Project Details
Projekt
The Reification Bias in Marketing Communication: Antecedents and Consequences
Subject Area
Accounting and Finance
Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
Term
from 2016 to 2020
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 317174180
A few years ago, Apple promoted a 200 USD discount coupon on its Mac computers, stating that this discount corresponds to the value of an iPod mini. Such an offer entails a numerical measure (savings of 200 USD) and additional information that relates this measure to an object (an iPod mini). As such, the savings are reified. We define reification as a mechanism that converts a numerical measure into something concrete by equating it to a non-numerical object or issue. Reification is a particular way to communicate numerical information like discounts to consumers. It differs from regular communication activities that merely present a plain number. Our focal question is whether reification biases consumer responses, such as attitude toward the offer. In other words, do consumers respond more favorably to a reified than plain numerical information? In summarizing previous literature, research examining whether and how the reification bias occurs is lacking. Our project aims to fill this gap by investigating the effect of reification on consumer responses. In particular, we contribute to the marketing literature by addressing four major research questions that previous research has not examined: (1) Does a reification bias occur? Here, for the first time, we propose and attempt to find evidence that consumers exhibit a reification bias in a pricing context. We define reification bias as consumers responding more favorably to a firm's offering that equates a numerical measure with an object or issue than to an offering that presents the abstract measure alone. (2) Why and how does the reification bias occur? To answer this question, we offer and test mental imagery as a theoretical explanation for the occurrence of the reification bias. (3) Does reification always have a positive effect on consumer reactions? Here, we identify important boundary conditions under which the advantage of reification may be amplified, attenuated, or even reversed.(4) How robust is the proposed effect? While we examine research questions 1-3 in a pricing context serving as a prototypical context for presenting numerical information to consumers, we test the generalizability of the reification method to other marketing communication contexts, namely service recovery, cause-related marketing, and technological product offerings.In order to answer these four research questions, we will conduct nine experimental studies (plus pretests) including both laboratory and field experiments. This approach allows us to increase the internal and external validity of our results. Moreover, our research has important implications for marketing practitioners. Reification may increase the effectiveness of marketing communication. Importantly, this strategy can be applied not only to pricing, but also to multiple marketing contexts, whenever firms communicate numerical information to stakeholders (i.e., in advertising).
DFG Programme
Research Grants
