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For Immediate Release: October 1, 2007 Contact: Suzanne Wu / 773-834-0386 / [email protected] ** Negative Opinions Influence People More Than Positive Opinions People Change Their Attitudes More When They Expect To Discuss Them With Others Authors: Adam Duhachek, Shuoyang Zhang, and Shanker Krishnan (all Indiana University) Main Points: 1. People often undergo an attitude shift after learning what others think about a product. This research examines what conditions cause the greatest attitude shift. 2. The authors found that people who initially formed a positive opinion of the product then learned that others had a very negative opinion of the product had the greatest attitude shift (from positive to negative). 3. This effect is called the negativity effect, in that negative information influences attitudes more than positive. 4. However, the effect on participants expecting to have a group discussion about their opinions was slightly different. Those who initially formed a negative opinion of the product and then learned that others had a negative opinion as well had the greatest attitude shift (from negative to even more negative). 5. The stronger effect of anticipating a group discussion is due to people mentally rehearsing what they’re going to say. Also, learning that others share a negative view can reinforce and further strengthen that view, making it more negative than it already was. 6. The authors explain that anticipating a group discussion with group members of the opposite opinion is perceived as an attitude threat, which causes the person to focus on defending his or her opinion. Significance: This research integrates theories from different areas of consumer research and tests new factors that can cause attitude shifts. The authors are able to develop an explanation for how and why these factors affect attitude shifts. The results suggest that marketers should pay more attention to how they handle negative publicity about their product, particularly when there will be a forum for discussing the product. What they did: Undergraduate business students read a review about a fictitious study guide; the review was either positive or negative. They rated their attitudes about the study guide, then completed a 15 minute filler task. Next, they were given information about how other students felt about the study guide (either favorable or unfavorable reactions), and told that they could participate in a focus group of fellow students. Then they were again asked about their opinions of the study guide. Quotes: 1. “Our research seeks to understand the conditions where group influence is strongest.” 2. “We find that the opinions of others exert especially strong influence on individual consumer attitudes when others’ opinions are negative rather than positive.” 3. “Additionally, consumers that initially held positive attitudes toward the product were influenced by negative group evaluations more than those who held negative initial attitudes.” 4. “We also find that group influences on consumer attitudes are stronger when individuals anticipate discussing their attitudes with others (as opposed to merely learning the opinion of others without discussion).” 5. “Anticipating group discussion affects individual attitudes because consumers mentally rehearse what they will say in the discussion.” 6. “…given the strong influence of negative information, marketers may need to expend extra resources to counter-act the effects of negative word of mouth in online chatrooms, blogs and in offline media.” 7. “Consumers should be aware that these social influence biases exist and are capable of significantly impacting their perceptions.” 8. “…anticipating group discussion causes consumers to mentally prepare for this discussion in order to justify their attitude.” 9. “…anticipating group discussion constitutes a significant attitude threat for those who anticipate interacting with group members holding incongruous attitudes.” 10. “In the anticipation case, consumers holding negative attitudes shift their attitudes more in response to learning about the group’s negative attitude in conditions of anticipated discussion due to negativity and social validation effects.” 11. “One important finding of the current research is that greater attitude shift occurs when consumers are exposed to incongruous negative attitudinal group information.” 12. “…our findings indicate that consumers with initial negative attitudes, when exposed to negative group information under anticipation conditions demonstrate the greatest shift toward the group.” Adam Duhachek, Shuoyang Zhang, and Shanker Krishnan. “Anticipated Group Interaction: Coping with Valence Asymmetries in Attitude Shift” Journal of Consumer Research: October 2007.