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Comparative advertisements and schadenfreude: when and why others’ unfortunate choices make us happy

Author

Listed:
  • Ozge Yucel-Aybat

    (Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg)

  • Thomas Kramer

    (University of California, Riverside)

Abstract

Comparative advertisements often feature situations depicting consumers who use competitors’ brands being subjected to misfortunes. We examine schadenfreude, the pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others, as an affective response elicited by comparative ads, as well as consumers’ beliefs in tempting fate as a heretofore unexamined influence thereof. Consistent with our theory, we show that comparative ads depicting the misfortunes involving lower-quality (vs. higher-quality) competitors elicit greater schadenfreude, and that this is because choosing the former is perceived to tempt fate and to be more deserving of misfortune than the latter. Moreover, heightened levels of schadenfreude in turn lead to more positive attitudes and increased purchase intentions among consumers who are more (vs. less) reluctant to tempt fate.

Suggested Citation

  • Ozge Yucel-Aybat & Thomas Kramer, 2017. "Comparative advertisements and schadenfreude: when and why others’ unfortunate choices make us happy," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 579-589, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:28:y:2017:i:4:d:10.1007_s11002-017-9431-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11002-017-9431-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hyeongmin (Christian) Kim & Katina Kulow & Thomas Kramer, 2014. "The Interactive Effect of Beliefs in Malleable Fate and Fateful Predictions on Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 40(6), pages 1139-1148.
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    6. Kramer, Thomas & Yucel-Aybat, Ozge & Lau-Gesk, Loraine, 2011. "The effect of schadenfreude on choice of conventional versus unconventional options," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 116(1), pages 140-147, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Barhorst, Jennifer B. & Wilson, Alan & Brooks, Joshua, 2020. "Negative tweets and their impact on likelihood to recommend," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 727-739.

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