ÂÜÀòÉç¹ÙÍø

CALL FOR PAPERS: THE SCIENCE OF EXTRAORDINARY BELIEFS

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, Volume 3 Issue 4

Issue Editors: Pankaj Aggarwal, Lauren Block, Thomas Kramer, Ann L. McGill

Consumers’ thoughts and behaviors are often guided by a combination of beliefs that conform to the principles of science, and those beliefs that might transcend the natural laws of science and that stand apart from or are even at odds with science–i.e., “extraordinary beliefs.” For example, consumers anthropomorphize brands, products, and concepts, seeing them as possessing at least some human traits; they allow superstitions and magical thinking to guide their choices; they follow rituals, often blindly and without much thought, and they spend, sometimes heavily, on products and services in the hopes of curing their ills and improving their lives based on nonscientific evidence. The origins of these beliefs may be traced to local cultures, religion, urban legends, cognitive processes, or even accidents of history. Recognizing that accepted theories change over time and are culturally laden, these beliefs may also reflect disputes about what constitutes, and who determines what counts as, “legitimate science.” These extraordinary beliefs may sometimes result in maladaptive behaviors and lead to consumer harm, as when people fall prey to fortune-telling fraudsters and take important financial and other decisions based on such ‘predictions.’ Other times, adherence to extraordinary beliefs results in adaptive, beneficial outcomes, as when magical thinking improves performance through increased confidence and self-efficacy. Consumers may apply these beliefs on their own without any encouragement or support from marketers, or marketers may actively embolden and facilitate observance of nonscientific rituals and beliefs. For instance, marketers actively encourage consumers to see the humanity of their brands and products through design, advertising depictions, and other brand actions (e.g., giving a product its own social media account). Marketers may defer to consumer superstitions (e.g., skipping unit 13 in numbering apartments) or leverage them (e.g., offering courses in Feng-Shui or pricing products and services with lucky numbers higher than equivalent options). Marketers may charge for goods (e.g., healing crystals) or services (e.g., past life therapy), which may not be supported by scientific studies but which align with consumers’ intuitions.

The present publication is intended to explore these nonscientific, extraordinary consumer beliefs in-depth. We welcome work on both the antecedents and consequences of these beliefs, from multiple paradigms, and we are particularly open to research that integrates cognitive psychological and cultural influences. Submissions may explore the origins of these beliefs and why they are so pervasive in our everyday lives. Submissions may also address the extent to which consumers might consider these beliefs, which are disparaged within one viewpoint, to be “legitimate” within a different perspective. Within research on the consequences of these beliefs, we encourage researchers to address implications for consumer welfare around the reliance of such beliefs, with particular interest in financial and medical outcomes. We also welcome research that explores cross cultural, cross national, or cross demographic differences. Consistent with the mission of JACR, we are particularly interested in work that uses field or archival data to explore patterns over time or to describe emerging phenomena. We also invite research that falls under more traditional methodological domains, such as ethnographic studies and experiments. Commentaries by industry or regulatory experts and noted scholars from other disciplines with expertise in these areas are also welcome.

Several scholars who have produced ground-breaking research in these areas have already agreed to provide their thought-provoking observations on the study of extraordinary beliefs. These Thought Leaders will provide commentary for this JACR issue on the ideas presented within, the general state of knowledge in their areas, and their unique perspectives on the past, present, and future study of it. Dr. Nicholas Epley will contribute his perspectives on the psychology of anthropomorphism; Dr. Jane Risen and Dr. Thomas Gilovich will discuss luck and tempting fate; Dr. Paul Rozin and Dr. Carol Nemeroff will address contagion and magical thinking, and Dr. Stuart Vyse promises insights into the psychology of superstition. We are confident the presence of work by these Thought Leaders will generate great interest in this issue of the Journal, ensuring accepted papers will be broadly read.

Some of the (possibly overlapping) topics that might be relevant to this issue include but are not restricted to the antecedents, consequences, and mechanisms of anthropomorphism of brands and products; magical thinking, inferences consistent with the laws of contagion or similarity, and other beliefs that are not supported by contemporary scientific understanding of causation but which affect consumer behavior; the operation of superstition in consumer choice, including beliefs in luck versus chance; and consumer choice and evaluation of alternative medicine and faith healing.

Timeline:

• September 15, 2017: Online system open for initial manuscript submission
• No?vember 1, 2017: Deadline for initial manuscript submission
• July 1, 2018: Deadline for submission of final manuscript

Details

Papers should not exceed 8,000 words. Reviews will be conducted on a rolling basis using double-blind peer review. Author guidelines may be found at

Authors who are concerned about the appropriateness of a topic for this issue are encouraged to send a 300-word abstract or an outline to paggarwal@rotman.utoronto.ca, lauren.block@baruch.cuny.edu, thomas.kramer@ucr.edu, or ann.mcgill@chicagobooth.edu. We would be happy to provide feedback.

---