Making a Difference with ACR

"Making a Difference" was the theme of the Association for Consumer Research North American Conference that was held October 3-6 in Chicago, USA. The conference had about 1500 participants, including several world-leading researcher in consumer behavior. CTF was represented by researchers Anders Gustafsson and Tobias Otterbring.

Professor Anders Gustafsson and PhD Student Tobias Otterbring presented two studies. One study is made in collaboration with the local IKEA store in Karlstad on what happens when customers are welcomed by an employee at the store entrance; how attitudes towards the employees, the satisfaction with the visit, and how the amount of the purchases were affected. In this study the researchers have collaborated with American researchers Nancy J. Sirianni, Northeastern University, and Christine Ringler, Rutger University.
The other study involves physical contact, that is, what happens when an employee touches a customer, for example, by a pat on the shoulder. Here, the researchers collaborated with Stadium, Karlstad, and researchers Joann Peck and Andrea Webb, both from University of Wisconsin, USA.
What do you bring back from the conference?
- The conference included a broad representation of marketing topics, from consumer behavior to how companies build brands where customers fill the brand with content. The journalist behind the book “The tipping Point – How little Things can Make a Big Difference”, Malcolm Gladwell, gave a very interesting presentation on why it is so difficult to find support for gender equality in various fields, says Anders Gustafsson.
- There were many interesting and fun presentation. Among many things we learned that people who are asked to wash their hands are more likely to cheat. This is because the washing process make them feel “clean” and temporary immoral behaviors is seen as more acceptable. People who get to empty a coat full of small things feel “empty” and are more likely to hoard, for example in a grocery store, compared to people in the same situation who get to fill the coat, says Tobias Otterbring.
About ACR
The mission of the Association for Consumer Research, ACR, is to advance consumer research and facilitate the exchange of scholarly information among members of academia, industry, and government worldwide.
Read more about ACR here.
Please visit the conference website for more information about the conference.