Can two negatives make a positive? Social exclusion prevents carryover effects from deceptive advertising

摘要

This research examines the interactive effects of two negative experiences that consumers can face: feelings of distrust generated by deceptive advertising and social exclusion. Our findings reveal a previously undocumented positive effect of social exclusion. Across two experiments, our findings demonstrate that social exclusion prevents the negative effects of deception from carrying over onto other, honest advertisement. Moreover, this research shows that meaninglessness serves as the underlying mechanism for this interaction effect.