Join Christine Ringler for her SEiR-F Talk, “Mistakes Were Made: The Unintended Consequences of Lighting and Identity-Relevant Mistakes on Source Judgments”.

The Summer Excellence in Research Program for Faculty (SEiR-F) promotes high-quality research efforts for Culverhouse faculty by providing funding for their summer research. Funds may be taken as a summer stipend and/or used to reduce the costs of the proposed research.

Mistakes Were Made: The Unintended Consequences of Lighting and Identity-Relevant Mistakes on Source Judgments

Abstract

Retail and service providers often use atmospherics and personalization to improve customer experiences, as these elements have been shown to increase purchase intentions. Yet, with the rise of personalized products in a marketplace of billions, marketers are bound to make mistakes. Drawing from the sensory marketing and identity literatures, the authors, using various identity-relevant mistakes in different marketplace contexts, show that when a customer experiences an identity-relevant mistake in a dimly-lit, deindividuated (vs. brightly-lit, individuated) environment, the customer experiences feelings of not mattering (studies 2-4). These feelings, in turn, lower source judgments (i.e., marketplace evaluations, studies 1-4; and increase negative post-purchase intentions, studies 2-4). This paper also shows that when the mistake is not relevant to the customer’s identity (study 3), the negative effects associated with lower source judgments are not as severe. Additionally, the authors establish that the negative effects resulting from identity-relevant mistakes can be mitigated by using a personally directed thank you message, which increases the customer’s feelings of mattering (study 4).