Three studies demonstrated that meta-stereotypes held by members of dominant groups about how their group is viewed by a lower status group have important implications for intergroup relations. Study 1 confirmed that White Canadians hold a shared negative meta-stereotype about how they are viewed by Aboriginal Canadians; Studies 2 and 3 extended these results to people's beliefs about an individual out-group member's impressions of them. Feeling stereotyped was associated with negative emotions about intergroup interaction as well as decreases in current self-esteem and self-concept clarity. The perceptions of low- and high-prejudiced persons (LPs and HPs) diverged in a manner consistent with their distinct personal values and group identifications. LPs held a more negative meta-stereotype than did HPs. However, in a one-on-one interaction, HPs sensed that they were stereotyped, whereas LPs felt that they conveyed a counterstereotypical impression.

Six experiments demonstrated that dominant group members readily frame intergroup interaction in terms of how they themselves are evaluated. The authors used indirect measures of meta-stereotype activation to assess dominant group members' inclination to spontaneously consider an out-group member's (ostensible) stereotypic expectations about them. The necessary conditions for meta-stereotype activation were rather minimal, but the potential for evaluation by an out-group member--as opposed to mere exposure to the person--was required. Individual differences involving the importance accorded to social evaluation (public self-consciousness and personal importance of racial attitudes) were associated with meta-stereotype activation, whereas racial attitudes were not. Two studies in which evaluative orientation was manipulated directly demonstrated a link between thinking in terms of how one is viewed and the activation and application of meta-stereotypes.

Both marketers who use covert marketing tactics and those who seek to help consumers deal with them assume that people will be less amenable to covert marketing appeals if they are alerted to such appeals because their theories and beliefs about persuasion tactics—that is, their persuasion knowledge—will be activated. However, there has been little direct examination of the extent to which activating persuasion knowledge actually affects consumer responses to brands that engage in covert marketing. Building on prior research on covert marketing and marketplace persuasion knowledge, the authors investigate the effects of activating persuasion knowledge and explore potential moderating factors. The findings from three experimental studies indicate that activation can negatively affect consumer evaluations of embedded brands; however, negative effects are qualified by perceived appropriateness of covert marketing tactics and by brand familiarity. Further evidence indicates a condition under which activation can actually have a positive effect on consumer evaluations.

The authors use a series of meta-analyses to demonstrate the impact of warning labels across five dimensions of effectiveness: attention, reading and comprehension, recall, judgments, and behavioral compliance. Subsequent moderator analyses indicate that attention is moderated by vividness-enhancing characteristics, warning location, and familiarity but not by product type. None of the moderating variables affect either reading and comprehension or recall. Product type moderates judgments, and familiarity and cost of compliance moderate behavioral compliance. The authors discuss public policy implications and avenues for further research.

This research explores perceptions of interpersonal influence in the form of flattery that occurs in a consumer retail setting. Across 4 experiments, results demonstrate empirical evidence of a sinister attribution error (Kramer, 1994), as consumer reactions to flattery were more negative than warranted by the situation. Results across 3 experiments demonstrated that there are 2 types of information processing occurring when consumers make trust judgments in response to flattery. Depending on when flattery occurs, consumers engage in either automatic or deliberative processing of information provided by the sales context. The final experiment further suggests that the automatic processing occurred through categorization based on social cues.