My username is IN! The influence of inward vs. outward wandering usernames on judgments of online seller trustworthiness

Psychology and Marketing

2020

The established preference for words featuring consonants ordered inward in the oral cavity—the in–out effect, may assist marketeers when naming new products and services. To investigate the conditions under which this effect may affect consumer preference we conducted four experiments (N = 818) examining the influence of consonant wanderings in the evaluation of different professionals and food products. While inward articulation direction selectively biased warmth judgments about workers who are perceived as relatively neutral on both warmth and competence, for professionals traditionally associated with either a warmth or a competence dimension inward‐wandering usernames systematically presented a competitive advantage. In the same way, hypothetical food products with inward‐wandering names were judged as more hedonic and more utilitarian. The present evidence supports the potential of the in–out effect to market products and services and highlights the relevance of exploiting this and other oral kinematics phenomena as an asset for managerial practice.

Section: Relevant (Marketing‐wise) Boundary Conditionssupporting

confidence: 70%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “ins” and “outs” of product and services marketing: The influence of consonant wanderings in consumer decision‐making

Psychology and Marketing

2020

“…That is, it features outward muscle strictures, from the back of the mouth (rear tongue) to the lips. This preference for inward over outward wandering words has been demonstrated in a wide variety of experimental settings (e.g., Godinho & Garrido, 2017;Lindau & Topolinski, 2018a, 2018bSilva & Topolinski, 2018;Topolinski & Boecker, 2016a;Topolinski, Zürn, & Schneider, 2015) and across different languages and research groups (Godinho & Garrido, 2016;Kronrod, Lowrey, & Ackerman, 2014;.…”

mentioning

confidence: 88%

Oral kinematics: examining the role of edibility and valence in the in-out effect

Zürn

et al. 2018

Cognition and Emotion

Self Cite

Previous research has revealed a stable preference for words with inward consonantalarticulation patterns (from the front to the back of the mouth; e.g., BENOKA), over outwardwords (from the back to the front; e.g., KENOBA). Following the oral approach-avoidance account suggesting that the in-out effect is due to the resemblance between consonantalarticulations patterns and ingestion/expectoration, recent findings have shown that when judging inward-outward names for objects with particular oral functions, valence did not modulate the effect while the oral function did. To replicate and examine further the role of edibility and valence in shaping the in-out effect, we asked participants (N = 545) to rate inward and outward names for edible and non-edible products while controlling for valence. Results revealed that the motor-to-affect link was only observed for edible products, regardless of valence.

“…In the person perception domain, inward (vs. outward) names of foreign politicians, online users or villains were always preferred (Topolinski, et al, 2014). Recently, Silva and Topolinski (2018) have demonstrated that usernames of online sellers inducing inward movement were rated as more trustworthy than usernames inducing outward wanderings. What has not been examined is whether consonantal articulation affects other traits aside from trustworthiness.…”

Section: The 'In-out Effect' and Impressions Of Personalitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The “ins” and “outs” of person perception: The influence of consonant wanderings in judgments of warmth and competence

Journal of Experimental Social Psychology

Semin

2019

In five studies (N = 638), we extended the in-out effect to person perception, examining the influence of oral approach-avoidance movements activated by word articulation, on preference, sociability and competence judgments of mock-usernames. Users with inward, in contrast to outward-usernames, were always preferred and judged as warmer. However, they were judged as equally competent. The differential impact of the in-out effect in the core dimensions of social perception suggests that the phenomenon relies on the affective mechanism of approach-avoidance that is only pertinent to judgments related to the warmth dimension. The present research provides further support for the link between the activation of oral muscles and impression formation, emphasizing the relevance of the in-out effect for the person perception domain and embodied social cognition.