NEGATIVE INFORMATION PERSPECTIVES AND RESEARCH DIRECTIONS.docx

NEGATIVE INFORMATION PERSPECTIVES AND RESEARCH DIRECTIONS.docx

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NEGATIVEINFORMATIONPERSPECTIVESANDRESEARCHDIRECTIONS

9MarcG.Weinberger,ChrisT.Allen,WilliamR.Dillon（1981）,"NEGATIVEINFORMATION:

PERSPECTIVESANDRESEARCHDIRECTIONS",inAdvancesinConsumerResearchVolume08,eds.KentB.Monroe,AnnAbor:

AssociationforConsumerResearch,Pages:

398-404.

AdvancesinConsumerResearchVolume8,1981    Pages398-404

NEGATIVEINFORMATION:

PERSPECTIVESANDRESEARCHDIRECTIONS

MarcG.Weinberger,UniversityofMassachusetts/Amherst

ChrisT.Allen,UniversityofMassachusetts/Amherst

WilliamR.Dillon,UniversityofMassachusetts/Amherst

ABSTRACT-

Thetopicofnegativeinformationencompassesavarietyofresearchareaswhichheretoforehavebeenconsideredasdistinctandseparatefromoneanother.Theliteraturefromeachoftheseuniqueresearchperspectivesisreviewedhereandthenrelatedtothebroaderscopeofnegativeinformationeffects.Finally,possibledirectionsfornegativeinformationresearcharesuggested.

INTRODUCTION

Thoughconsumerresearchershavehadalongtraditionofinterestintheimpactofinformationonconsumerdecision-making,relativelylittleefforthasbeendevotedtoexaminingtheeffectofnegativeconsumerinformation.Thisabsenceofconcentratedstudyprevailsdespitedramaticgrowthintheamountofnegativeinformationinthemarketplace.Today'smanagerisconfrontedwithahostileandoftenuncontrollableexternalinformationenvironment.Negativeinformationofferedforpublicconsumptioncanbetracedtoconsumerandenvironmentalgroups,toregulatoryagencies,andeventocompetitors.Inotherinstancestheunfavorableinformationtakestheformofuntraceablerumor.Thestrengthandlongevityofeffectsoftheseunfavorablecuesonanindividual'sperceptions,attitudes,andbehaviorareofobviouspotentialinterestandimportancetoboththemarketingacademicandpractitioner.Moreover,theimpactofnegativeinformationinthemarketplacewouldseemsalienttothosewhostudytherelationshipsamongmajorsocietalinstitutionsbecausethereispotentiallyacumulativeeffectofaprofusionofnegativeinformationcuesonconsumers'generalattitudestowardsbusinesspracticesandinstitutions.

Definitionallynegativeinformationaboutpeople,products,issuesorcompaniesrepresentsthepresentationofinputwhichsomehowdenigratestheobjectofthemessage.Issuessuchaspersonperception,personnelevaluation,fearappeals,rumor,productrecall,counteradvertising,comparisonadvertising,productrecallreports,correctiveadvertising,affirmativedisclosure,andself-denigratingproductinformationallinvolvesomeaspectofnegativeinformationthatmaybeconfronted,subsequentlyplacedinshortorlong-termmemory,andpotentiallywithdrawntobeusedinacurrentorfuturedecision.Inallinstancesanattemptismadetoeitherdiscouragesomebehaviororattitudeandfocusonestablishinganewattitudeorbehavior.

Todateresearchaboutnegativeinformationhasbeenscatteredunderdiverseareasinpsychology,sociologyandmarketing.Asaresultmicroresearchtraditionsrelatedtonegativeinformationissueshavedevelopedwithineachdisciplinewithlittlerecognitionthattheyrelatetoacommontheme.Themajorintentofthispaperistofirstreviewsomeofthemajorparadigmsandconceptualfoundationswhichhavebeenappliedtothestudyofnegativeinformation.Secondly.thispaperwillexamineempiricalfindingsfromavarietyofdisciplineswhichrelatetonegativeinformationeffects.Finally,somesuggesteddirectionsforfutureresearchinthisareawillbeoutlined.Ingeneral,whatislabeledhereasnegativeinformationisnotnovelbutthevisionoftherelatedcomponentissuesunderacommonrubricisnew.

EXPLAININGTHEEFFECTOFNEGATIVEINFORMATION

Differentexperimentalparadigmsandtheoreticalconstructshaveemergedingeneratingandtestingspecifichypothesesconcerningnegativeinformation.Thesimplestandmostwidelyusedresearchparadigmhasbeenimpressionformation.Initsmostprimitivecauseandeffectformastimulustriggerssomebelief,attitudeoractioninasubjectpopulation.Theimpactofmediationalfactorssuchasanxiety,susceptibilitytosocialinfluence,receptivityandsoonarenotofprimaryconcern.Inmostimpressionformationstudiesunfavorableadjectivedescriptionsorscenarioshavebeenthestimuliemployedwiththetargetobjectbeingaknownand/orunknownindividualorgroup.Variationsintheamountandintensityofnegativeandpositivestimulihavebeengaugedusingsimplepaperandpencilmeasuresofliking,behavioralintentionandsoon.Theadvantageofthisapproachtostudyingnegativeinformationhasbeantheabilitytoretainverytightinternalcontrolovertheexperimentalsetting.

Amorecomplexextensionofimpressionformationisattributiontheorywheretheindividualisviewedasabeingwhoperceivesasituation,examinesitforkeyelementsofinformation,andsubsequentlymakesaninferenceaboutastimulusobject（Kelley1973）.Todateattributiontheoryhasservedasanexplanationfornegativeinformationaleffectsratherthanasanempiricalparadigm.UsinganattributionalframeworkKanouseandHanson（1971）suggestthatnegativeinformationhasthestrongimpactthatitdoesbecauseitstandsoutmorethanpositiveinformationandinKelley'sterminologywouldthereforehavemoredistinctiveness.Thisapparentlyresultsfromthefactthattherearemorepositivecuesintheindividual'ssocialenvironment.Asaresult,negativecuesattractmoreattentionandarethereforemoreheavilyattributabletothestimulusobject.Thisunderestimationofimportantcontextualfactorsisanattributionalphenomenonobservedinbothalaboratorysetting（JonesandNisbett1971）andatthesocietallevel（Lazer1980）.

Amoremediationalviewofnegativeinformationeffectsmightbetakenwithbothassimilation-contrasttheoryorthreat-compliancemodels.Bothareconceptualapproachesthathelpexplainthesituationaleffectsofanincomingstimuliinrelationshiptosomesecofindividualpredispositions.Assimilation-contrasttheory（Sherif,SherifandNebergall1965）positsthatpriorexperienceorattitudeofthereceiveranditsrelativepositiontothatadvocatedinthemessagewilldeterminewhetheritisdrawncloserintothereceiver'ssphere（assimilated）orexpelledfurtheroutsidethereceiver'sposition（contrasted）.Thus,negativeinformationconsistentwiththereceiver'sbeliefswouldbeassimilatedandthatwhichisincompatiblewouldbecontrastedandrejectedwithsubsequentlowcompliance.Sinceindividualsbringtoasettingsomesetofpredispositionswhichaffecttheirperceptions,theabilitytoassesstheserelevantpredispositionsmighthelppredicttheimpactofnegativeinformation.

InasimilarmediationalveinMcGuire（1968）developedathreat-compliancemodelwheretheimpactofamessageonopinionchangeisafunctionofone'spredispositiontoreceiveamessage（receptivity）andyielding.Withoutconsideringreceptivityonemightexpectthatgreateranxietyarousalwouldleadtogreateryieldingtoaninfluenceattempt.Whenreceptivityisfactoredinasapotentialmediator,anegativerelationshipbetweenanxietyandpersuasionisexpected.Receptivityaddsanon-monotonicdimensiontoMcGuire'sthreat-complianceanalysisandemphasizestheneedtoconsiderpredispositionalfactorslikereceptivity.Sincemuchofthenegativeinformationintheconsumercontextrepresentsathreatofvaryingmagnitude,thisconceptualapproachmightbeattractiveindealingwiththesituationalcomplexitiesofmanynegativeinformationcircumstances.

EMPIRICALRESEARCH

Negativeinformationhasbeeninvestigatedmostoftenusingimpressionformationasitsbasicparadigmfocusingonthesubareasofpersonperceptionandpersonneldecisions.

PersonPerception

Psychologistshaveexaminedtheimpactofnegativeandpositiveinformationinthecontextofforminginferencesorimpressionsaboutpeople.Forexample,Goodman（1950）foundthattraitwordssuchas"cold"weremorepowerfulininfluencingimpressionsthanpositivetraitwordssuchas"warm."Similarly,Osgood.SucciandTannenbaum（1957）foundthat,contrarytotheirproposedcongruityprinciple,equallypolarizedpositiveandnegativeinformationdidnothaveabalancingeffectonimpressionformation;rather,ineveryinstanceofareportederrorthedirectionofinfluencefavoredthenegativeinformation.

In1965Andersonfoundthatnegativeadjectivesseemmorepowerfulthanpositiveadjectivesetsinaffectingoverallevaluations.Similarly,Feldman（1966）andRichey,McClellandandShinkunas（1967）foundthattheweightgivennegativeadjectivesexceededweightgiventopositiveadjectiveswhenseveralmustbecombinedintooneoverallevaluation.

Othershaveattemptedtoidentifythesituationalvariablesthataffectpersonperception.Thestrongimpactofnegativeinformationoccurredwhenthetargetpersonwasafemaleratherthanamale（RicheyandDryer1970）,andwhensvarietyofdifferentpersonalityvariablesweretested（Briscoe,WoodyardandShaw1967）.InanexaminationofsituationalmessagevariablesCusumanoandRichey（1970）manipulatedorderandintensityfactorsandRichey,Koenigs,Richey,andFortin（1975）variedamountsofnegativeandpositiveinformation.Inbothstudies,negativeinformationwasmoresalientthanwouldbepredictedusingasimpleaveragingtheory.Inthelatterstudy,onepieceofnegativeinformationeffectivelyneutralizedfivepositivebehaviors.Thegeneralizabilityofnegativeinformationeffectsreceivessupportinacross-culturalstudyconductedinDenmarkwhereBernadetteGray-Little（1978）foundthatDanes,likeAmericans,evinceadisproportionateneg