Hello there and thanks for stopping by.

I’m Erin, a scientist using the tools of behavioral economics and social and cognitive psychology to study how people think about sustainability, well-being, authenticity, and morality. Why these topics? Well, I think they’re interesting but I’ve also found that better understanding how we make these kinds of judgments affects how we choose and behave.

Work with Lawrence Williams

Consumer well-being involves not only the pursuit of pleasure, but also the pursuit of meaning.  However, little is known about how consumers perceive the costs and benefits of meaning- versus pleasure-oriented consumption.  In this work, we find that compared to the pursuit of pleasure, consumers expect the pursuit of meaning to involve lasting benefits that persist longer into the future and require greater minimum time investments which we define as the minimum amount of time needed to derive benefits from consumption. In related work, we examine the role that connection, knowledge, and expertise play in supporting the cultivation of meaning.

Works Published:

Consumers Minimum Time Investments in Meaningful Consumption
Marketing Letters
2023

Power and the Perception of Pregnancy in the Academy

Solo authored

Becoming pregnant as an academic is risky. Many who want to become or find themselves pregnant structure their lives and careers to try to mitigate the potential negative effects of pregnancy on their future careers. Yet research continues to suggest that having been pregnant or being a mother significantly reduces the likelihood of career success compared to either being child-free or a father. While in some cases success is defined as research productivity, in many cases, it is defined as simply remaining in academia. Governments, societies, and institutions bemoan the resulting “leaky pipelines” and speculate as to the causes of seemingly reinforced glass ceilings. Yet, underlying so many of the formal and informal conversations, norms, and policies surrounding pregnancy and academia is an implicit assumption that pregnancy and pregnant people are the problem to be solved and solutions thus require repairing some deficit created in the individual by pregnancy. In this article, I argue that pregnancy discrimination in academia is in large part a problem resulting from power and how it is wielded against pregnant people, both by institutions and by individuals. Using both a personal narrative account of the process, experience, and outcomes of pregnancy in the academy resulting in filing a formal Title IX complaint and a review of contemporary research on power, discrimination, and pregnancy, I explore how academic structures and systems nominally tasked with supporting equity can instead serve to exaggerate power differences and foster discrimination.

Published in Gender, Work & Organization
2023

Concern for Others' Welfare Influences Perceptions of Price Unfairness

Work with Margaret Campbell and Justin Pomerance

Consumer responses to seller’s prices are a crucial aspect of the marketplace; in some cases, price information elicits consideration of unfairness/fairness. While past literature has uncovered a variety of factors that influence perceptions of price fairness (PPF), the lack of an overarching conceptual framework has resulted in limited cohesive understanding of when and why consumers are more likely to perceive prices as fair or unfair. We develop a conceptual model of PPF as a moral judgment and propose that PPF are thus influenced by consumer perceptions of the harm arising from a price. Our conceptualization suggests that perceptions of harm–and thus, PPF–are influenced by consumer vulnerability, product welfare impact, firm price strategy and inferred firm motive. We also propose that political orientation and inferred firm motive moderate the relationship between perceptions of harm and PPF. We test our conceptualization across seven studies that support our moral harm model. The results provide novel insight into the PPF of prices that are unchanged, increased and even decreased, as well as when paying more than another is likely to be perceived as fairer than paying the same and when lowering prices can be perceived as less fair than maintaining prices.

Revising for 4th round at Journal of Consumer Research

Reframing and Restructuring Organizational Strategies for Reducing Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace

Work with William G. Obenauer

Harassment and discrimination in the workplace negatively impact not only the well-being of employees but the overall performance and success of an organization. Unaddressed, these behaviors can create toxic work environments and lead to high levels of turnover, absenteeism, and decreased productivity as well as legal liability. Despite the substantial personal and business costs of allowing these behaviors to persist, many employees who experience or witness harassment and discrimination are hesitant to report due to oft-justified concerns about retaliation and a lack of trust in institutional priorities and processes. We propose that managers of HRM systems tasked with reducing and addressing harassment and discrimination should re-evaluate the contemporary management approach by drawing from best practices for managing other types of business systems. We describe and draw analogies from three such systems – root cause analysis, threat modeling, and vulnerability disclosure or “bug-bounty” programs – to illustrate how organizations can use this analogical process to reevaluate HRM management systems with the goal of better positioning organizations to actually reduce harassment and discrimination within the workplace.

What was yours is (for now) mine: Prior user knowledge reduces product satisfaction but can improve experiential satisfaction in access-based consumption

With the rise of the sharing economy, more consumers than ever are thinking about products not in terms of ownership, but in terms of access necessary to facilitate experiences. In this paper, we build on prior literature, which distinguished product from experiential satisfaction to explore the role that knowledge of a prior user plays in shaping these two types of satisfaction in access-based consumption experiences. Across three studies, we demonstrate that product and experiential satisfaction can be affected differently when consumers are provided with information about previous users of products. We find that information about the previous user of a product consistently negatively impacts product satisfaction. However, we find that when the previous user has positive and experientially relevant traits, experiential satisfaction is increased. When the information about the previous user is negative or experientially irrelevant, experiential satisfaction is decreased. In cases in which we find a positive effect of prior user information on experiential satisfaction, we find it is mediated by transfer of the previous user's traits and that the effectiveness of this mechanism depends on the relevance of traits and the stability of the self-concept of the consumer.

Published in Journal of Consumer Behaviour

2023

Give a Little Bit: Consumers Ask More of Women Entrepreneurs

Work with Jenni Dinger and Molly Rapert

In recent years, academe and industry have sought to identify differences in the success rates of men and women who pursue entrepreneurial ventures and to understand the driving factors behind those differences. While previous work has examined differences in success rates, access to funding and mentoring, and perceptions of employees and investors, no prior research has systematically examined the consequential behavior of another important stakeholder: consumers. In this paper, we examine consumer perceptions of early stage entrepreneurs and how those perceptions translate to consequential behaviors that have the potential to significantly disadvantage nascent entrepreneurial ventures when those ventures are led by women. Specifically, in 3 studies across 4 domains, we find that consumers report an increased likelihood to ask for costly concessions from entrepreneurial ventures led by women as opposed to men. We also find that this effect is driven at least in part by perceptions that women are less likely to be primary breadwinners in their households. We conclude by discussing implications for women led businesses.

Using Information to Design Meaningful Artisan Food Experiences

Work with Stephanie Welcomer and Rusty Stough

There is a growing movement among consumers to know more intimately where their food comes from and how it comes to be on their plate. Consumers who value this connection often search outside of traditional outlets and product varieties to satisfy their needs. These consumers are motivated to engage in such costly behaviors at least in part due to the belief that consuming different products will lead to improved well-being. In this paper we provide information to small scale producers attempting to design specialty food products that cater to consumers’ desire to meaningfully connect with their food. We surveyed high-involvement consumers of a product category that is commonly consumed in more typical and more specialized forms and varieties: cheese. Measuring within subject, we contrast consumers’ expectations about the implications of consumption on well-being for typical and specialized versions of the same product and examine the role of information in designing more compelling consumption experiences for each product type. We present our findings in three parts. We find that consumers believe that special food products are more conducive to meaning making than typical products, that information provides more consumption utility for special versus typical versions of the same product, and that the expectation that a consumption experience will prove meaningful mediates the effect of product type on the value of product information. We conclude by discussing implications for product design and market segmentation for small scale cheese producers as well as other artisanal food producers.

Works Published:

Designing and Distinguishing Meaningful Artisan Food Experiences
Sustainability
2021

Messaging About PFAS that Informs Without Harming Regional Food Brands

Work with Caroline Noblet, Molly Shea, Qiujie (Angie) Zheng, and Charity Zimmerman

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of man-made chemicals used in consumer products for decades which recent research demonstrates present a risk to human, animal, and environmental health. PFAS contamination of water and soil in agricultural areas, and of food produced in these areas, is a growing area of concern but few states regularly test for contamination. Maine is a key exception and has been a leader in both testing for and communicating about PFAS. However, being a ‘first mover’ in this space presents a unique challenge, whereby Maine must balance the duty to educate the public about the risk and magnitude of contamination with the risk that doing so could engender negative perceptions about food produced in the state. The impact of testing for, and communicating about, PFAS on consumers’ perceptions of the relative safety of food produced in Maine is unknown. In this study, we used contemporary behavioral science to develop and test the effectiveness of messaging strategies designed to mitigate potential negative effects of Maine’s transparent PFAS strategy. We also examine effects of different message framings on consumers’ likelihood to request and preferences for additional information, assignment of blame for contamination, and beliefs about how future efforts to address PFAS testing and mitigation should be funded. Overall, the results of this study provide important insights for those seeking to educate the public about the risks associated with PFAS in a region while minimizing undue damage to perceptions of all food produced in that region.

The Challenge of Controlled Environment Agriculture: Technological Innovation and Consumer Demand for Natural

Work with Jason Entsminger and Lucy McGowan

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) offers a promising future in sustainable and efficient food production, leveraging advanced technologiesto optimise growth conditions and yield. This paper investigates the intriguing tension within CEA between attracting investment through its technological promise and understanding and appealing to consumers who have sought out “local,” “sustainable,” and “natural” food inecent years. The meanings consumers ascribe to these terms are rich, dynamic, and, we argue, in conflict with some of the investment pressures within the CEA space. We aim to explore the complex tradeoffs in this space as entrepreneurs navigate technological innovation, investment strategies, and consumer sentiment within the modern-day evolving food landscape.

Agritourism Information Framework: An Analysis of U.S. States

Work with IPhD student, Caroline Paras

How do farmers and fishermen find information on agritourism? How do consumers and visitors discover agritourism experiences that meet their availability and interests? The pandemic forced much training and supporting materials online, where governmental and non-governmental websites serve as repositories of information thanks to growing access to high-speed broadband. The increase in both computer and internet access not only expands the ways producers gain access to information, they also broaden the universe of “experts” to professionals in other disciplines, such as small business development and tourism promotion. In order to serve a variety of diverse stakeholders critical to the overall success of agritourism, states can play an important leadership role in agritourism development, particularly in curating information. To determine how U.S. states are providing producers with information on agritourism, we audited multiple state- level websites in every U.S. state according to 11 constructs targeting five primary stakeholders: industry, producers, communities, local consumers, and visitors. Recognizing that outreach, training, and technical assistance take many forms, we developed indicators that account for a wide array of information modalities, such as discussion groups, trainings, publications, websites, search portals, special events, and access to experts, particularly for topics in high demand from producers. Collectively, the creative efforts of states reveal a composite picture of a comprehensive information framework for agritourism. To further maximize limited resources, states should consider pooling funds from agencies to develop one portal geared to consumers and visitors, and another, tailored for industry, producers, and communities.

Agricultural Work-Based Learning Fosters Business Students’ Interest in Pursuing Careers in Agriculture

Work in progress with Stephanie Welcomer

In Pursuit of Imperfection: Flawed Products Reduce Process Uncertainty

Erin Percival Carter and A. Peter McGraw

Preparing for submission

As discussed on the Here We Are podcast with Shane Mauss

Bonus: My favorite demonstration of the theory via Ron Swanson

Abstract:

Can a product be too perfect? Decades of best business practices suggest that the answer is no. Yet, people sometimes prefer products with notable imperfections. We investigate why—and hence, when—consumers prefer imperfect products. When consumers care about difficult to verify production processes (e.g., organic farming), our studies show they sometimes prefer flawed products (e.g., blemished apples) over flawless competitors when the imperfections reduce uncertainty about production processes.

Hype Narrowly Benefits and Broadly Hurts Consumers' Well-Being

Erin Percival Carter, Lawrence Williams, and A. Peter McGraw

Under review at the Journal of Marketing Research

Based on the 3rd essay of my dissertation

Abstract:

People are regularly exposed to hype—intense, coordinated, multi-pronged, and exaggerated publicity efforts. Hype cultivates excitement for an event and fosters a fear of missing out. By hyping season finales and Super Bowls, networks, sponsors, and brands improve ratings and gain access to valuable viewers who are reluctant to change the channel. But how does hype affect consumers’ well-being? Using a survey of nearly 7,000 respondents who chose either to watch one of 16 hyped television events or engage in an alternate activity, we find that believing the hype is largely detrimental to consumer well-being. Compared to people who engaged in alternative activities, people who watched a hyped event reported deriving less pleasure, meaning, engagement, and achievement from the experience. However, we found a single positive influence of hype: it sometimes improves social well-being. Hyped events helped solitary viewers feel connected to others via a shared cultural experience. Building on this insight, a follow-up experiment conducted before, during, and after Super Bowl 50 revealed that focusing on the social elements of the event boosted well-being, compared to focusing on the details of the event. Our results demonstrate that there are limited benefits but extensive costs to believing the hype, particularly when it causes you to deviate from activities more in line with your values, goals, and preferences.

Being funny is not enough: The influence of perceived humor and negative emotional reactions on brand attitudes

Work with Caleb Warren and Peter McGraw

Humor is a common goal of marketing communications, yet humorous advertisements do not always improve consumer attitudes towards the advertised brand. By investigating a potential downside of attempting to be humorous, our inquiry helps explain why humorous ads can fail to improve, and potentially even hurt, brand attitudes. We show that advertisements intended to be humorous also risk causing negative emotions independent of humor appreciation. We investigate the link between humor appreciation, negative emotional reactions, and brand attitudes using four samples of advertisements. We find that attitudes toward an advertised brand depend less on the degree to which the ad seems funny and more on the degree to which the ad triggers negative emotional reactions. Consequently, whether an advertisement helps or hurts brand attitudes depends on whether the ad decreases or increases consumers’ negative feelings independent of perceived humor.

Published in the International Journal of Advertising

The Butt of Your Own Joke: Humor Production and Perceptions of Psychological Health

A. Peter McGraw, Erin Percival Carter, and Jennifer J. Harman

Preparing for submission; available at https://ssrn.com/abstract=2727829

As discussed on the Here We Are podcast with Shane Mauss

Abstract:

Funny people—comedians, class clowns, and pranksters—often seem troubled. But are they? Though an argument can be made either way, we suggest that trying to be funny can cause people to seem psychologically unhealthy regardless of their actual psychological health. We derive our predictions from the benign violation theory of humor, which proposes amusement arises from the perception that something is wrong yet okay. Accordingly, acting non- normatively enhances humor as long as the behavior is not too deviant. We present two studies that ask participants to judge storytellers based on the content of their stories. Although stories featuring taboo topics facilitate humor (up to a point)—humorous stories also create the impression that there is something wrong with the storyteller. Importantly, we find that the same storyteller is more likely to be perceived to be psychologically unhealthy when telling a story intended to be funny than when telling a story intended to be otherwise interesting.