher on warmth. We also find that service firms that are both busy and poor have the highest purchase preference compared to either busy or poor service firms. In addition, purchase preferences are moderated by the consumption contexts (exchange vs. communal relationship domain). Managerially, our findings that scarcity cues influence purchase preferences can benefit the design and execution of marketing strategies.
Low fit brand extensions, while often presenting profitable opportunities for existing brands, are known to meet with varying levels of consumer acceptance. This research identifies conditions under which low fit extensions can succeed. Specifically, the authors show that the extent to which consumers consider the context in forming judgments (i.e., are context dependent) determines the acceptance of low fit extensions. In four studies, the authors examine the combined effects of context (in)dependence and type of information, and show that context dependent individuals form their evaluations on the basis of the type of brand extension information provided. For context dependent individuals, providing benefit-based information enhances the evaluations of low fit extensions, whereas providing attribute-based information leads to a reliance on extension fit and subsequent unfavorable evaluation of low fit extensions. In contrast, context independent individuals are more likely to base their judgments on extension fit regardless of whether attribute- or benefit-based information is provided. The acceptance of high fit extension is unaffected by context (in)dependence and type of information. Our findings provide a two-step strategy (i.e., sensitizing consumers to context and providing them benefit-based extension information) for managers to successfully launch low fit extensions and leverage existing parent brand equity.
Five studies examine how perceived financial constraints and abundance determine when consumers will engage in solitary or social purchases. When financially constrained, consumers prefer solitary (vs. social) purchases. We also identify self-construal as a moderator of how consumers spend their discretionary income. While independent consumers prefer solitary (vs. social) purchases, interdependent consumers prefer social (vs. solitary) purchases. Interestingly, when consumers have adequate discretionary income, independent as well as interdependent consumers have similar preferences for solitary and social purchases. In addition, for interdependent consumers, communal norms mediate the preference for social purchases. Finally, for independent consumers, making the communal norm salient reverses their preference for solitary purchases, resulting in a preference for social purchases. Our findings suggest how managers can effectively promote different types of purchases under varying financial resource conditions in their global communication strategy.
Supplementary information:
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-021-00814-x.
Prosocial acts typically take the form of time- or money-donations. Do third-parties differ in how they evaluate these different kinds of donations? Here, we show that people view time-donations as more morally praiseworthy and more diagnostic of moral character than money-donations, even when the resource investment is comparable. This moral preference occurs because people perceive time-donations as signaling greater emotional investment in the cause and therefore better moral character; this occurs despite the (correct) belief that time-donations are typically less effective than money-donations (Study 1). This effect in turn is explained by two mechanisms: People believe that time-donations are costlier even when their objective costs are equated, which happens because people rely on a lay theory associating time with the self (Study 2). The more signaling power of time-donations has downstream implications for interpersonal attractiveness in a dating context (Study 3A), employment decisions (Study 3B), and donor decision-making (Study 3). Moreover, donors who are prompted with an affiliation rather (versus dominance) goal are likelier to favor time-donations (Study 4). However, reframing money-donations in terms of time (e.g., donating a week’s salary) reduced and even reversed these effects (Study 5). These results support theories of prosociality that place reputation-signaling as a key motivator of moral behavior. We discuss implications for the charity market and for social movements, such as effective altruism, that seek to maximize the social benefit of altruistic acts.
This research documents systematic gender performance differences (GPD) at a top business school using a unique administrative dataset and survey of students. The findings show that women’s grades are 11% of a standard deviation lower in quantitative courses than those of men with similar academic aptitude and demographics, and men’s grades are 23% of a standard deviation lower in nonquantitative courses than those of comparable women. The authors discuss and test for different reasons for this finding. They show that a female instructor significantly cuts down GPD for quantitative courses by raising the grades of women. In addition, female instructors increase women’s interest and performance expectations in these courses and are perceived as role models by their female students. These results provide support for a gender stereotype process for GPD and show that faculty can serve as powerful exemplars to challenge gender stereotypes and increase student achievement. The authors discuss several important implications of these findings for business schools and for society.
Charitable campaigns sometimes display information about others’ participation to influence the behavior of prospective donors. This research shows that the effect of others’ participation on charitable behavior is moderated by recipient resource scarcity, i.e., the extent to which campaign recipients are perceived to lack financial and material resources. Results indicate that others’ participation has a positive effect on charitable behavior when recipient resource scarcity is high but a negative effect on charitable behavior when recipient resource scarcity is low. Results also provide evidence for an underlying psychological mechanism based on activation of agencycommunion motives in prospective donors. This research contributes to the literature by identifying recipient resource scarcity as a moderator and activation of agencycommunion motives as a mechanism underlying the effect of others’ participation on charitable behavior.
Nonprofit organizations play a critical role in society. To fulfill their missions, they require sufficient supply to meet demand. In addressing how nonprofits can work towards meeting the needed demand through donors, the marketing literature focuses primarily on leveraging individual differences, message characteristics, motives, or social norms to secure donor time, talent, or treasure. Other ways in which donors make impactful contributions, however, are less studied. One of these less examined cases is donor activism, a social mechanism by which donors act to increase supply for nonprofits. Through an ethnographic study of donors organizing a Guinness World Records attempt for the most living organ donors gathered together, we investigate the mechanisms underlying donor efforts to positively influence the supply of living donors. Our findings suggest that donation behaviors that increase supply may lead to varying degrees of activism. Managerial implications of these findings are presented with specific suggestions for how donors and nonprofit organizations may interact within consumer movements to support supply generation.
Nonprofit organizations often rely on individuals to execute their mission of addressing unmet societal needs. Indeed, one of the most significant challenges facing such organizations is that of enlisting individuals to provide support through the volunteering of time or donation of money. To address this challenge, prior studies have examined how promotional messages can be leveraged to motivate individuals to support the missions of nonprofit organizations. Yet promotional messages are only one aspect of the marketing mix that may be employed. The present study examines how donor-based nonprofit organizations can employ the marketing mix—product, price, promotion, place, process, and people—to influence the experiences of sacrifice associated with donation. The authors do so through an ethnographic study of individuals participating in living organ donation. First, they identify the manifestation of sacrifice in donation. Next, they define three complementary and interactive types of sacrifice: psychic, pecuniary, and physical. Then, they articulate how the marketing mix can be employed to mitigate experiences of sacrifice that emerge through the donation process. The authors conclude by discussing implications for marketing practice and identifying additional research opportunities for sacrifice in the realm of donation.
As we come to increasingly rely on robotic and Artificial Intelligence technologies, there are a growing number of ethical concerns to be considered by both service providers and consumers. This review concentrates on five such issues: (1) ubiquitous surveillance, (2) social engineering, (3) military robots, (4) sex robots, and (5) transhumanism. With the partial exception of transhumanism, all of these areas of AI and robotic service interaction already present ethical issues in practice. But all five areas will raise additional concerns in the future as these technologies develop further. These issues have serious consequences and it is imperative to research and address them now. I outline the relevant literatures that can guide this research. The paper fills a gap in recent work on AI and robotics in services. It expands views of service contexts involving robotics and AI, with important implications for public policy and applications of service technologies.
An increasing number of consumers, in recent times, have reported feeling busier than ever. The current research examines how the subjective perception of busyness—which is referred to as a busy mindset in the current research —impacts consumers’ decision-making. Building on different streams of research in sociology and self-view, the current research proposes that a busy mindset bolsters people’s sense of self-importance, which, in turn, can increase self-control. Thus, a busy mindset is predicted to facilitate people’s ability to exert self-control. Seven studies, including a field study, provide support for this busy mindset hypothesis across various self-control domains. Findings from these studies provide support for the underlying process related to self-importance in multiple ways, while also addressing alternative accounts related to stress and the desire for productivity. Finally, findings from the current research delineate important managerially relevant boundary conditions for the proposed busy mindset effect. © The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Journal of Consumer Research, Inc. All rights reserved.
Charitable organizations play a vital role in our society, as is evidenced by their enormous economic and social impact. Yet, for many of them, soliciting adequate resources to carry out their mandates is a continuing struggle. Confronted with a growing need for their services, fierce competition from other charities, and shrinking support from government agencies, charities may turn to marketers for help in developing effective promotional strategies. Unfortunately, marketing literature is unable to provide meaningful guidance because scant research attention has hampered a fuller understanding of why people help. The authors integrate relevant research in marketing, economics, sociology, and social psychology to advance theoretical understanding of helping behavior. They develop research propositions regarding specific promotional strategies that charitable organizations can employ to elicit help.
This is an update of a 2010 paper we published on anthropomorphic consumer perception of brands and marketer attempts to humanize brands through packaging. Since that time a great deal of academic and business attention to the topic of anthropomorphism has resulted in the related work on brand mascots, brand personality, marketplace mythologies, and anthropomorphism in product design and advertising. In addition, new arenas of anthropomorphism have emerged with developments in projective research methods, digital avatars, robot design, digital self-presentation, and conversational digital assistants like Amazon’s Alexa and Apple’s Siri. Such novel directions have prompted new research questions and further studies. This paper offers a brief update of the evolving issues in the co-creation of anthropomorphic objects and brand interpretations by consumers, designers, roboticists, engineers, and marketers.
Academics have shown a growing interest in the effects of resource scarcity—a discrepancy between one's current resource levels and a higher, more desirable reference point. However, the existing literature lacks an overarching theory to explain the breadth of findings across different types of resources. To address this, we introduce a self-regulatory model of resource scarcity. In it, we propose that consumers respond to resource scarcity through two distinct psychological pathways: a scarcity-reduction route aimed at reducing the discrepancy in resources and a control-restoration route aimed at reestablishing diminished personal control by attaining security in other domains. We explain how a key determinant of which route the consumer will pursue is the perceived mutability of the resource discrepancy. We also specify moderators, based on our proposed model, to identify when each of the two routes is pursued. This model is assessed in the context of alternative theoretical perspectives, including commodity theory, life history theory, and models of compensatory behavior. Finally, we provide a research agenda for those interested in studying the psychology of resource scarcity from a self-regulatory perspective. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Marketing strategies are often tied to how consumers spend time (e.g., waiting in lines, searching across stores) in return for money (e.g., receiving a discount). Viewing such time-money tradeoffs in terms of a reservation wage rate for consumers, we identify a wage-rate asymmetry between two elicitation procedures: (a) Money-Elicit (MEL): state the minimum amount of money, M, that you would accept in return for spending a given number of hours, T; and (b) Time-Elicit (TEL): state the maximum number of hours, T, that you would spend in return for accepting a given amount of money, M. While these procedures are normatively equivalent, we propose that TEL (vs. MEL) wage rates are higher because time scarcity receives a higher weight in TEL judgments. In eight studies including both hypothetical and real settings, we document the wage-rate asymmetry, the time scarcity process, and a downstream consequence of TEL (vs. MEL) reducing the likelihood of accepting a time-money tradeoff. We discuss the implications for practice, and for research on wage rates, time versus money, procedural invariance, and scarcity.
Individuals selectively orient toward their social environment (people) and toward their physical environment (things/objects). These orientations are key predictors of important life outcomes, including career decisions. However, research has not yet examined whether orientations toward people and things manifest in naturalistic environments. The present two-part study addressed this gap. In part one, participants rated their interest in person- and thing-related books (e.g., on relationships; robots). Participants then took a camera home for several days to photograph anything or anyone they considered an important part of their life. In part two, the photographs were submitted and coded for content. Results support the construct validity of person and thing orientations. Greater interest was expressed in orientation-related than unrelated books and photograph content was consistent with individuals' orientations. The findings suggest that person and thing orientations leave traces in everyday environments and behaviors. This research highlights implications for the development of interests and academic and occupational decision-making.
While research on conspicuous consumption has typically analyzed how people spend money on products that signal status, this article investigates conspicuous consumption in relation to time. The authors argue that a busy and overworked lifestyle, rather than a leisurely lifestyle, has become an aspirational status symbol. A series of studies shows that the positive inferences of status in response to busyness and lack of leisure time are driven by the perceptions that a busy person possesses desired human capital characteristics (e.g., competence and ambition) and is scarce and in demand in the job market. This research uncovers an alternative kind of conspicuous consumption that operates by shifting the focus from the preciousness and scarcity of goods to the preciousness and scarcity of individuals. Furthermore, the authors examine cultural values (perceived social mobility) and differences among cultures (North America vs. Europe) to demonstrate moderators and boundary conditions of the positive associations derived from signals of busyness.
To facilitate a multidimensional approach to empathy the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) includes 4 subscales: Perspective-Taking (PT) Fantasy (FS) Empathic Concern (EC) and Personal Distress (PD). The aim of the present study was to establish the convergent and discriminant validity of these 4 subscales. Hypothesized relationships among the IRI subscales between the subscales and measures of other psychological constructs (social functioning self-esteem emotionality and sensitivity to others) and between the subscales and extant empathy measures were examined. Study subjects included 677 male and 667 female students enrolled in undergraduate psychology classes at the University of Texas. The IRI scales not only exhibited the predicted relationships among themselves but also were related in the expected manner to other measures. Higher PT scores were consistently associated with better social functioning and higher self-esteem; in contrast Fantasy scores were unrelated to these 2 characteristics. High EC scores were positively associated with shyness and anxiety but negatively linked to egotism. The most substantial relationships in the study involved the PD scale. PD scores were strongly linked with low self-esteem and poor interpersonal functioning as well as a constellation of vulnerability uncertainty and fearfulness. These findings support a multidimensional approach to empathy by providing evidence that the 4 qualities tapped by the IRI are indeed separate constructs each related in specific ways to other psychological measures.
Movies, magazines, and popular TV shows such as “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” often highlight the abundance of money and leisure time among the wealthy. Consistent with this portrayal, Veblen’s (1899/2007) theory of the leisure class suggests that the wealthy signal their ability to live idle lives by consuming time unproductively. At the same time though, complaining about being busy and about working all the time is an increasingly widespread phenomenon in modern society. On Twitter, celebrities publicly complain about “having no life” or “being in desperate need for a vacation” (Alford 2012). New York Times social commentator suggests that a common response to the question “How are you?” is “Busy!” (Kreider 2012). An analysis of holiday letters indicates that references to “crazy schedules” have increased since the 1960s (Schulte 2014). Contrary to the prediction that signaling time spent leisurely is associated with high status and wealth, we propose that signaling busyness has also become a status symbol and is regarded as an aspirational lifestyle.
We uncover an alternative kind of conspicuous consumption that operates by shifting the focus from the preciousness and scarcity of goods to the preciousness and scarcity of individuals. Our investigation of the underlying mechanisms reveals that positive status inferences in response to busyness are mediated by the perception that a busy person is in high demand and scarce. Six studies test our conceptual model. In study 1, our aim was to establish that a more-busy individual would be perceived to have more status than a less-busy individual, and to demonstrate a proposed mediating process of being in demand and scarce, while controlling for alternative mechanisms. In studies 2 and 3, we show how the public use of time-saving products (e.g., Bluetooth headset) and services (Peapod delivery) can signal status, regardless of how busy one truly is. In studies 4 and 5, we examine cultural values (the work ethic) and differences among cultures (i.e., North America vs. Europe) to demonstrate moderators and boundary conditions of the busyness effect. We find that Americans with values consistent with the protestant work ethic (Mirels and Garrett 1971) are very likely to interpret busyness as a positive signal of status. Moreover, we obtain a reversed effect in Europe, with busyness signaling lower status. Finally, in study 6, rather than measure the inferences an observer makes in regard to a busy person, we show that people aspire to be more like a busy individual, especially for status-conscious people, despite the view that busyness is associated with low levels of happiness.
Our work develops a novel and yet unexplored association between time expenditure and status inferences, and contributes to several streams of literature. First, we expand research on the decline of leisure time (Hochschild 1997; Rutherford 2001; Schor 1992) by systematically examining the conditions under which busyness operates as a status symbol. Second, while past research has primarily focused on how the expenditure of money has been a vehicle to signal status (Bellezza and Keinan 2014; Berger and Ward 2010; Griskevicius et al. 2007; Han et al. 2010; Rucker and Galinsky 2008; Wang and Griskevicius 2014; Ward and Dahl 2014), we explore how the expenditure of time can lead to the same end. Finally, our novel predictions contribute to recent research analyzing more subtle and alternative signals of status (Bellezza et al. 2014; Berger and Ward 2010; Dubois et al. 2012; Han et al. 2010).
Individuals differ in how they deploy attention to their physical and social environments. These differences have been recognized in various forms as orientations, interests, and preferences, but empirical work examining these differences at a cognitive level is scarce. To address this gap, we conducted two studies to explore the links among attentional processes and interests in people and things. The first study measured selective visual attention toward person- and thing-related image content. In the second study, participants were randomly assigned to describe visually presented scenes using either an observational or narrative story format. Linguistic analyses were conducted to assess attentional bias toward interest-congruent content. Outcomes from both studies suggest that attention and motivational processes are linked to differential interests in physical and social environments.
The integrative and reflexive capabilities of the personality research paradigm are here reviewed in the context of applying specialization theory to issues in man-environment research. A primary specialist typology is described along with the notion of specialization loops. Assessment techniques for measuring the cognitive, affective, and behavioral components of specialization loops are outlined and a developmental model of environmental construing proposed. The specialization model in its expanded form, which includes expressive and environmental barriers to the completion of loops, is shown to apply to students, scientists, and schizophrenics. A plea is made for an environmental psychology that is empirically reflexive. Hopefully, it will soon be difficult to find an environmental psychologist who has not been put soundly in his place—at least in his own theorizing.
Prosocial behaviors have been associated with enhanced well-being, but what psychological mechanisms explain this connection? Some theories suggest that beneficence - the sense of being able to give - inherently improves well-being, whereas evidence from self-determination theory (Weinstein & Ryan, 2010) shows that increases in well-being are mediated by satisfaction of innate psychological needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness. Here we simultaneously assess these two explanations.
Study 1 (n = 335) used a cross-sectional survey to develop a measure to assess beneficence satisfaction. The next two cross-sectional studies tested mediators between prosocial behavior and general well-being (study 2, n = 332) and situational peak moment well-being (study 3, n = 180). A fourth study (n = 85) used a diary method to assess daily fluctuations in well-being associated with needs and beneficence.
It was shown across all studies that both the three psychological needs and beneficence satisfaction mediate the relations between prosocial actions and well-being, with all four factors emerging as independent predictors.
Together these studies underscore the role of autonomy, competence, and relatedness in explaining the well-being benefits of benevolence, and also point to the independent role of beneficence as a source of human wellness. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
We find systematic differences in the way that people spend time versus money. Ex post, people are able to more easily accommodate negative outcomes by adjusting the value of their temporal inputs. Ex ante, people are willing to spend more time for higher risk, higher return options whereas when spending money the pattern is reversed and the more standard pattern of increasing risk aversion is observed. Although accurate assessment of the opportunity costs of time is key to making good decisions, ambiguity in the value of time promotes accommodation and rationalization.
An essential characteristic of marketing practice and theory is the promotion of exchanges, many of which are funded by money. Marketing literature thus places great emphasis on determining what factors influence consumers to engage in the marketplace. Less understood, however, is how consumers allocate monetary resources to fund exchanges. Scholars have demonstrated that people employ earmarks to segregate money by source, meaning, or purpose. The ethnographic study of provisioning in the current research adds to prior scholarship with an explanation of how money, as a fungible resource, is transformed into moral and social resources by the behavioral process of ascribing earmarks and approaching provisioning. As part of this study, the author develops a typology that incorporates thrift provisioning and splurge provisioning approaches to categorize consumer goals derived from the use of prosaic and indexical earmarks. These goals are defined as economizing, sustaining, treating, and rewarding. The article closes with a discussion of implications for marketing managers and potential avenues for further research.
Although companies are devoting significant resources to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, insights into the optimal formulation, implementation, and effectiveness estimation of CSR strategies are currently scarce. This article takes an indepth look at when, why, and how CSR works from a consumer's perspective. In contrast to the simple, monotonie relationships between CSR and consumer purchase behavior evident in marketplace polls, this article proposes a more complex, contingent model of consumer responses to CSR. It articulates both the internal outcomes (e.g., awareness, attitudes, attachment) and external outcomes (e.g., word of mouth, purchase, loyalty) of CSR initiatives for not just the company, but also the consumer and the CSR issue/cause. This article delineates the key factors that are likely to moderate the extent to which the inputs lead to the internal outcomes and the internal outcomes lead to the external ones. This framework can help guide companies in not only formulating and implementing their CSR initiatives, but also measuring the effectiveness of these initiatives.
We test the hypothesis, dating from the work of Weber and Tocqueville, that Americans are more likely to become involved in voluntary associations than people of other nations. Compared to previous work, we employ more recent data and consider more countries. We also examine several different measures of membership levels: all memberships versus working memberships as well as membership including and excluding church or union memberships. Cross-national differences are examined before and after controls for education, employment status, size of community, gender, marital status, and age. Results show Americans at or near the top on most measures of membership, although this ranking drops significantly when church membership is excluded and drops even further when only working memberships are examined. In these instances, people from several countries, including Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Northern Ireland, Norway, and Sweden, equal or surpass the membership levels of Americans, especially when controls are introduced. Some alternative interpretations of the cross-national differences in voluntary association activity are considered.