Tanya L. Chartrand’s research while affiliated with Duke University and other places

Previous research on the so-called Chameleon effect and other studies on more general mimicry indicate that mimicking another person’s gestures, mannerisms, and speech (whether intentionally or not) leads to several profound social consequences without awareness that mimicry took place (Chartrand and Bargh, J Personality Soc Psychol 76:893–910, 1999). This chapter reviews research on mimicry as a nonconsciously employed mechanism by focusing on the consequences of mimicry. Thereby, we will review positive as well as negative consequences that take place within and beyond the mimicry dyad.

If you are having a hard day, what can someone else do to help you feel better? Maybe they could verbally comfort you or maybe they could give you a small gift. In seven studies, including an in‐person real gifting study, we find that receiving a small material gift, such as a candy bar or flowers, improves receivers' affect more than a supportive conversation with a close other does. We investigate the mechanism for this effect and find that support receivers perceive a gift to be a larger sacrifice than a conversation. This occurs because gifts seem more receiver‐focused (i.e., actions done solely to benefit the receiver) than do conversations. This difference in perceived sacrifice makes gifts (vs. conversations) more effective at promoting emotional recovery.

Understanding how initiatives to support Black-owned businesses are received, and why, has important social and economic implications. To address this, we designed three experiments to investigate the role of antiegalitarian versus egalitarian ideologies among White American adults. In Study 1 ( N = 199), antiegalitarianism (vs. egalitarianism) predicted viewing initiatives supporting a Black-owned business as less fair, but only when the business was competing with other (presumably White-owned) businesses. In Study 2 ( N = 801), antiegalitarianism predicted applying survival-of-the-fittest market beliefs, particularly to Black-owned businesses. Antiegalitarianism also predicted viewing initiatives supporting Black-owned businesses as less fair than initiatives that targeted other (presumably White-owned) businesses, especially for tangible (vs. symbolic) support that directly impacts the success of a business. In Study 3 ( N = 590), antiegalitarianism predicted rejecting a program investing in Black-owned businesses. These insights demonstrate how antiegalitarian ideology can have the effect of maintaining race-based inequality, hindering programs designed to reduce that inequality.

Despite the ubiquity of celebrations in everyday life, very little is known about how they may contribute to consumer well-being. In the current work, the authors propose that celebrations promote perceived social support, which prior work has conceptualized as the belief that others will be there for you in future, negative life events. The authors further theorize that celebrations require three key characteristics which, in combination, are necessary for increasing perceived social support. Specifically, celebrations must 1) mark an individual’s separate positive event and 2) involve consumption 3) with others (i.e., social). They test this theory across eight studies and demonstrate a process mechanism for this effect—these characteristics lead to increases in enacted support and perceived responsiveness, which in turn, lead to increases in more general perceived social support. They then extend these findings by investigating virtually held celebrations, the individual’s role at the celebration, and a downstream pro-social outcome. By doing so, this work highlights the broader benefits of celebrations beyond the focal individual and the immediate experience. Finally, specific policy implications and suggestions for enhancing consumer well-being are provided.

Background People unknowingly mimic the behaviors of others, a process that results in feelings of affiliation. However, some individuals with eating disorders describe feeling “triggered” when mimicked. This study explores the effects of implicit non-verbal mimicry on individuals with a history of an eating disorder (ED-His) compared to healthy controls (HCs). Method Women ( N = 118, n ED-His = 31; M age = 21 years) participated in a laboratory task with a confederate trained to either discreetly mimic (Mimicry condition) or not mimic (No-Mimicry condition) the mannerisms of the participant. Participants rated the likability of the confederate and the smoothness of the interaction. Results Participants in the No-Mimicry condition rated the confederate as significantly more likable than in the Mimicry condition, and ED-His rated the confederate as more likable than HCs. ED-His in the Mimicry condition rated the interaction as less smooth than HCs, whereas this pattern was not found in the No-Mimicry condition. Among ED-His, longer disorder duration (≥ 3.87 years) was associated with less liking of a confederate who mimicked and more liking of a confederate who did not mimic. Conclusions We discuss the implications of these findings for interpersonal therapeutic processes and group treatment settings for eating disorders. Plain English summary Our study on subtle, nonverbal mimicry revealed differences in social behavior for women with a history of an eating disorder compared to healthy women. For participants with an eating disorder history, a longer duration of illness was associated with a worse pattern of affiliation, reflected in lower liking of a mimicker. Further research on how diverging processes of affiliation may function to perpetuate the chronicity of eating disorders and implications for treatment is needed.

Providing social support is a critical part of being in a relationship with someone, but people often struggle to support loved ones in person. In this paper, we show how givers can use gifts to compensate for not providing in-person social support. Study 1 shows that when it is prohibitively difficult for givers to provide in-person support, they give more expensive gifts. Study 2 replicates this effect for likelihood to give a gift and shows it is not due to social desirability. Studies 3, 4a, and 4b find that guilt over not having provided adequate support drives people to give gifts, and that giving gifts partially relieves givers' feelings of guilt. Studies 5 and 6 examine moderation. In Study 5, people only compensate for a lack of in-person support with a gift when they have a strong obligation to support the recipient because they are close to them. Study 6 shows that money does not substitute for in-person support. We show the role of gifts in enhancing givers' wellbeing and provide new customer insights to managers on reasons people purchase gifts.

Shared consumer decisions, particularly those made with a relationship partner, can be very different from decisions that are made alone. Across multiple studies, we investigate how shared consumer decision making affects perceptions of power and relationship satisfaction. We integrate two streams of research to create a novel theory about consumer decision making and perceived power. Specifically, we suggest that shared consumer decision making combines two necessary components of power—an individual’s influence over and a partner’s engagement in the decision—and that these combined components drive power perceptions. In other words, individuals who relinquish some control and make a decision with their partner, ironically, perceive having greater power than if they had made the decision alone. We further find that shared decision making and greater perceived power lead to greater satisfaction with the relationship in which the decisions are made. By focusing on consumer decision making within relationships, the current research contributes to the literatures on decision making, social influences in consumer behavior, close relationships, consumer well‐being, and power.

Brand sincerity (wholesome, family-oriented) is core dimension of brand personality; however, to what extent is LGBTQ representation congruent with brand sincerity? We argue that whether or not LGBTQ representation is considered “wholesome” or “family-friendly,” and how consumers respond to such representation, is dependent on political ideology. Results show that an ad featuring a same-sex (vs. opposite-sex) couple is rated lower in brand sincerity by conservatives, which then uniquely predicts ad attitudes. Conservatives also saw a same-sex couple as more incongruent with a sincere brand, and this incongruence predicted ad attitudes. However, these effects were not found when the brand was exciting. Conversely, LGBTQ consumers’ preferred same-sex couple representation in the context of a sincere (vs. exciting) brand. Finally, an archival analysis of ads found that sincere (vs. exciting) brands represent LGBTQ consumers more favorably. Implications are discussed.

When it comes to health(-risk) behaviors, researchers are apt to consider how to change behaviors from a top-down approach (i.e., using the conscious, reflective, deliberate system) even though much of human behavior is determined by bottom-up processes (i.e., the nonconscious, reflexive, impulsive system). Given that researchers have proposed that interventions that target nonconscious processes underlying health(-risk) behaviors may prove to be more effective than interventions that target conscious processes, we argue that understanding the ways in which mimicking and modeling affect health(-risk) behaviors is a critical—albeit largely unexplored—domain. In this paper, we review existing evidence that people mimic and model a broad range of health(-risk) behaviors: specifically, the cigarette smoking, alcohol drinking, (un)healthy eating, and physical activity of others. We then discuss the neural and psychological mechanisms underlying these effects. Next, we outline moderators: specifically, we discuss when mimicking and modeling are more likely to occur, who is more likely to mimic and model, as well as who is more likely to be mimicked and modeled. Finally, we consider how mimicry and modeling could be used to leverage healthy behavioral change.

Gift-giving is a common form of social exchange but little research has examined how different gift types affect the psychological distance between giver and recipient. We examined how two types of gifts influence recipients’ perceived psychological distance to the giver. Specifically, we compared desirable gifts focused on the quality of the gift with feasible gifts focused on the gift’s practicality or ease of use. We found that feasible (vs. desirable) gifts led recipients to feel psychologically closer to givers (Studies 1 – 4). Further clarifying the process by which receiving a desirable versus feasible gift affects perceived distance, when recipients were told that the giver focused on the gift’s practicality or ease of use (vs. the gift’s overall quality), while holding the specific features of the gifts constant, they felt closer to the gift-giver (Study 5). These results shed light on how different gifts can influence interpersonal relationships.