Marketers have extensive data on consumers used to enhance value for consumers. However, the same segmenting, targeting, and positioning practices that provide value for unique, specific consumers, can also create the conditions to discriminate against groups with any given characteristic. In this research I examine this tension by unpacking contexts surrounding (a) who feels discriminated against in response to contrasting marketplace treatment and (b) who is still overlooked, despite all marketers seem to know about consumers. Specifically, in Chapter 1 I examine how men’s and women’s responses to the common practice of gender-based price variation differ. I find that women view higher prices for themselves as signals of gender discrimination that are unfair, which negatively impacts many brand outcomes (i.e., choice, purchase likelihood, competitor patronage). In contrast, men are less attuned to the prices as signals of gender discrimination because they are more likely to endorse free market principles, and so their perceived price unfairness and subsequent brand responses are not as negatively impacted. I find that these effects persist across utilitarian and hedonic items, across products, services, and experiences, across temporary and permanent price differences, and is specific to gender-based price variation, not gendering alone or price differences alone. In Chapter 2, I examine marketplace stereotypes of people with disabilities, an understudied group despite being the largest global minority. In this research, I reveal the disability preference stereotype, the inference that individuals with disabilities prefer utilitarian, over hedonic items, even though hedonic enjoyment is important to the well-being commonly sought as part of the human experience. These inferred preferences are misaligned with the actual preferences of disabled consumers. This bias occurs even when observers are informed that the product is a gift, when provided substantial information about the target consumer’s hedonic interests, and when the items are completely unrelated to disability (e.g., a documentary versus reality television streaming channel). This suppression of hedonic interests and pursuits can be mitigated if the target’s perceived need for support is attenuated through improvements in environmental accessibility.

Using a combination of laboratory experiments, field experiments, and secondary data, this dissertation examines how cross-cultural differences (e.g., thinking style and self-construal) influence the way consumers cope with self-discrepancies (essay 1) and willingness to digitally enhance their appearance (essay 2). The first essay investigates when and why consumers cope with a self-discrepancy by purchasing products in domains that are important to their self-worth, but unrelated to the self-discrepancy (i.e., fluid compensation). I identify thinking style as an important factor that influences fluid compensation and demonstrate that people with a temporarily activated or dispositional holistic thinking style are more likely to engage in fluid compensation than people with an analytic thinking style. This phenomenon occurs because, by perceiving parts as more functionally related to a larger whole, holistic (vs. analytic) thinkers are more likely to view fluid compensation as instrumental to enhancing global self-worth. Holistic (vs. analytic) thinkers’ greater propensity to engage in fluid compensation, in turn, better enables them to restore their global self-worth. The second essay examines how cultural differences in self-construal impact consumers’ willingness to engage in digital beauty work (e.g., use photo-editing apps to make oneself look better in an image). Building on prior research that shows interdependents see more overlap between themselves and others, I propose and demonstrate that consumers with an interdependent (vs. independent) self-construal also see greater overlap between their own different selves (beautified and true self). More importantly, this effect only occurs when they see both the actual self and the beautified self, side-by-side (e.g., joint presentation mode), but not when consumers see only the beautified self in isolation (e.g., separate presentation mode). This heightened overlap between the beautified self and the true self, in turn, increases willingness to digitally enhance appearance. Together, this dissertation contributes to the understanding of how cultural values shape consumers’ views of the self and consumption preferences to satisfy their goals and motivations, and it helps marketers and policy-makers design interventions to increase consumer well-being and to achieve more success in global market.

Individuals regularly share information about the leisure activities in which they participate, and often do so in a public manner (e.g., personal biographies, social media). Little research has examined the potential consequences of sharing such information. Across five lab experiments and one quasi-experiment utilizing Twitter data, I demonstrate that when people share information about participating in multiple leisure activities, others perceive them as having greater eudaimonic (e.g., meaning, fulfillment) and hedonic (e.g., happiness, satisfaction) well-being. These perceptions of well-being, and particularly eudaimonic well-being, have important positive implications, even in domains where leisure activities might be expected to serve as a negative signal. Specifically, individuals perceived as having higher eudaimonic well-being are viewed as more appealing in professional contexts. This effect is attenuated if the activities themselves are associated with lower well-being. The present research reveals the ironic effect that highlighting how one spends time outside work can increase one’s professional standing. I further demonstrate that well-being is not simply a positive outcome for individuals but can be a diagnostic tool utilized in interpersonal relationships, including professional relationships.

Researchers know that different types of self-construal (independent and interdependent) vary across different cultures. Individuals from East Asian cultures are more interdependent while individuals from Western cultures are more independent. Researchers also know that perceptions and understandings of beauty differ across cultures; however, there has been limited research on the connections between self-construal and beauty with minimal research on direct appearance enhancement products. Recently, new ways to present a positive self-image outside of cosmetics or direct appearance enhancement tools have emerged, and the question is raised as to whether these will also be determined by self-construal. We leverage work on the fluidity of self concept to argue that individuals with a more fluid self-concept (interdependents) will express more interest in appearance enhancement products. In the context of a Facebook ad study with Indian (interdependent) and American (independent) consumers, we demonstrate that interdependent consumers have greater interest in indirect appearance enhancing products, measured by click-through rate, compared to independent consumers.

Music has consistently been documented as a manner to bring people together across cultures throughout the world. In this research, we propose that people use similar musical tastes as a strong sign of potential social connection. To investigate this notion, we draw on literature examining how music merges the public/private self, the link to personality, and group identity, as well as how it is linked to romantic relationships. Thus, music can be a tool when wanting to get to know someone else and/or forge a platonic relationship. To test this hypothesis, we designed an experiment comparing music relative to another commonality (sharing a sports team in common) to see which factor is stronger in triggering an online social connection. We argue that people believe they have more in common with someone who shares similar music taste compared to other commonalities. We discuss implications for marketers on music streaming platforms.

Music has consistently been documented as a manner to bring people together across cultures throughout the world. In this research, we propose that people use similar musical taste as a strong sign of potential social connection. To investigate this notion, we draw on literature examining how music merges the public/private self, the link to personality, and group identity, as well as how it is linked to romantic relationships. Thus, music can be a tool when wanting to get to know someone else and/or forge a platonic relationship. To test this hypothesis, we designed an experiment comparing music relative to another commonality (sharing a sports team in common) to see which factor is stronger in triggering an online social connection. We argue that people believe they have more in common with someone who shares similar music taste compared to other commonalities. We discuss implications for marketers on music streaming platforms.

International marketing involves a tricky balance between appealing to foreign cultural values while still creating an authentic message, without using stereotypes or relying on complex cultural notions that might be misunderstood. American and Spanish cultures have famously different paces of life: Americans are thought to value busyness, while Spaniards are thought to prefer leisure time. We conduct two studies to determine to what extent these values hold true among Spanish and American students, and whether these values impact students’ perceptions of marketing messages. The results suggest that the hypothesized values of busyness and leisure time are true, but appealing to these deep and complicated values through marketing does not always work. Globalization is causing consumer preferences around the world to converge, and attempting to apply specific cultural values to new global products in marketing communications can easily backfire. We recommend that instead of attempting to appeal to the cultural values of each international audience, advertisers should consider a more standardized approach by positioning new products similarly across the globe, especially to younger consumers.

This dissertation uncovers the negative aspects of aesthetics by examining when and how enhanced product and payment aesthetics can backfire and lead to unfavorable consumer responses. The first essay examines the downstream effects of nondurable product aesthetics on usage behavior and consumption enjoyment. Across a series of field and lab experiments, I document an inhibiting effect of aesthetics on consumption. I find that highly aesthetic products elicit greater inferences of effort in their creation, and that people have an intrinsic appreciation for such effort. Because the consumption process indirectly destroys the effort originally invested to make the product beautiful, people reduce consumption of such products because usage would involve destroying something they naturally appreciate. Further, I show that in cases where individuals do consume a beautiful product, they exhibit lower consumption enjoyment. These negative post-consumption outcomes are driven in parallel by concerns over having actually destroyed the effort that made the product beautiful as well as the decrements in beauty that become visible when aesthetic products are made less attractive through consumption. The second essay investigates how the aesthetics and design of a payment (e.g., beautiful gift card packaging) can influence the purchase experience. Three field and lab experiments reveal the negative impact of beautified payments on spending and purchase satisfaction, particularly in situations where usage involves compromising its aesthetic appeal. Specifically, when consumers must damage a payment’s appearance before using it (e.g., ripping gift card packaging), they are less likely to use that payment, and experience lower purchase satisfaction when they do, an effect driven by the pain of payment. In doing so, I identify aesthetics as a novel antecedent to the pain of payment that carries important consequences for spending behavior, purchase satisfaction, and the overall customer experience. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.

Streetwear is a category of fashion that has evolved from being a niche style of dress influenced by American counter cultures, into a formidable industry. Over time, Streetwear has become a culture in itself whose members are critical of inauthentic brands and commercialization. Streetwear brands have the need to be perceived as authentic, exclusive, and being connected to celebrity to survive in the industry long-term. Additionally, as the industry grows larger, the marketplace has become increasingly saturated. This can be attributed to how easy it is to create a fledgling streetwear brand due to advances in garment production technology and streetwear's roots in low-cost clothing. Streetwear brands need to differentiate themselves in an effective manner to stand out to consumers in the saturated streetwear market. Primary research conducted via a survey administered to streetwear consumers was done to learn more about the effectiveness of popular tactics and marketplace events streetwear brands use to differentiate themselves. Secondary research was done in literature on the topics of creativity and energized differentiation. Research by Gerzema and Lebar presented in their book The Brand Bubble on the topic of energized differentiation is reviewed and applied to streetwear brands. This thesis will discuss the key elements brands need to have to be successful in the streetwear industry. Along with this, it will also look at the effectiveness of specific tactics bands can execute to effectively differentiate themselves in the saturated industry and the important role creativity plays in their success.

The advertising agency, in its variety of forms, is one of the most powerful forces in the modern world. Its products are seen globally through various multimedia outlets and they strongly impact culture and economy. Since its conception in 1843 by Volney Palmer, the advertising agency has evolved into the recognizable—and unrecognizable—firms scattered around the world today. In the United States alone, there are roughly 13.4 thousand agencies, many of which also have branches in other countries. The evolution of the modern advertising agency coincided with, and even preceded, some of the major inflection points in history. Understanding how and why changes in advertising agencies affected these inflection points provides a glimpse of understanding into the relationship between advertising, business, and societal values.

In the pages ahead we will explore the future of the advertising industry. We will analyze our research to uncover the underlying trends pointing towards what is to come and work to apply those explanations to our understanding of advertising in the future.