As brands increasingly take stances on divisive political issues, it is essential to understand how consumers' political ideology influences reactions to such brands. This research examines the effect of US consumers' political ideology on their likelihood of retaliating against politically activist brands. I find that liberals (vs. conservatives) exhibit larger retaliation effects against brands that take an opposing (vs. supporting or neutral) stance on a divisive political issue. The principles of fair market ideology can explain this disparity. Conservatives (vs. liberals) are more likely to view the market as self-regulating and inherently just, reducing their tendency to retaliate against brands they oppose. Instead, conservatives, view large corporations as pivotal to the economy and are thus less likely to engage in personal or institutional intervention.

There are many standards set forth in the workplace to mitigate bias when hiring for jobs. Effects of beauty may result in punishments that are difficult to preempt. Attractiveness, although subjective, has an effect on how people are treated. There is research to support both a positive and negative side of attractiveness in relation to how one is treated. My research is aimed at providing more insight into such treatment and identifying when attractiveness is viewed favorably versus unfavorably in the marketplace. I hypothesized that in the professional workplace, there is an attractiveness punishment. My research is on testing the disparity between how men and women are treated with respect to hiring decisions based on whether or not they are deemed attractive. In order to test if this theory is true, I conducted a study (N=145) in which participants were given images of attractive and unattractive candidates, and were asked to make hiring decisions across multiple domains (e.g., restaurants, accountants). The results were consistent with an attractiveness punishment: participants preferred the less attractive candidate, but participants also were more likely to favor the more attractive candidate if they perceived said candidate to be much more attractive than the alternative.