We uncover a powerful insight: the key to increasing AI adoption lies not in technical sophistication but in emotional engagement. When AI feels magical, it inspires curiosity, excitement, and trust. Harnessing this emotional response can unlock new opportunities for innovation and growth across industries.

This sense of wonder drives a willingness to adopt AI, even though these users often perceive AI as less capable or ethical than those with greater AI literacy.

In contrast, consumers with higher AI literacy take a more critical view of AI, focusing on its technical limitations and ethical concerns. This group is less likely to see AI as magical and, as a result, is slower to adopt new tools or products.

Implications for Marketers and Product Designers

This gap in adoption behavior has significant implications for marketers, product developers, and policymakers. It challenges the common assumption that tech-savvy consumers are the leading edge of AI adoption. Instead, businesses targeting lower-literacy audiences can emphasize AI’s awe-inspiring potential to drive engagement and usage.

For example, marketing campaigns showcasing AI’s ability to generate lifelike images, analyze complex patterns, or offer empathetic care can resonate deeply with consumers who view these capabilities as extraordinary. By focusing on the “magic” of AI, brands can tap into the sense of wonder that drives adoption.

Marketing campaigns showcasing AI’s ability to generate lifelike images, analyze complex patterns, or offer empathetic care can resonate deeply with consumers who view these capabilities as extraordinary.

Balancing Wonder and Responsibility

This approach comes with a caution. Although lower AI literacy fosters adoption through magical thinking, it may also leave these consumers vulnerable to misuse or misrepresentation. For instance, users may overestimate AI’s capabilities or fail to recognize its limitations, leading to ethical and practical challenges.

Marketers and policymakers must strike a balance between highlighting AI’s potential and promoting informed usage. Clear messaging about AI’s capabilities and boundaries can help prevent misunderstandings while maintaining the sense of wonder that encourages adoption.

Another key challenge involves the role of education. As AI literacy increases, the perception of AI as magical diminishes. While education is crucial for fostering responsible use, it may inadvertently dampen adoption by reducing the sense of awe that motivates initial engagement. Policymakers and educators need to design programs that enhance understanding without eroding the excitement that drives consumers to explore new technologies.

Tailoring Strategies to Audience Perceptions

The study also highlights the broader implications of consumer perceptions for AI integration. Businesses should consider how AI is positioned within their offerings, ensuring that messaging aligns with the target audience’s level of understanding and emotional response.

For example, companies developing AI-powered tools for creative industries might focus on the “magic” of artistic generation, appealing to less tech-savvy consumers. Meanwhile, brands targeting professionals or experts might emphasize transparency and accuracy, addressing the more critical lens through which these audiences view AI.

Ultimately, the findings suggest that marketers and product developers must tailor their strategies to different segments of the population. By understanding how consumers perceive and interact with AI, businesses can create products and campaigns that resonate more effectively with their audiences.

Source: Stephanie Tully, Chiara Longoni, and Gil Appel, “Lower Artificial Intelligence Literacy Predicts Greater AI Receptivity,” Journal of Marketing, 89 (5), 1–20.

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A new Journal of Marketing study finds that the first like on a social ad has a profound impact, significantly boosting both clicks and likes. However, as the number of likes increases, their influence on clicks diminishes. The research reveals two key forms of social influence at play: normative and informational. Normative influence encourages users to conform to social norms, leading them to like an ad simply because others have done so. Informational influence, on the other hand, drives meaningful actions like clicking on an ad when users perceive it as credible or relevant.

This dual effect of likes provides critical insights for marketers and platforms aiming to optimize ad performance and user engagement.

Key Findings: How Likes Shape User Behavior

• Initial Likes Are Critical: The first like on an ad acts as a powerful social cue, boosting both clicks and likes. It serves as a signal of credibility, encouraging users to engage with the content.
• Normative vs. Informational Influence: While the first like generates both normative and informational influence, additional likes primarily encourage conformity rather than meaningful engagement. This results in more users liking the ad but fewer clicking through to learn more.
• Plateau in Engagement: As the number of likes grows, their ability to drive clicks diminishes. This suggests that showing too many likes can dilute their informational value, leading to a plateau in meaningful engagement.

The first like is a critical moment for engagement. It signals to users that the content is worth their attention, encouraging both likes and clicks. However, as likes accumulate, their role shifts. Instead of driving deeper interactions, they primarily serve to reinforce conformity, leading users to simply like the ad without taking further action.

Practical Insights for Marketers

For marketers, these findings offer actionable strategies to enhance the effectiveness of social media ad campaigns:

• Optimize for Click-Through Campaigns: Campaigns designed to drive clicks should display only a few likes to preserve the informational value of the first like. This strategy helps maintain the ad’s perceived credibility, encouraging users to take action.
• Boost Brand Awareness: For campaigns focused on building brand awareness, showing higher like counts can leverage normative influence to make the ad appear more popular and widely accepted. This approach enhances brand perception and visibility.
• Tailor Social Cues to Campaign Goals: Marketers should carefully consider the type of engagement they aim to achieve. Balancing normative and informational influences can help design campaigns that maximize both likes and clicks.

By aligning the visibility of likes with campaign objectives, brands can optimize their return on investment.

Implications for Social Media Platforms

The study also has significant implications for social media platforms. Platforms like Instagram and Facebook continuously experiment with the visibility of likes, as seen in Instagram’s recent tests on hiding like counts. These decisions impact user behavior and advertiser outcomes, making it critical for platforms to strike the right balance.

Platforms can use these insights to refine how they display likes in ads. For click-through campaigns, limiting the visibility of likes can preserve the informational value of the first like, driving deeper engagement. For awareness campaigns, showing higher like counts can enhance normative influence, boosting surface-level engagement and brand visibility.

Platforms must consider how their design choices influence both user behavior and advertiser performance.

Challenges and Considerations

While likes are a powerful tool for driving engagement, their effects are not universal. Campaigns that rely too heavily on normative influence may fail to drive meaningful actions like clicks or purchases. Similarly, campaigns that prioritize clicks without considering the role of social cues risk missing opportunities to build brand awareness.

Another challenge lies in balancing authenticity with strategy. Overemphasizing likes as a metric of success can lead to inauthentic interactions, where users engage with content superficially rather than meaningfully. Platforms and marketers must work together to ensure that social cues are used in ways that enhance user experience and drive real value.

A Vision for the Future of Social Advertising

This study offers a framework for leveraging likes as a tool for both engagement and action. By recognizing the dual role of likes, marketers and platforms can design campaigns that deliver better results for advertisers while maintaining user trust.

In a world where attention is increasingly scarce, the ability to understand and harness the dynamics of social influence offers a competitive edge. Whether the goal is to drive clicks, increase likes, or boost brand awareness, leveraging the power of social cues is key to creating impactful campaigns.

Source: Song Lin and Shan Huang, “Do More ‘Likes’ Lead to More Clicks? Evidence from a Field Experiment on Social Advertising,” Journal of Marketing, 89 (5), 88–110.

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A new Journal of Marketing study reveals that parents of single children are more likely to invest in deficit-based education products, such as remedial tutorials aimed at addressing weaknesses. In contrast, parents with multiple children prefer strength-based options like STEM enrichment programs, which focus on growth and development. These choices reflect differences in how family size shapes parenting goals, priorities, and decision-making strategies.

Key Findings: Family Size and Education Spending

• Single-Child Parents Favor Deficit-Based Products: Single-child households are more likely to view their child’s weaknesses as critical areas to address, prompting them to invest in solutions like remedial programs or tutoring. This preference stems from a desire to avoid failure or setbacks for their only child, who often carry heightened expectations.
• Multi-Child Parents Prioritize Strength-Based Programs: In families with multiple children, parents focus on building strengths rather than addressing weaknesses. They are more likely to invest in programs that promote future-oriented skills, such as STEM camps or advanced enrichment classes. This approach reflects their broader goals of maximizing opportunities for all children in the family.
• Perfectionism Plays a Role: Parents with higher levels of negative perfectionism—who are more focused on avoiding failure—show a stronger preference for deficit-based education products, regardless of family size. Positive perfectionism, on the other hand, aligns more closely with strength-based decisions.

How It Works: The Psychology Behind the Decisions

Parenting decisions are driven by a combination of psychological, social, and economic factors. Single-child parents often view their child as a singular opportunity, leading to an “all-in” approach that prioritizes addressing perceived deficits. These parents are more risk-averse, focusing on loss prevention and ensuring their child does not fall behind.

In contrast, multi-child parents adopt a more balanced perspective. With limited resources spread across multiple children, these parents focus on growth-oriented opportunities that yield long-term benefits for the entire family. Strength-based programs align with this forward-thinking mindset, emphasizing skills that prepare children for future success.

Negative perfectionism also amplifies deficit-focused behavior. Parents who fear failure or judgment are more likely to invest in products that promise to “fix” their child’s weaknesses. This dynamic can override typical family size patterns, leading some multi-child parents to prioritize deficit-based options when negative perfectionism is high.

Practical Insights for Education Marketers

The findings from this study provide valuable guidance for education providers and marketers:

• Tailor Messaging to Family Size: Education products should be positioned differently depending on the target audience. For single-child parents, messaging should emphasize addressing specific challenges or areas for improvement. For multi-child households, highlighting growth opportunities and future-oriented benefits will resonate more effectively.
• Recognize the Role of Perfectionism: Marketers can address perfectionism by offering reassurance and framing their products as solutions that reduce stress for parents while supporting their goals. For example, deficit-based products can be positioned as proactive tools for ensuring readiness, while strength-based options can be promoted as ways to unlock potential.
• Segment Products for Diverse Needs: Providers should consider developing distinct offerings tailored to the unique preferences of single- and multi-child families. Bundled programs that cater to multiple children or adaptive solutions that address both weaknesses and strengths can appeal to broader audiences.

Implications for Policymakers and Educators

Policymakers and educators must also consider these insights to ensure equitable access to education resources:

• Support for Single-Child Families: With single-child households becoming more prevalent, education systems should develop programs that address their specific needs, such as targeted tutoring initiatives or tailored support for skill gaps.
• Promote Balance in Education Approaches: Schools and policymakers should encourage families to adopt balanced strategies that focus on both addressing weaknesses and building strengths. Providing clear guidance on the benefits of different education products can help parents make informed decisions.
• Accessibility for Multi-Child Families: Multi-child households may face economic constraints that limit their ability to invest in premium education products. Offering subsidized enrichment programs or scalable solutions can ensure these families have access to growth-oriented opportunities.

As single-child households continue to grow in number, their influence on the education market cannot be overlooked. Education providers, marketers, and policymakers must recognize the unique challenges and priorities faced by these families. At the same time, multi-child families remain a significant segment of the market, with distinct preferences that require tailored approaches. By addressing the needs of both groups, stakeholders can create more inclusive and effective education solutions that empower all children to succeed.

Source: Phyllis Xue Wang, Ce Liang, and Qiyuan Wang, “Fixing Onlies Versus Advancing Multiples: Number of Children and Parents’ Preferences for Educational Products,” Journal of Marketing, 89 (4), 21–38.

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A new Journal of Marketing study addresses this need by spotlighting the transformative power of conceptual research. Our research team demonstrates how conceptual studies redefine norms, explain new phenomena, and resolve conflicts. Unlike empirical research, which primarily analyzes data, conceptual studies focus on developing theories that influence practice and drive interdisciplinary progress. These studies provide a foundation for new ways of thinking, enabling businesses and academics to stay ahead of trends. Conceptual studies are cited 2.5 times more often than empirical work, underscoring their long-term impact on both scholarship and practice.

Our study categorizes conceptual research into five distinct types:

• New Paradigms: These studies challenge prevailing assumptions to reshape how we think about markets and consumer behavior. By questioning the status quo, they open the door to revolutionary ways of understanding business problems.
• New Theories: These papers combine existing frameworks or develop entirely novel approaches to address emerging trends and unresolved questions. They provide fresh perspectives that empirical research often cannot achieve alone.
• Theory Elaboration: By extending established theories to new contexts, these studies refine and enhance existing knowledge, making it more applicable to diverse industries and challenges.
• Literature Reviews: These papers synthesize existing research to reveal gaps in understanding and guide future investigations. They serve as roadmaps for scholars and practitioners seeking to address critical unanswered questions.
• Analytical Research: Using logic and mathematical modeling, these studies advance theory by deriving insights into how consumers and firms behave under different conditions.

Each type of conceptual research serves a unique purpose, but all share the common goal of providing clarity and direction in an increasingly complex marketing environment.

Practical Guidance for Crafting Conceptual Research

Our study provides a practical guide to crafting impactful conceptual papers. Scholars are encouraged to start by identifying promising research questions that address real-world challenges. Building strong theoretical arguments requires a clear understanding of the problem, the ability to integrate diverse perspectives, and the creativity to propose new frameworks or solutions. Writing compelling conceptual studies also involves avoiding common pitfalls, such as being overly abstract or failing to connect theories to actionable insights.

Collaboration between scholars and practitioners is particularly critical. Practitioners can provide valuable context and real-world examples that make theories more relevant and applicable, while scholars offer the rigor and depth needed to address complex issues. By working together, these groups can ensure that conceptual research has a tangible impact on both academic knowledge and business practices.

Areas Ripe for Conceptual Exploration

Looking ahead, our study identifies five areas that are particularly ripe for conceptual research:

• AI Transformation: Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how marketers understand, predict, and influence consumer behavior. Conceptual studies are needed to explore how AI will redefine core marketing functions, from personalization to supply chain optimization, and its broader implications for customer relationships.
• Virtual Marketing: Augmented reality (AR) and virtual environments are creating new spaces for consumer engagement. What theories can explain behavior in these immersive digital spaces? How should companies adapt their strategies?
• Privacy Balances: As consumer data become increasingly central to marketing, the tension between personalization and privacy grows. Conceptual research can help regulators, firms, and consumers find ways to balance the benefits and risks of data-driven marketing.
• Crowdsourcing: Many companies now rely on customer communities for ideas and innovation. Conceptual studies can explore models that maximize the effectiveness of crowdsourcing while maintaining brand integrity and fostering community engagement.
• Sustainability: As environmental concerns become more pressing, marketers need frameworks to understand how sustainability initiatives affect consumer preferences, brand loyalty, and long-term profitability.

Bridging Theory and Practice

Conceptual research bridges the gap between theory and practice, enabling businesses to foresee and adapt to seismic changes in the market. For example, companies grappling with the challenges of integrating AI into their operations can benefit from theoretical models that predict how these technologies will reshape consumer interactions. Similarly, marketers venturing into virtual environments need guidance on how traditional strategies may or may not apply.

By investing in conceptual research, scholars and practitioners alike can tackle the most pressing challenges facing the marketing field. This collaboration is particularly important in a world where markets evolve faster than ever before. Theoretical insights grounded in practical relevance can help businesses anticipate changes, mitigate risks, and seize opportunities that others might overlook.

Source: Irina Kozlenkova, Caleb Warren, Suresh Kotha, Reihane Boghrati, and Robert Palmatier, “Conceptual Research: Multidisciplinary Insights for Marketing,” Journal of Marketing, 89 (4), 1–20. doi:10.1177/00222429241302814

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A new Journal of Marketing study finds that combining traditional media, such as TV and outdoor ads, with digital channels, including Facebook and YouTube, can significantly enhance brand performance. Our research team analyzed 1,083 global campaigns to uncover how integrated media strategies create synergies that amplify advertising results.

Key Findings

No One-Size-Fits-All Media Mix: We find that there isn’t a universal “best” combination of media channels. Instead, high-performing campaigns tailor their media mix to specific goals, such as boosting brand awareness, driving conversions, or enhancing customer engagement.

For example, pairing TV with YouTube can create broad awareness, while using Facebook alongside in-store promotions helps drive localized action. Understanding these relationships allows marketers to craft more effective campaigns.

Untapped Potential in Current Strategies: Our findings reveal that many advertising campaigns are not fully optimized. Simple adjustments in media planning could result in over 50% higher lifts in key brand metrics such as awareness or consideration.

Archetypes and Synergies in Media Channels: We identify common media archetypes, which represent patterns in how channels are combined. High-performing campaigns leverage synergies among these archetypes to amplify impact. For instance, traditional media channels like TV and outdoor advertising create a foundation of trust and familiarity, while digital channels add precision targeting and interactivity. By combining the strengths of these channels, marketers can achieve exponential results.

Practical Recommendations for Marketers

• Adopt a Holistic Approach
  Marketers should move beyond isolated strategies and focus on how different media channels work together. For example, combining TV’s reach with YouTube’s engagement can strengthen brand resonance.
• Tailor the Media Mix to Campaign Goals
  Each campaign objective requires a unique mix of channels. Awareness campaigns may prioritize TV and social media, while conversion-focused campaigns might benefit from pairing digital ads with in-store promotions.
• Emphasize Brand Lifts Over Reach
  While reach is often the default metric for measuring campaign success, our findings highlight the importance of focusing on brand mindset lifts, such as changes in perception, awareness, and consideration.

Lessons from Walmart’s Strategy

Walmart’s success demonstrates the power of integrated advertising strategies. By combining traditional and digital channels, the company has created seamless consumer touchpoints that enhance brand performance. Other marketers can learn from this approach by investing in diverse media channels and ensuring alignment with campaign goals.

Integrated media strategies are no longer optional—they are essential for modern advertising success. By understanding the synergies among traditional and digital channels, marketers can craft campaigns that resonate with their target audiences and achieve transformative results.

Source: J. Jason Bell, Felipe Thomaz, and Andrew Stephen, “Beyond the Pair: Media Archetypes and Complex Channel Synergies in Advertising,” Journal of Marketing.

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A new Journal of Marketing study reveals a surprising solution: anthropomorphizing workout equipment—assigning human-like qualities to objects—can significantly boost exercise motivation. By fostering a sense of companionship, anthropomorphism turns solitary workouts into collaborative experiences. Our research team explores this phenomenon through eight experiments in which participants engaged with either anthropomorphized or standard fitness tools.

Key Findings: How Anthropomorphism Boosts Motivation

• Increased Exercise Plans: Participants who anthropomorphize their workout tools plan more ambitious routines and exercise with greater intensity.
• Companionship Effect: Imagining fitness tools as teammates makes workouts feel less daunting and more enjoyable.
• Enhanced Engagement Beyond Fitness: The motivational benefits extend to educational tools, making learning more engaging.

How It Works: Anthropomorphism in Practice

In one experiment, participants were introduced to a jump rope described as, “Hello! I am your workout partner,” while a control group received the standard description, “This is your workout tool.” Another experiment encouraged participants to imagine their treadmill as a person and describe its personality, creating a “workout buddy” effect.

When participants anthropomorphized their equipment, they reported feeling less alone during their exercise sessions. The imagined relationship between the individual and the equipment transformed a solitary task into an engaging interaction, much like working out with a friend. In the treadmill study, for instance, participants who imagined the treadmill’s personality not only exercised longer but also pushed themselves harder. These feelings of support and partnership reduced the mental barriers to starting or continuing exercise.

Interestingly, participants also described their anthropomorphized tools as being “cheerleaders” or “encouraging friends” rather than just objects. This framing boosted confidence and increased expectations of success, further reinforcing motivation. By cultivating a sense of collaboration, anthropomorphism redefines the exercise experience, making it less about effort and more about teamwork.

Practical Insights for Marketers

Marketers and product designers can leverage these findings to enhance user engagement. Here’s how:

• Human-Like Features: Fitness tools and apps can integrate friendly interfaces, supportive messages, or avatars to foster a sense of partnership.
• Collaborative Messaging: Marketing campaigns should emphasize teamwork, using phrases like, “Let’s tackle this together!” to build user trust and motivation.
• Targeting Diverse Audiences: Understanding the demographic most likely to benefit from anthropomorphic tools—such as beginners or individuals lacking external support—can refine marketing strategies.

Limitations of Anthropomorphism

While anthropomorphism can be effective, its impact is situational and has boundaries:

• Presence of Real Companions: The motivational boost is less significant when a human workout partner is present.
• Inherently Fun Tools: Equipment already perceived as enjoyable (e.g., dance-based workouts) receives less added benefit from anthropomorphic features.
• Controlling Framing: Tools framed as strict “coaches” or “supervisors” can reduce autonomy and diminish enjoyment.

Implications for Public Health

Anthropomorphism’s potential extends beyond fitness, offering applications in education and other self-improvement contexts. By humanizing tools, public health campaigns can create engaging experiences that drive behavioral change.

For instance, educational apps can incorporate friendly, human-like study aids to make learning less intimidating and more enjoyable. Similarly, fitness campaigns targeting inactive populations can emphasize collaboration with anthropomorphic tools to bridge the gap between intention and action.

Broader Applications and Lessons for Practitioners

Consumers should seek out workout tools or apps with well-designed anthropomorphic features to sustain motivation and build long-term commitment. For businesses, investing in anthropomorphic design is a strategic move that enhances consumer well-being and fosters brand loyalty and repeat use.

As physical inactivity and sedentary lifestyles rise globally, stakeholders in public health, marketing, and product design should integrate anthropomorphic elements into their offerings. By doing so, they can help reframe traditionally burdensome tasks as collaborative, enjoyable experiences. Whether tackling fitness or education, the right “partner” can make all the difference.

Source: Lili Wang and Maferima Touré-Tillery, “Cardio with Mr. Treadmill: How Anthropomorphizing the Means of Goal Pursuit Increases Motivation,”  Journal of Marketing.

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In a new Journal of Marketing study, we investigate whether firms traditionally recognized as close competitors exhibit the same rivalry online through similar content strategies or whether they adopt more unique approaches on X. In a competitive digital landscape, marketers realize the importance of differentiating their social media strategies from competitors. Platforms like X offer distinct features such as real-time interaction, community building, and content co-creation that significantly enhance a firm’s ability to stand out. We explore whether and how firms might differentiate themselves from close competitors using X.

Our study examines 199 large consumer-facing retail brands on X over a five-year period, using a novel metric to assess content similarity between these firms and their closest traditional competitors. Results show firms that diverge from their competitors’ strategies benefit from higher engagement and attract new followers more quickly.

Three Tiers of Tweets

A key discovery from our study is a hierarchical structure in content creation strategies. To better understand how firms differentiate their content strategies, we classify tweets into ten distinct categories, grouped into three tiers:

1. All firms we studied produced content to some degree in the five categories that represent the bottom tier, which focus on one-way information dissemination. Examples include promotional messages or product updates.
2. A majority of firms (61%) also adopted content strategies that focused on community engagement.
3. An even lower number of firms, around 35%, added content strategies that focused on user interaction and co-creation.

Firms that focus on community building and co-creation not only differentiate their content strategies from their close competitors but also perform better in terms of engagement and follower growth. In contrast, firms that are more similar to their competitors primarily create content in the base tier, where the content strategy is focused on vertical differentiation from the closest competitors.

The firms that perform best on social media are those that build strong relationships with their followers. These companies excel by using strategies that go beyond simple promotions to create interactive experiences. For example, some firms organize events or launch campaigns that encourage users to share their own content, participate in conversations, or provide feedback on new products. This level of engagement helps differentiate these firms from their competitors and results in stronger brand loyalty.

Our research also highlights the importance of adaptability in social media strategy. As social media platforms like X evolve to offer new tools and features, firms that are quick to adapt and leverage these features are more likely to succeed.

Lessons for Marketers

For marketers and business leaders, the implications of our study are clear. Firms should use novel solutions to monitor competitors’ strategies and focus on differentiating their content strategies if they want to succeed on social media platforms. This means moving beyond basic promotions and embracing strategies that engage users, foster community, and encourage interaction and co-creation. Retailers that can leverage these effectively will see the greatest returns in terms of engagement and follower growth.

Our findings provide vital lessons for Chief Marketing Officers:

• Firms can rank competitors by dissimilarity of content to determine which of their top traditional competitors have a potential social media competitive advantage. This mapping of competitors can help firms better understand their own position in the social media competitive space and strategically develop their own social media content toward further differentiation.

• Firms can use our hierarchical structure to better design their social media differentiation strategies. Our hierarchy connects specific content strategies with engagement on X. It is important for managers to know the capabilities of social media and how they can leverage those capabilities to increase social media engagement.

• To maximize engagement, firms could use emerging novel AI-based solutions that allow monitoring of competitors’ actions and content in real time.

• Managers should use memorable hashtags to create valuable communities of social media followers around their products, events, interactive marketing campaigns, and contests involving followers in value co-creation and co-innovation.

• Platform providers can design mechanisms to facilitate co-creation interactions between firms and followers. For instance, a social media platform might offer a functionality to create “virtual design labs” where firms would initiate discussions around new products and invite ideas and user-generated content from followers. Such value-added features can be priced differently and would serve as additional revenue streams for platforms.

Source: Mikhail Lysyakov, P.K. Kannan, Siva Viswanathan, and Kunpeng Zhang, “Retailer Differentiation in Social Media: An Investigation of Firm-Generated Content on Twitter,” Journal of Marketing.

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This misperception has wide-reaching consequences. Consumers demand steeper discounts for healthy foods close to expiration, are less likely to consume them, and ultimately waste them more often than less healthy options. These biases not only undermine sustainability efforts but also create challenges for retailers striving to balance inventory management and profit margins.

Misconceptions About “Freshness”

Our research reveals a fundamental disconnect in how consumers evaluate healthy and unhealthy foods. Healthy items are often perceived as “fresher,” which ironically leads to the belief that they spoil faster. This misconception influences decisions across the food value chain—from purchase to consumption to disposal. For example, consumers are less likely to eat a salad nearing its expiration date compared to a similarly aged bag of chips, believing the former to be riskier to their health.

Retailers face the ripple effects of these biases. Healthy foods nearing expiration often require deeper price cuts to incentivize purchase. This impacts profit margins and creates logistical challenges in maintaining stock levels.

Implications for Marketers and Policymakers

For marketers and retailers, these findings offer actionable insights. Addressing these misperceptions through better labeling and communication can help shift consumer behavior. For instance, emphasizing the durability and stability of healthy foods could mitigate concerns about spoilage. Campaigns that educate consumers about the true perishability of items—highlighting facts like the longevity of certain produce or the minimal risks of consuming healthy foods slightly past their expiration dates—can also play a crucial role.

In addition, current regulations often emphasize the removal of ambiguous date labels but overlook the underlying biases that drive consumer behavior. Policymakers can complement these efforts by promoting educational initiatives that challenge misconceptions about healthy food spoilage. Encouraging transparency in food labeling and creating consistent messaging around expiration dates can reduce waste across households and retail environments.

We also observe opportunities for innovation. Retailers could experiment with dynamic pricing models tailored to healthy foods nearing expiration, offering targeted discounts that maintain profitability while encouraging consumption. Additionally, grocery stores could partner with brands to develop packaging that reassures consumers about the freshness of healthy items, even as they approach their expiration dates.

Beyond waste reduction, these strategies align with broader goals of promoting healthy eating and sustainability. By making consumers feel more confident about purchasing and consuming healthy foods close to expiry, marketers and policymakers can drive both health and environmental benefits.

Source: Christine Kim, Young Eun Huh, and Brent McFerran, “To Dispose or Eat? The Impact of Perceived Healthiness on Consumption Decisions for About-to-Expire Foods,” Journal of Marketing.

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Key Findings: How Bias Impacts Crowdfunding

Our research team analyzed over 4,100 crowdfunding campaigns to uncover the role of visual cues in donor behavior. Emotional expressiveness in campaign images, typically seen as a way to elicit empathy and generosity, often backfires for Black beneficiaries. Black individuals are stereotypically perceived as naturally more expressive, leading donors to discount their emotional displays as less genuine or indicative of need. Conversely, White beneficiaries displaying similar levels of emotional expressiveness are viewed as uniquely in distress, resulting in greater donations.

These biases reveal a critical challenge for platforms like GoFundMe: their promise of equitable access is undermined by societal stereotypes that influence donor decision making. Black beneficiaries face systemic barriers in receiving financial support, highlighting the urgent need for interventions that foster equity.

Practical Insights for Campaign Creators

Campaign creators can address these inequities and improve donation outcomes in several ways:

• Call-to-Action Cues: Including urgency-focused phrases like “urgent help needed” or “please act now” in campaign descriptions redirects donor attention from racial stereotypes to the critical nature of the cause. These cues emphasize the beneficiary’s situation, encouraging empathy-driven action.
  
• Affective Storytelling: Emotional narratives that highlight the specific challenges and hardships faced by beneficiaries can counteract biases activated by visual stereotypes. For instance, detailing the financial or emotional struggles behind the campaign helps donors connect with the individual story rather than making assumptions based on appearance.
  
• Shared Identity and Homophily: Campaigns that foster shared identity cues between donors and beneficiaries can bridge the empathy gap. Research shows that donors are more likely to empathize and give generously to beneficiaries who share their racial or gender identity. Creators can tailor campaigns to resonate with diverse donor bases, leveraging commonalities to build trust and engagement.

Implications for Crowdfunding Platforms

By embedding equity-focused design features, platforms can help ensure fairer opportunities for all users. One effective solution is implementing fairness-optimized algorithms. These algorithms can prioritize campaigns for underrepresented groups, ensuring greater visibility and support for Black beneficiaries and others who face systemic biases. Additionally, platforms can develop automated tools that guide campaign creators in crafting inclusive narratives, helping them emphasize urgency and emotional appeal without relying solely on visual cues.

Transparency in campaign curation and promotion is equally important. Platforms should clearly communicate how campaigns are ranked and promoted, offering insights into how donor behaviors are influenced. Providing training resources for campaign creators from underserved communities can also level the playing field, empowering them to design campaigns that resonate with donors across diverse demographics.

Policy Recommendations for Equity in Crowdfunding

Policymakers have an essential role in fostering fairness within crowdfunding platforms. By enforcing standards that mandate inclusivity and equity, policymakers can hold platforms accountable for their stated pro-social missions. Guidelines that promote transparency in algorithm design, campaign curation, and donation distribution are critical for reducing systemic biases.

Beyond regulation, policymakers can encourage platforms to adopt innovative approaches that prioritize inclusivity. For example, funding initiatives aimed at promoting equity-focused technologies or incentivizing platforms to address disparities can drive meaningful change in the digital economy.

Call to Action for Donors

While platforms and policymakers must take steps to reduce inequities, donors also have a vital role to play. Understanding the biases at work in crowdfunding can inspire donors to reflect on their giving behaviors. By prioritizing need-based giving and consciously questioning assumptions based on visual cues, donors can help create a fairer system for all beneficiaries.

Donors should seek out campaigns that emphasize urgency, personal narratives, and detailed descriptions of need. Taking the time to understand the stories behind campaigns can ensure that contributions are driven by empathy and equity rather than superficial judgments. Through intentional giving, donors can contribute to the broader effort to make crowdfunding a tool for empowerment and inclusion.

A Vision for an Equitable Crowdfunding Future

This study highlights the often-overlooked interplay between visual perception and pro-social behavior, revealing how systemic biases influence outcomes in digital spaces. Addressing these challenges requires collaboration across stakeholders, including platform managers, policymakers, campaign creators, and donors. By taking intentional steps to reduce disparities, crowdfunding platforms can fulfill their potential as tools for social good.

Together, these efforts can transform crowdfunding into a truly equitable space where individuals, regardless of race or background, can achieve their financial goals and aspirations.

Source: Elham Yazdani, Anindita Chakravarty, and Jeffrey Inman (2024), “Racial Inequity in Donation-based Crowdfunding Platforms: The Role of Facial Emotional Expressiveness,” Journal of Marketing.

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Across several experiments and studies, the researchers find that consumers overestimate the effectiveness of products based on color saturation—the richness, strength, or purity of a color—leading them to believe products with such colors are more potent. Consumers then use this perception of potency to infer how effective a product will be. This means that a more vivid and intense color can make a product seem more effective, even if the color has nothing to do with how well the product actually works. People make these inferences based on the color of both the product itself and its packaging. In addition, color saturation influences perceptions of product efficacy in advertising.

A more vivid and intense color can make a product seem more effective, even if the color has nothing to do with how well the product actually works.

For example, in one study, the researchers showed participants images of laundry detergent bottles. Some bottles had packaging with highly saturated colors, while others had less saturated colors. People were more likely to buy the detergent with the more saturated packaging because they believed it to be more effective. Researchers found similar results when showing people work gloves with varying levels of color saturation, suggesting that the link between color saturation and perceived efficacy extends beyond consumable products to durable goods.

Product Color Affects The Amount Consumers Use

Color also affects how much of a product people use. When the researchers placed hand sanitizer dispensers with varying color saturation in university lecture halls, people used significantly less of a highly saturated sanitizer than a less saturated option. In another study, students used less of a highly saturated cleaner to clean their desks. Although this might seem beneficial for promoting sustainable practices, it could be problematic for products where underuse is harmful.

At the same time, the relationship between color saturation and perceived efficacy is not always straightforward. It can be influenced by other factors, such as a consumer’s purchase goal. For instance, if a consumer is looking for a gentle facial cleanser, they might actually perceive a less saturated product to be more effective. This is because they associate lower saturation with gentleness, which is their desired benefit in this case. Conversely, a consumer searching for a strong facial cleanser would likely find the highly saturated product to be more appealing.

The Potential for Misuse or Underuse

The perception of increased potency can lead to unintended consequences. For example, consumers might underdose a brightly colored disinfectant, assuming a smaller amount will suffice. Similarly, medicines with bold packaging may be viewed as overly strong, causing hesitation or improper use.

So while bold colors can enhance product appeal, the fact that consumers make split-second judgements based on color can cause them to be misled when it comes to how the product should be used, which is particularly concerning for items like medications or sanitizers.

Implications for Marketers, Designers, and Policymakers

The findings highlight a tradeoff for marketers. Bold packaging colors can effectively communicate efficacy and capture consumer attention, but they must be used responsibly to avoid unintended consequences. Designing packaging isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s about functionality and trust. Marketers need to ensure that visual elements align with the intended use of the product, especially in categories where accuracy and safety are critical.

The study emphasizes the importance of carefully considering color saturation when designing products, packaging, and advertising:

• If you want to promote product efficacy, consider using highly saturated colors.
• If you want to encourage sustainable consumption, use highly saturated colors for products that tend to be overused.
• However, avoid highly saturated colors for products where underuse could be harmful. In these cases, marketers might consider providing additional information about the product’s potency to offset potential biases. For example, a label could read, “same powerful formula without added dyes.”

Design choices like color saturation can play a key role in promoting resource conservation. Governments and organizations are urging people to conserve resources, reduce waste, and adopt healthier habits. This research suggests marketers, regulators, and consumers can rethink product packaging to promote more sustainable and responsible behavior.

The findings may also be used to help address public health campaigns, ensuring consumers use sufficient amounts of medicines or disinfectants where needed. The underuse of important products like disinfectants or medications because of misleading color perceptions could exacerbate issues during health crises or flu seasons, making this a public health issue. Color psychology can be leveraged to encourage people to use just the right amounts of products to cut down on environmental waste without sacrificing efficacy.

In sum, marketers should align visual design with consumer expectations and product functionality. In a world where packaging often serves as a primary touchpoint for consumers, getting the balance right is crucial.

Source: Lauren I. Labrecque, Stefanie Sohn, Barbara Seegebarth, and Christy Ashley, “Color Me Effective: The Impact of Color Saturation on Perceptions of Potency and Product Efficacy,” Journal of Marketing.

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