Abstract This research investigates how reviewers’ self-presentation strategies influence their posting behavior. We find reviewers are less likely to post negative reviews early in their review history due to concerns that doing so would make them appear as lacking warmth. This concern diminishes as the number of reviews associated with their profile increases, resulting in a discernable negative trend in ratings at the reviewer level. We document this trend across two well-known review platforms (Yelp and TripAdvisor). A series of controlled laboratory studies replicate the effect while demonstrating the role played by self-presentation concerns in explaining the downward trend of ratings. Specifically, we find concerns about appearing to lack warmth influence reviewers’ initial reluctance to post negative (but not positive) reviews, while concerns about appearing competent do not. We identify two theoretically consistent managerial interventions that moderate the effect. Allowing reviewers to rate experiences without associating a review with their profile reduces the effect of the number of prior reviews on their likelihood to post, as does prompting them to mention one positive element in their written comments. Our findings underscore the common concern that online review platforms provide positively skewed ratings and offers insight into how to address this.

Abstract Given the emergence of new technologies (e.g., online payment systems) and new service contexts (e.g., app-based services), the use of tip recommendations is becoming increasingly prevalent. Based on one large secondary dataset analysis (176,237 food delivery orders) and nine experiments, this research identifies an effective and easily implementable tip recommendation design—materially referenced tip recommendations (ie, referencing a product that financially equates to the suggested tip amount) to increase tips. The effect of materially referenced tip recommendations is sequentially driven by the vivid mental imagery of how the requested tips could be used by the recipient (ie, the consequences of tipping for the recipient) and the heightened perception that tipping serves as a meaningful expression of gratitude to the recipient. This effect is attenuated when the referenced product is perceived as inappropriate for expressing gratitude to the tip recipient.

Abstract Consumers’ choices of whom to follow on digital platforms shape their informational landscape. In an era in which the credibility of informational sources is critical, this research examines two key questions: (1) When do consumers prioritize communicator credibility over likability in their decisions to follow? and (2) How do multiple credibility and likability cues interact to influence these decisions? Analyzing four large datasets from popular following-enabled platforms, we find that consumers’ orientation toward content consumption—goal directed (“search”) versus experiential (“scroll”)—is key. Communicator credibility drives following on search-driven platforms (Yelp, Goodreads), whereas likability drives following on scroll-driven ones (Twitter/X, Instagram). Aggregate communicator sentiment across multiple posts serves as a cross-platform indicator of credibility and likability, and its effect on follower count differs by platform type. On scroll-driven platforms, communicators with positive aggregate sentiment benefit from a likability premium, attracting the most followers; this preference for positivity is mitigated by the presence of alternative communicator likability cues (e.g., using sociable language). On search-driven platforms, communicators with mixed aggregate sentiment benefit from a credibility premium, attracting the most followers; this preference for mixed sentiment is mitigated in the presence of alternative credibility cues (e.g., Yelp’s “Elite” badge). Implications for consumer protection and platform design are discussed.

Abstract Conventional wisdom and past research converge on the notion that product messages are more effective when they use a persuasive frame that directly addresses the product’s target customers to indicate a preference match (e.g., “If you like dark coffee, this is the coffee for you!”). In contrast, the current research identifies scenarios where consumers respond more favorably to dissuasive frames—that is, to messages that address the consumers not targeted by the product to indicate a preference mismatch (e.g., “If you don’t like dark coffee, this is not the coffee for you!”). Eight experiments using mixed methods demonstrate that the impact of dissuasive framing on consumer response is positive for target customers and negative for nontarget customers. This occurs because dissuasive framing increases perceptions of the product as a specialized offering intended for a more narrowly-defined target segment (ie, target specificity). Target specificity, in turn, increases (vs. decreases) the perceived fit between the product and target (vs. nontarget) customers, which drives their response. This research sheds light on a novel form of framing and introduces target specificity as a construct with important implications for consumers’ perceptions of fit with a product and their downstream responses.

Abstract From Netflix to Spotify to TikTok, consumers’ entertainment experiences increasingly revolve around personalized content. Does consuming personalized content in a specific entertainment domain influence the likelihood of consumers discussing that domain overall, beyond the specific content they engage with? Across eleven experiments, we investigate the impact of personalized content in the music and short-form video domains (i.e., content that feels tailored to one’s tastes) on the intent to discuss domain-related topics. We find that the impact of consuming personalized content (vs. other types of content or no content) on discussion intent varies depending on the strength of an individual’s identification with the domain. For weak identifiers, personalized content increases discussion intent, whereas for strong identifiers, it decreases intent. Process evidence highlights two underlying psychological forces: enhanced enjoyment of the domain and diminished confidence in domain knowledge. Personalized content increases discussion intent for weak identifiers—users whose intent is likely driven by high enjoyment. In contrast, personalized content decreases discussion intent for strong identifiers—users whose intent is likely driven by low confidence.

Abstract Products often aim to help consumers achieve desired outcomes such as increasing energy levels or removing fabric stains. These products typically work via rich causal paths. The current research suggests that the structure of these paths influences consumer judgments of product efficacy. In particular, sequential steps in these paths can evoke distinct directionalities—either increasing or decreasing variables in each step along the way. For example, a face cream could be described as “increasing the turnover of skin cells to reduce wrinkles.” Under our framework, the action influencing skin cells would correspond to increasing directionality, while the action influencing wrinkles would correspond to decreasing directionality. Ten experiments provide evidence that consumers prefer products with directionally consistent causal chains (i.e., all steps evoking the same directionality) over those with directionally inconsistent ones (i.e., steps evoking contrasting directionalities). This occurs because consumers find directionally consistent causal chains easier to process, which in turn leads them to infer higher efficacy from products working via such consistent chains. These findings advance our understanding of how consumers evaluate product descriptions and provide prescriptions for marketers tasked with composing product descriptions to convey efficacy.

Abstract Recent decades have witnessed menopause, an inevitable and natural bodily transition, come under the purview of the market. Menopausal women are increasingly expected to be informed entrepreneurs of their bodies, bringing this transition within the domain of self-regulation and responsibility. Using data emanating from institutionalized market actors (i.e., pharmaceutical and insurance companies, healthcare professionals) and the accounts of consumers, we investigate the construction of responsibility in the contested field of menopause. We show that the formation of the responsible feminine consumer subject is an adjustive process generated through contestations between different articulations of subjectivity. Specifically, we identify three subject formative subprocesses and show how gender is implicated in each. Instead of following a singular path, these subprocesses culminate in two distinct yet coexisting routes to responsibilization, either by appealing to the qualities of traditional feminine subjectivity or by aligning with postfeminist subjectivity. We extend existing theorizations by revealing how gender shapes the processes of responsible subject formation and broadening the investigation of consumer responsibilization to a personal and embodied level.

Abstract This research tests a solution for consumers to recover faster from negative experiences. We identify this solution by examining how the manner in which review writers express their emotions and rational thoughts in their reviews causally influences review writers. The results of five studies (field data and experiments) show that, similar to writing about traumatic life events, when review writers express both emotional and rational aspects in reviews about negative consumption experiences, they feel better afterwards (i.e., they recover affectively), and are more likely to purchase again (i.e., they recover cognitively). We further examine why writing integrated reviews has positive effects on review writers by collecting biophysiological response data, which provide support for an account related to affective recovery, and by analyzing thought listing data, which provide support for an account related to cognitive recovery. This research shows that writing online reviews can serve as a digital therapy tool that helps consumers recover from negative experiences.

Abstract Extant literature and common marketing practices converge around the idea that stronger self-links to a brand and its products lead to increased brand loyalty. In this article, we challenge this conventional notion by revealing situations where the preference for self-linked brands diminishes, despite the self-links remaining unchanged. We introduce a key distinction between two types of consumer identities based on whether identity expression relies on specific products: product-dependent (e.g., chef) and product-independent (e.g., foodie). Our theory posits that self-links to products exert less influence on preference when a product-independent identity is prominent. Across five studies examining consumer leisure identities, we find that priming a product-independent (vs. product-dependent) identity reduces preference for self-linked products/brands. Interestingly, it can also enhance preference for negatively self-linked (dissociative) products/brands among materialistic consumers. In a sixth experiment and a real-world Facebook study, we illustrate that the extent to which consumers’ identity is chronically product-independent can be assessed either directly or indirectly from social media interests, allowing for more effective targeting of brand-switching appeals. Adding to the literature on the symbolic role of products in identity expression, our research uniquely investigates the functional role of products in identity expression and its profound impact on product/brand preference.