June Cotte

• Moorhouse, M.; Goode, M. R.; Cotte, J.; Widney, J., 2023, "Helping Those That Hide: Anticipated Stigmatization Drives Concealment and a Destructive Cycle of Debt", Journal of Marketing Research, December 60(6): 1135 - 1153.
  Abstract: Debt accumulation has been linked to materialism, impulsivity, shortsightedness, self-control, and lifestyle preferences. However, applying stigma theory allows novel insights into debt accumulation for middle-class individuals who access a variety of credit-related products. The authors define anticipated stigmatization of debt as the negative judgment and discrimination an individual expects to experience because of their consumer indebtedness. Results from a series of studies demonstrate that although financial stress motivates behaviors designed to reduce debt, debtors who anticipate stigmatization perform a variety of concealment behaviors (secrecy, social spending, and help avoidance) that hinder debt reduction and have negative effects on well-being. To understand how to help these individuals, the authors collaborated with a financial education company, designing a field experiment to examine the efficacy of a behavior change course. Individuals who anticipated stigmatization and formed new social connections in a community-based condition reduced their consumer debt. Although the emotional effect of community-based support has been examined in other stigma contexts, this study is the first to investigate the effect on well-being in a debt context and link social benefits to actual behavior change in terms of debt reduction behaviors and debt repayment.

  Link(s) to publication:

  https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437221146521

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00222437221146521

• Xu, L.; Zhao, S.; Cotte, J.; Cui, N., 2023, "Cyclical Time is Greener: The Impact of Temporal Perspective on Pro-Environmental Behavior", Journal of Consumer Research, December 50(4): 722 - 741.
  Abstract: The natural environment is deteriorating. However, humans have not slowed down their pace of resource depletion and environmental destruction. This research takes a particular path to understanding environmental consumption—through a focus on temporal perspective. Evidence from six studies demonstrates the positive effect of a cyclical temporal perspective, versus a linear temporal perspective, on consumers’ pro-environmental behavior. The research shows that individuals with a cyclical perspective are more likely to include the environment in the self, which leads to higher pro-environmental behavioral intentions and more pro-environmental behavior. This temporal perspective effect is attenuated for consumers already high on green values. The authors also examine a marketer-controlled moderator and show that consumers are more likely to purchase a pro-environmental product when they see a temporal-perspective-congruent promotional appeal. The research contributes to both the time perception and the environmental consumption literature and offers several practical implications for organizations to promote sustainable consumer behavior.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucad016

• Hendler, F.; LaTour, K.; Cotte, J., 2022, "Temporal Orientation and Customer Loyalty Programs", Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, November 63(4): 448 - 464.
  Abstract: Loyalty programs play a prominent role in many firms’ customer relationship management programs, but not all programs are successful. Providers need to understand not only what benefits customers want in a program, but also how they want to be treated as a loyalty member. We posit that because loyalty programs offer rewards that are time-bound (immediate or delayed), and that loyalty programs seek to develop a relationship that extends over time, an important, but overlooked dimension for hospitality managers to consider is how their customers view time. Our research focuses on customers’ temporal orientation—the tendency to think in the present, future, or past. We use depth interviews to explore existing casino loyalty program participants’ thoughts and feelings about their ideal loyalty program. We find the customers’ temporal orientation influences the type of relationship as well as the type of benefits sought in the loyalty program. Our research offers managerially practical insights for identifying customers more likely to engage in co-production of a long-term loyalty relationship as well as for creating communication strategies that are likely to interest and provoke different temporal mindsets.

  Link(s) to publication:

  https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19389655211008413

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/https://doi.org/10.1177%2F19389655211008413

• Nguyen, P.; Wang, X.; Li, X.; Cotte, J., 2021, "Reviewing Experts’ Restraint from Extremes and its Impact on Service Providers", Journal of Consumer Research, February 47(5): 654 - 674.
  Abstract: This research investigates reviewing experts on online review platforms. The main hypothesis is that greater expertise in generating reviews leads to greater restraint from extreme summary evaluations. The authors argue that greater experience generating reviews facilitates processing and elaboration, and enhances the number of attributes implicitly considered in evaluations, which reduces the likelihood of assigning extreme summary ratings. This restraint-of-expertise hypothesis is tested across different review platforms (TripAdvisor, Qunar, and Yelp), shown for both assigned ratings and review text sentiment, and demonstrated both between (experts vs. novices) and within reviewers (expert vs. pre-expert). Two experiments replicate the main effect and provide support for the attributes-based explanation. Field studies demonstrate two major consequences of the restraint-of-expertise effect. (i) Reviewing experts (vs. novices), as a whole, have less impact on the aggregate valence metric, which is known to affect page-rank and consumer consideration. (ii) Experts systematically benefit and harm service providers with their ratings. For service providers that generally provide mediocre (excellent) experiences, reviewing experts assign significantly higher (lower) ratings than novices. This research provides important caveats to the existing marketing practice of service providers incentivizing reviewing experts, and provides strategic implications for how platforms should adopt rating scales and aggregate ratings.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucaa037

• Bagga, C.; Bendle, N. T.; Cotte, J., 2019, "Object Valuation and Non-Ownership Possession: How Renting and Borrowing Impact Willingness-to-pay", Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, December 42(1): 97 - 117.
  Abstract: Prior research on object valuation ignores the effect of non-ownership physical possession types such as renting and borrowing. Evidence from four experiments demonstrates that the valuation (i.e., willingness-to-pay) for rented objects is greater than the valuation for non-possessed or borrowed objects. Borrowed objects are not valued any differently than non-possessed objects. Psychological ownership mediates the relationship between valuation and non-ownership physical possession. Additionally, psychological ownership varies for different possession types (ownership, renting, and borrowing) as its contributing routes (control, self-investment, and knowledge) operate differently for each possession type. As further evidence of the psychological ownership based theoretical account, the research shows that rented objects are not valued higher than non-possessed objects if the control or self-investment routes of psychological ownership are suppressed. The moderating influence of product hedonism–utilitarianism and consumers’ tightwad–spendthrift tendency on the valuation of rented and borrowed objects is also examined.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11747-018-0596-3

• Liang, J.; Jiang, H.; Cotte, J., 2019, "Upward Intergenerational Influences on Parents’ Innovativeness and Innovation Adoption: A Comparative Study of Single Child and Multiple Child Families", Journal of Consumer Behaviour, July 18(4): 350 - 359.
  Abstract: In the marketing and consumer behavior literature, there has been growing attention on upward intergenerational influences, or reverse socialization, which is largely because of children’s increasing influences on family decisions. This paper hypothesizes different patterns of upward intergenerational influences in single vs. multiple child families, controlling for peer and spousal influences. We found that young adult single children had a direct positive influence on their parents’ innovation adoption behavior, but not a significant influence on their parents’ overall innovativeness, while young adult children with siblings had a different effect: their innovativeness had a significant positive influence on their parents’ overall innovativeness, but not a direct impact on their parents’ innovation adoption.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cb.1775

• Whelan, J.; Goode, M. R.; Cotte, J.; Thomson, M., 2016, "Consumer Regulation Strategies: Attenuating the Effect of Consumer References in a Voting Context", Psychology & Marketing, October 33(11): 899 - 916.
  Abstract: Consumption cues (e.g., brands, money, and advertisements) can have powerful effects on cognition, perception, and behavior, yet how people regulate responses to such cues is not well understood. This is surprising given that consumption cues are increasingly present in nontraditional consumer contexts, such as healthcare, education, and politics. This research develops a measure of two types of consumer regulation strategies, cue-based and budget-based (studies 14), and demonstrates that these strategies influence how people respond to consumption cues in a political context (study 5). Specifically, in a study involving the 2012 American Presidential Election, priming survey participants as consumers (versus citizens) influenced both voting intentions and self-reported voting behavior, and the newly developed consumer regulation scale was instrumental in detecting this effect. These findings suggest there may be merit in the escalating debate and concern over referring to voters as consumers.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mar.20927

• Huff, A. D.; Cotte, J., 2016, "The Evolving Family Assemblage: How Senior Families Do’ Family", European Journal of Marketing, June 50(5/6): 892 - 915.
  Abstract: A growing stream of consumer research has examined the intersection of family dynamics, consumption practices, and the marketplace. The purpose of this research is to make sense of the complex nature of family for senior families (adult children and their elderly parents) who employ the use of elder care services and facilities.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/EJM-02-2015-0082

• Bendle, N. T.; Cotte, J., 2016, "Assumptions of Rationality in A Political Market: The Case of the Republican Autopsy", Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing, March 28(1): 66 - 83.
  Abstract: There exists considerable controversy over what voter rationality assumptions underlie political marketing. Some of this controversy derives from the lack of clear definitions of rationality. An examination of seven common assumptions that underlie the concept of rationality shows that only a modest level of information, freedom from errors, and consistency are necessary for the marketing concept to have value in politics. The authors examine the implicit assumptions regarding voter rationality of the experienced Republican political campaign managers who wrote the Growth and Opportunity Project (The Republican Autopsy) their assumptions of voter rationality are consistent with those in the theoretical review. We find they appreciate the value of correctly tailoring messages and do not subscribe to a belief that political markets are efficient. We suggest that greater clarity about the various meanings of rationality should better allow marketing theorists to embrace ideas from disparate disciplines.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10495142.2016.1131481

• Wang, X.; Bendle, N. T.; Mai, F.; Cotte, J., 2015, "The Journal of Consumer Research at Forty: A Historical Analysis", Journal of Consumer Research, June 42(1): 5 - 18.
  Abstract: This article reviews forty years of the Journal of Consumer Research. Using text-mining, the authors uncover the key phrases associated with consumer research. The authors use a topic modeling procedure to uncover 16 topics that have featured in the journal since its inception, and to show the trends in topics over time. For example, the authors highlight the decline in Family Decision Making research and the flourishing of Social Identity and Influence research since the journal’s inception. A citation analysis shows which JCR articles have had the most impact, and compares the topics in top cited articles with all JCR journal articles. The authors show that Methodological and Consumer Culture papers tend to be heavily cited. Finally, the authors conclude by investigating the scholars that have been the top contributors to the journal across the four decades of its existence. And to better understand which schools have contributed most to the knowledge of consumer research over this history, the authors provide an analysis of where these top performing scholars were trained. Our approach shows that the JCR archives can be an excellent source of data for scholars trying to understand the complicated, challenging, and dynamic field of consumer research.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucv009

• Barnhart, M.; Cotte, J.; Huff, A. D., 2014, "Like a Member of the Family: Including and Excluding Paid Caregivers in Performances of Family", Journal of Marketing Management, November 30(15-16): 1680 - 1702.
  Abstract: We explore the construction of family in contemporary families that employ professional providers of childcare and elder care. We find that families and caregivers at times construct family together, including the caregiver as a family member, while at other times, consumers construct family in ways that exclude the caregiver. Through our exploration of these various ways of constructing family, we offer three theoretical contributions. First, we challenge traditional distinctions between consumers and producers and highlight the fluid, contextualised nature of family by demonstrating that some contemporary constructions of family include paid service providers. Second, we elucidate the ways in which the provision and consumption of a service, everyday care, produces a liminal position for some service providers. Finally, we develop a broader understanding of the ways in which performances of family protect cultural values.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2014.933865

• Blazevic, V.; Wiertz, C.; Cotte, J.; de Ruyter, K.; Keeling, D. I., 2014, "GOSIP in Cyberspace: Conceptualization and Scale Development for General Online Social Interaction Propensity", Journal of Interactive Marketing, May 28(2): 87 - 100.
  Abstract: The interactive nature of the Internet has boosted online communication for both social and business purposes. However, individual consumers differ in their predisposition to interact online with others. Whereas an impressive stream of research has investigated media interactivity, the existence of individual differences in the use of different online media, that is, differences in general online social interaction propensity, has so far received less research attention. An individual's predisposition to interact online affects many important consumer behaviors, such as online engagement and participation. Thus, in this paper, we propose and conceptualize general online social interaction propensity as a trait-based individual difference that captures the differences between consumers in their predisposition to interact with others in an online environment. Based on eight studies, we develop and validate a scale for measuring general online social interaction propensity and demonstrate its usefulness in understanding diversity in levels of engagement and in predicting online interaction behaviors.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2013.09.003

• Robinson, S.; Giebelhausen, M.; Cotte, J., 2013, "Shopping, Gambling or Shambling? Penny Auctions", Journal of Business Research, August 66(9): 1612 - 1616.
  Abstract: On penny auction websites, consumers participate in a game where the winner is awarded the opportunity to purchase a product for pennies on the dollar and discounts of over 90% are often advertised and recorded. Losers, on the other hand, may easily spend hundreds of dollars and walk away with nothing. For penny auction websites, profit margins of over 1000% on a single auction are not uncommon. Critics call it gambling. Proponents call it entertainment shopping. Either way, this emerging form of ecommerce represents a fascinating area for academic research.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://scholarship.sha.cornell.edu/articles/269

• Huff, A. D.; Cotte, J., 2013, "Complexities of Consumption: The Case of Childcare", Journal of Consumer Affairs, March 47(1): 72 - 97.
  Abstract: New mothers face many challenges, from negotiating how they will play the role of new mother, to the choice of a caregiver for a child when it is time to return to work. This choice, in North America, is often made under constrained situations of limited supply. Indeed, in many cases mothers have very little traditional choice at all. Using in-depth interviews with mothers who have recently chosen childcare services, we explore the phase of motherhood before the choice of caregiver is required, the choice itself, and the post-choice stage of ongoing childcare consumption. We also account for our informants' reframing of choice outcomes that are often not reflective of preference. We build on prior research on choice and post-choice outcomes to reveal the inherent complexities in mothers’ ongoing use of childcare, and we offer policy recommendations based on our deep understanding of this intensely personal consumption context.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/joca.12004

• Trudel, R.; Murray, K. B.; Cotte, J., 2012, "Beyond Expectations: The Effect of Regulatory Focus on Consumer Satisfaction", International Journal of Research in Marketing, March 29(1): 93 - 97.
  Abstract: This paper examines the effect of regulatory focus on consumer satisfaction. In contrast to the disconfirmation of expectations model of satisfaction, we find that, although regulatory focus does affect consumers’ expectations, the effect on satisfaction cannot be explained by differences in those expectations. Instead, our results reveal a direct effect of consumers' regulatory focus on satisfaction that is based on the conservative bias of prevention-focused consumers. Compared to promotion-focused consumers, prevention-focused consumers protect against making errors and demonstrate a conservative bias in their evaluations of satisfaction. The results of two experiments demonstrate this conservative bias, showing that, compared to promotion-focused consumers, prevention-focused consumers are less satisfied with positive outcomes and more satisfied with negative outcomes.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://ssrn.com/abstract=2144799

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