Why Is It Wrong to Sell Your Body? Understanding Liberals’ Versus Conservatives’ Moral Objections to Bodily Markets

Goenka, Shreyans; Osselaer, Stijn M. J. van

doi:10.1177/00222429211046936

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(101 reference statements)

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“…whether the typical products purchased in a particular store relate to consumers’ own bodies) influences the extent to which salesperson proximity will translate to purchases and increased spending among consumers. The managerial relevance of such bodily aspects has been increasingly emphasized by several scholars in recent years (Goenka and Van Osselaer, 2021; Kuuru and Närvänen, 2019; Stevens et al , 2019), with our findings clearly underscoring the financial consequences of this bodily factor for retail practice.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Shortsighted sales or long-lasting loyalty? The impact of salesperson-customer proximity on consumer responses and the beauty of bodily boundaries

Otterbring

Samuelsson

Arsenovic

et al. 2022

EJM

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Purpose Previous research on salesperson-customer proximity has yielded mixed results, with some studies documenting positive proximity effects on shopping responses and others demonstrating the reverse. To reconcile such mixed findings, this paper aims to test whether and how salesperson proximity influences a series of key customer outcomes in actual retail settings using sample sizes that are considerably larger than most former investigations. Design/methodology/approach We conducted two high-powered field studies (N = 1,312) to test whether salesperson‐customer proximity influences consumers’ purchase behavior and store loyalty. Moreover, we investigated whether the short-term effects on purchase behavior were moderated by the extent to which the consumption context had a clear connection to consumers’ own bodies. Findings Salesperson proximity increased purchase incidence and spending in consumption contexts with a bodily basis (e.g. clothes, beauty, health), suggesting that consumers “buy their way out” in these contexts when a salesperson is violating their personal space. If anything, such proximity had a negative impact on consumers’ purchase behavior in contexts that lacked a clear bodily connection (e.g. building materials, furniture, books). Moreover, the link between proximity and consumer responses was mediated by discomfort, such that a salesperson standing close-by (vs farther away) increased discomfort, with negative downstream effects on shopping responses. Importantly, the authors found opposite proximity effects on short-term metrics (purchase incidence and spending) and long-term outcomes (store loyalty). Research limitations/implications Drawing on the nonverbal communication literature and theories on processing fluency, the current work introduces a theoretically relevant boundary condition for the effects of salesperson-customer proximity on consumers’ purchase behavior. Specifically, the bodily basis of the consumption context is discussed as a novel moderator, which may help to explain the mixed findings in this stream of research. Practical implications Salesperson-customer proximity may serve as a strategic sales tactic to improve short-term revenue in settings that are closely tied to consumers’ own bodies and characterized by one-time purchases. However, as salesperson proximity was found to be associated with lower store loyalty, irrespective of whether the shopping setting had a bodily basis, the risk of violating consumers’ personal space may have costly consequences from a long-term perspective. Originality/value The present field studies make three central contributions. First, we introduce a novel moderator for proximity effects in various sales and service settings. Second, we test the focal hypotheses with much higher statistical power than most existing proximity studies. Finally, we document that salesperson-customer proximity ironically yields opposite results on short-term metrics and long-term outcomes, thus underscoring the importance of not solely focusing on sales effectiveness when training frontline employees.

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 70%

Shortsighted sales or long-lasting loyalty? The impact of salesperson-customer proximity on consumer responses and the beauty of bodily boundaries

Otterbring

Samuelsson

Arsenovic

et al. 2022

EJM

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“…That is, a large stream of work has examined how moral values can influence downstream behaviors; however, none of the extant works have examined the relationship between moral beliefs and sensory pursuits. More closely, a growing stream of work in moral pluralism has examined how specific moral beliefs and motives can lead to divergent behavior patterns (Goenka & Thomas, 2020, 2022; Goenka & van Osselaer, 2019, 2021; Graham et al, 2009; Inbar et al, 2012; Janoff-Bulman & Carnes, 2013; Koleva et al, 2012; Mooijman et al, 2018). We build on this stream of research to show how a specific set of moral values (i.e., binding values) are responsible for inhibiting sensory consumption.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

When is sensory consumption immoral?

Goenka¹,

Thomas²

2023

Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

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Although humans are hard-wired to pursue sensory pleasure, they show considerable heterogeneity in their moral evaluations of sensory pleasure. In some societies, sensory pleasure is pursued without any moral inhibition, but in other societies, it is considered to be immoral and actively suppressed. This research investigates the moral motives behind the suppression of sensory consumption. Is the suppression of sensory consumption caused by the moral motive to promote social justice or the moral motive to promote social order? We test these two competing accounts through country-level archival data and seven preregistered controlled experiments. We find robust evidence that the social-order emphasizing binding moral foundations (authority, loyalty, and purity; Haidt, 2007) suppress sensory consumption. Consequently, individuals and societies that adhere to the binding values are less likely to consume sensory products such as alcohol, tobacco, soda, fragrances, and sex toys. These effects are mediated by prescriptive moral beliefs and feelings of shame. We also identify several moderators of the moral suppression of sensory consumption. Binding values do not suppress sensory consumption after moral licensing. The effects of binding values on sensory consumption attenuate when the products are framed as status-affirming. Finally, while binding values suppress sensory consumption that is personal, they do not suppress sensory consumption that is shared. Altogether, our findings show that social-order emphasizing moral beliefs in society can inhibit the pursuit of pleasure and change consumption patterns in the economy.

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“…Why do people object to such commercial markets, and do these moral objections differ for liberal and conservative consumers? Goenka and van Osselaer (2023) used MFT to understand these questions. The research found that liberals and conservatives find bodily markets to be morally wrong to an equal degree.…”

Section: Market Regulationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moral foundations theory and consumer behavior

Goenka,

Thomas

2024

J Consum Psychol

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Ramos et al. (Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2024) explain the Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) and discuss its applicability to explain marketing persuasion, consumer emotions, and prosocial behavior. We concur with Ramos et al. but suggest that the scope for MFT in consumer behavior is much broader – it can be used to investigate heterogeneity in consumers' moral utility. Specifically, we discuss how MFT can be used to investigate heterogeneity in product preferences, consumers' financial choices, consumer reactions to brand activism, and market regulation. We conclude by discussing three important challenges of using MFT in consumer research – causal identification, discriminant validity, and scientific objectivity.

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Why Is It Wrong to Sell Your Body? Understanding Liberals’ Versus Conservatives’ Moral Objections to Bodily Markets

Cited by 11 publications

References 44 publications

Shortsighted sales or long-lasting loyalty? The impact of salesperson-customer proximity on consumer responses and the beauty of bodily boundaries

Shortsighted sales or long-lasting loyalty? The impact of salesperson-customer proximity on consumer responses and the beauty of bodily boundaries

When is sensory consumption immoral?

Moral foundations theory and consumer behavior

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