From Egotism to Averseness: the Role of Implicit Self Judgments in Seller Choice

Actual bidders in Internet auctions were more likely to participate in auctions when sellers’ screen names had the same first character as their own screen name. This is a case of implicit egotism, whereby people gravitate toward things that resemble the self, and the first such case to be driven by a non-birth given characteristic. However, bidders were less likely to win higher-priced auctions under the same conditions. We propose that this reversal of implicit egotism is due to the salience of risk that may have negative implications for the self. John enjoys participating in Internet auctions. His screen name is pguy111. One day he comes across two auctions for a new DVD. One seller’s screen name is patrick6, while the other’s is matman. Judging from information like the sellers’ feedback ratings, John believes both are equally trustworthy and that neither one’s auction represents a potential cost savings over the other. In which auction will John participate? It may be expected that John will be indifferent. In this paper we propose that John will be more likely to participate in patrick6’s auction than matman’s auction. Further, we propose that if the auction was not for a DVD, but for a more expensive item such as a DVD player, then John might tacitly avoid patrick6’s auction. One reason John may choose to participate in patrick6’s auction is because of John’s apparent self association with the letter P, as indicated by the choice of his own screen name. Research on implicit egotism indicates that for the most part people feel good about themselves and that these positive associations spill over into judgments of stimuli that share even the most superfluous characteristic with the self such as the initial of their first name (Jones, Pelham, and Mirenberg 2002; Pelham, Mirenberg, and Jones 2002). The implicit egotism effect has been shown to be truly implicit, outside of conscious awareness (Jones et al. 2004). Implicit egotism has been shown to influence major life decisions including choices of professions (Pelham, Mirenberg, and Jones 2002; e.g. Dennis is likely to be dentist.), living locations (Pelham et al. 2003; e.g. Florence is likely to live in Florida.), and romantic partners (Jones et al. 2004; e.g. Jennifer is likely to marry Jesse.). It has also been shown to influence brand choices (Brendl et al. 2005). Based on this line of research, if John associates himself with the letter P, then he should have positive associations about sellers who also use the letter P to represent themselves. Thus, while his conscious comparison of matman’s and patrick6’s auctions may deem them equal, we argue that John should be more likely to participate in the latter’s auction because his implicit judgment of patrick6 should be more positive than that of matman. This is an important contribution because extant research shows that implicit egotism stems only from a person’s birth-given characteristics. This research shows that the effect of implicit egotism is more prevalent than previously thought because other types of self-associations (e.g., pseudonym) may lead to implicit egotism. To date, research has shown only positive effects of implicit egotism. However, negative effects are theoretically possible. For example, if John encounters someone who resembles himself, like patrick6, and that person potentially has negative attributes, would John still gravitate toward this person? Prior research indicates that an individual will distance oneself from a group when the group exhibits undesirable attributes that might reflect negatively on oneself (Cialdini et al. 1976; Snyder, Lassegard, and Ford 1986; Schimel et al. 2000). When John bids on Internet auctions, he is aware that sellers might act fraudulently. When auction prices are high, the threat of fraud should loom particularly large. John should not want to associate his self-concept with the negative attributes that sellers may possess. Therefore, if auctions for an item have high prices, then John should avoid those auctions in which the seller’s screen name shares characteristics with his own. If matman and patrick6’s auctions are for a DVD player, then John should avoid patrick6’s auction because he does not want to associate potentially negative characteristics with his self-concept. As discussed next, our data support this argument. Thus, this research makes another important contribution by demonstrating the reversal of implicit egotism for the first time. A field study demonstrates the influence of implicit egotism in Internet auction participant behavior. Data was collected from the popular Internet auction site Ebay from November 2005 through January 2006. The set included 123,639 unique auction-bidder-seller combinations and 59,208 unique auction-winner-seller combinations. To ensure that we were studying a truly implicit effect, we examined Advances in Consumer Research (Volume 34) / 363 the likelihood of bidding on an auction when only the first character of the seller’s screen name matched the first character of the bidder’s screen name. Indeed, bidders had a greater than chance likelihood of participating in an auction when the first character of the seller’s screen name matched the first character of their own. To examine the hypothesis that the implicit egotism effect would reverse for high priced auctions, we looked at winner-seller pairs because auction winners are financially committed to the transaction. Consistent with our theorizing, for auctions with high bids over $50, bidders had a less than chance likelihood of winning an auction when the first character of the seller’s screen name matched their own. Experimental data currently being collected will replicate and extend these findings. This research has a number of implications. Implicit egotism not only causes people to gravitate toward things that resemble the self. It also drives people away from self-resembling entities when those entities have potentially negative implications for the self. This opens up a new line of questioning in implicit egotism research. For example, would people named Carl have a higher than chance likelihood of living in Compton, California, notorious for its housing projects and gang activity? Additionally, implicit egotism had been primarily demonstrated through birth-given characteristics (name, birthday). This study shows that implicit egotism can also work via characteristics one selects to represent oneself (e.g., job title). References Brendl, C. Miguel, Amitava Chattopadhyay, Brett W. Pelham, and Mauricio Carvallo (2005). Name letter branding: Valence transfers when product specific needs are active. Journal of Consumer Research, 32(Dec), 405-415. Cialdini, Robert B. , Richard J. Borden, Avril Thorne, Marcus Randall Walker, Stephen Freeman, and Lloyd Reynolds Sloan (1976). Basking in reflected glory: Three (football) field studies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 39, 406-415. Jones, John T. , Brett W. Pelham, Mauricio Carvallo, and Matthew C. Mirenberg (2004). How do I love thee? Let me count the J’s: Implicit egotism and interpersonal attraction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 665-683. Jones, John T. , Brett W. Pelham, and Matthew C. Mirenberg (2002). Name letter preferences are not merely mere exposure: Implicit egotism as self-regulation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38, 170-177. Pelham, Brett W. , Mauricio Carvallo, Tracy DeHart, and John T. Jones (2003). Assessing the validity of implicit egotism: A reply to Gallucci. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 800-807. Pelham, Brett W. , Matthew C. Mirenberg, and John T. Jones (2002). Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: Implicit egotism and major life decisions. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82, 469-487. Schimel, Jeff, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pysczynski, Heather O’Mahen, and Jamie Arndt (2000). Running from the shadow: Psychological distancing from others to deny characteristics people fear in themselves. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 78(Mar), 446-462. Snyder, C. R. , MaryAnne Lassegard, and Carol E. Ford (1986). Distancing after group success and failure: Basking in reflected glory and cutting off reflected failure. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 51, 382-388. An Exploratory Study on Attitude Toward Luxury Products, Counterfeits and Imitations Brigitte Muller, HEC Lausanne, Switzerland Bruno Kocher, HEC Lausanne, Switzerland