题　目：I need to get better at this: The Impact of Individual Differences on The Preference for Self-Improvement Products

嘉　宾：Xianyu Hao(郝先瑀) , Ph.D. Candidate, University of Minnesota

主持人：才凤艳 教授 上海交通大学安泰经济与管理学院

时　间：2024年11月8日（周五）14:00-15:30

地　点：上海交通大学 徐汇校区 安泰经济与管理学院A303

内容简介:

Existing literature has focused on self-improvement products that can satisfy consumers’ general self-improvement motive. However, consumers sometimes engage in self-improvement for up-ward comparison purposes. This research proposes a type of self-improvement product that would facilitate upward comparison, identifying consumers who tend to prefer this product and examining the underlying mechanism. I propose that this type of product can help consumers 1) improve an important aspect of the self and 2) gain competitive advantages in society. In six studies, including secondary data, I demonstrate that consumers’ preference for self-improvement products with competitive advantages is contingent on individual differences, such as their political ideology. Conservatives favor self-improvement products that provide competitive advantages in society more than liberals across different domains (physical fitness and intelligence). This occurs because conservatives’ higher belief in social dominance. I further show that when liberals are boosted with a social dominance orientation, liberals’ preferences for self-improvement products with competitive advantages also increase. Additionally, secondary data provided support for the main effect. This research contributes to the literature on individual differences, self-improvement products, and social dominance orientation. These findings provide implications for practitioners. For example, my studies identify self-improvement products with competitive advantages features; these insights can help marketers decide whether their products fit in this category. Therefore, marketers could endorse self-improvement products with competitive advantages features more effectively based on the segments of market they target.

演讲人简介：

Xianyu (Bonnie) Hao is a PhD candidate in Consumer Behavior at the Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. Her current research focuses on Better Marketing for a Better World, a central issue that marketing scholars aim to address. Her job market paper examines the impact of individual differences on the preference for self-improvement products, which is under preparation for submission to the Journal of Marketing. In this vein of research, she also has multiple projects that focus on prosocial outcomes, including volunteering behavior, sustainable behavior, and vaccine hesitancy. Her second research stream relates to digital marketing. Specifically, she investigates the impact of virtual backgrounds on persuasion effectiveness in the online sales context. A manuscript based on that research is under preparation for submission to the Journal of Consumer Research.

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