Rooting for (and Then Abandoning) the Underdog

Abstract

Although people prefer to associate with winners, there is also a strong desire to support the lovable loser or underdog. In 4 studies, we demonstrate the underdog effect and its delimiting conditions. In Studies 1 and 2, participants rooted for the underdog in judgments of athletic, business, and artistic competition. In Study 3, participants watched animated clips of struggling and nonstruggling geometric shapes. The results showed that participants showed more rooting, sympathy, and identification with struggling shapes than with nonstruggling ones. Study 4 identified conditions under which people abandon the underdog, showing that participants rooted for the underdog only when both self‐relevance and consequences were high. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

Consumers’ motivations and roles in rooting for or against underdog consumer

“…Nevertheless, defending the little status that one can possess may turn into a powerful source of motivation and aspiration (Aquino & Douglas, 2003). In this vein, McGinnis and Gentry (2009) Kim et al (2008) refers to the motivation for supporting the underdog as 'the underdog effect' and describe it as 'people's tendency to support or root for an entity that is perceived as attempting to accomplish a difficult task, and that is not expected to succeed against an explicit or implicit advantaged opponent' (p. 2551). If so, one can ask why do people, overwhelmingly, support a person who is perceived as disadvantaged and is expected to lose.…”

“…The former derive from people's desire to restore fairness while the latter stem from a logical calculation constraining the expectations for success with the predicted emotional payoff. Moreover, Kim et al (2008) 2000; Snyder et al, 2000), especially those with low-status who are perceived as unworthy and incompetent (Goffman, 1963;Ridgeway, 2003;Vandello et al, 2007). Therefore, people tend to reduce links with unsuccessful individuals and increase their connection with successful groups (Cialdini et al, 1976;Snyder, Lassegard, & Ford, 1986).…”

“…Self-identification (Kim et al, 2008) Persons may support underdogs as they feel that they are in a situation that is similar to theirs.…”

“…Inspiration (Kim et al, 2008;McGinnis and Gentry, 2009) The inspiration makes people feel empowered and motivated to support underdogs, as 'heroic accomplishments' of underdogs serve as inspiration and a guide for socially sanctioned behaviours.…”

“…Individuality and Uniqueness (Kim et al, 2008;McGinnis and Gentry, 2009) The belief that the world is a fair (i.e., American dream), believes in success on one's own, and in risktaking may nourish the aspiration to overcome the imposed limitations of underdog status and motivate people to root for underdogs. As rooting for underdogs is generally perceived as unusual, people satisfy their need for uniqueness.…”