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The Price of Being Beautiful: Negative Effects of Attractiveness on Empathy for Children in Need

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  • Robert J. Fisher
  • Yu Ma

Abstract

The research examines how the attractiveness of children in need affects the empathy they evoke and the subsequent help they receive from unrelated adults. The authors find that attractive children are attributed desirable characteristics related to social competence, which is consistent with the "beautiful is good" stereotype. Ironically, the authors find that these attributions reduce the empathy evoked by attractive children and the help they receive from unrelated adults as long as their need is not severe. These effects are demonstrated in four experiments. The research identifies a significant cost of being beautiful and an important exception to the beautiful is good stereotype. The results also have practical implications for how children are portrayed in promotional materials for disaster relief agencies, children's hospitals, and other charities.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert J. Fisher & Yu Ma, 2014. "The Price of Being Beautiful: Negative Effects of Attractiveness on Empathy for Children in Need," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 41(2), pages 436-450.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:doi:10.1086/676967
    DOI: 10.1086/676967
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    Cited by:

    1. Michela Balconi & Natalia Kopiś-Posiej & Irene Venturella & Emilia Zabielska-Mendyk & Paweł Augustynowicz & Laura Angioletti, 2022. "The Effect of Cognitive Strategies and Facial Attractiveness on Empathic Neural Responses," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-11, November.
    2. Septianto, Felix & Tjiptono, Fandy, 2019. "The interactive effect of emotional appeals and past performance of a charity on the effectiveness of charitable advertising," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 189-198.
    3. Grinstein, Amir & Hagtvedt, Henrik & Kronrod, Ann, 2019. "Aesthetically (dis)pleasing visuals: A dual pathway to empathy and prosocial behavior," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 83-99.
    4. Arvid Erlandsson, 2021. "Seven (weak and strong) helping effects systematically tested in separate evaluation, joint evaluation and forced choice," Judgment and Decision Making, Society for Judgment and Decision Making, vol. 16(5), pages 1113-1154, September.
    5. Fang, Shujie & Zhang, Chun & Li, Yaoqi, 2020. "Physical attractiveness of service employees and customer engagement in tourism industry," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    6. Abhishek Bhati & Ruth K. Hansen, 2020. "A literature review of experimental studies in fundraising," Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, Center for Experimental and Behavioral Public Administration, vol. 3(1).
    7. Bullard, Olya & Penner, Sara, 2017. "A regulatory-focused perspective on philanthropy: Promotion focus motivates giving to prevention-framed causes," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 173-180.
    8. Zhu, Huawei & Wong, Nancy & Huang, Minxue, 2019. "Does relationship matter? How social distance influences perceptions of responsibility on anthropomorphized environmental objects and conservation intentions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 62-70.
    9. Li, Yaoqi & Zhang, Chun & Fang, Shujie, 2022. "Can beauty save service failures? The role of recovery employees’ physical attractiveness in the tourism industry," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 100-110.
    10. Ernan Haruvy & Peter Popkowski Leszczyc & Greg Allenby & Russell Belk & Catherine Eckel & Robert Fisher & Sherry Xin Li & John A. List & Yu Ma & Yu Wang, 2020. "Fundraising design: key issues, unifying framework, and open puzzles," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 31(4), pages 371-380, December.
    11. Seo, Kwanglim & Choi, Youngjoon & Shin, Joongwon, 2021. "Homelessness in destinations: Tourists' visit intention," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    12. Chen, Tong & Razzaq, Amar & Qing, Ping & Cao, Binbin, 2021. "Do you bear to reject them? The effect of anthropomorphism on empathy and consumer preference for unattractive produce," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    13. Hyunkyu Jang, 2022. "Cuteness mediates the effect of happy facial expressions on empathy and charitable donations," International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, Springer;International Association of Public and Non-Profit Marketing, vol. 19(4), pages 675-689, December.
    14. Kamatham, Sri Harsha & Pahwa, Parneet & Jiang, Juncai & Kumar, Nanda, 2021. "Effect of appeal content on fundraising success and donor behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 827-839.
    15. repec:cup:judgdm:v:16:y:2021:i:5:p:1113-1154 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Li, Yaoqi & Zhang, Chun & Laroche, Michel, 2019. "Is beauty a premium? A study of the physical attractiveness effect in service encounters," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 215-225.
    17. Choi, Jungsil & Li, Yexin Jessica & Rangan, Priyamvadha & Yin, Bingqing & Singh, Surendra N., 2020. "Opposites attract: Impact of background color on effectiveness of emotional charity appeals," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 644-660.
    18. Dang-Van, Thac & Vo-Thanh, Tan & Vu, Thinh Truong & Wang, Jianming & Nguyen, Ninh, 2023. "Do consumers stick with good-looking broadcasters? The mediating and moderating mechanisms of motivation and emotion," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).

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