Journal of Advertising Issues from 1972 to 1995 Uncovered Three Articles on Fear Appeals, but None on Guilt Appeals

1. The media you are interested in exploring 2. The psychological aspect you are interested in exploring regarding yourchosen media3. 3-4 journal articles (not newspaper articles) you found that address yourproposed paper topic. These references must be different from thereadings assigned for the course. Print and attach the articles with yourpaper proposal. 4. Any questions you have regarding the paper

Topic Idea #1: Subconscious Roles of Guilt and Shame in the Decision Making Process of the Consumer

Topic Idea #2: Living in the Wake of a Post Cold War Economy: The Ontogenesis of Sex In Advertising After the Death of a Wartime Sellers’ Market

Topic Idea #3 (Possible I could combine these two topics to create a more heavily thesis driven paper, although this might be a little bit overkill for this particular assignment; the topic idea is based around a transference of the concepts discussed involving the origin of embedding sex into advertising and the socio-economic factors that prompted the rife breeding ground for such.. all the while drawing parallels between past and current/future economic states to make sense of the new idea while discussing the idea of economic consumption[spending] in its current hybrid, modernized form [so I would argue, at least]- a model in which consumer decisions are based equally on desire as they are on a competing & inhibitory force brooding in the consumer’s subconscious. The primary new elements of consumer psychology being considered are guilt and shame. As the desire driven consumerism that was birthed from post cold war culture is contrasted to the economy of today, with consideration of new technologies and the internet, in order to explain the proposed update for a model of consumer psychology as a logical extension of previously accepted psychological models, the paper should alternate between Freudian roots and modern concepts in psychology. The reason for this is because the concept proposed is oriented around the Freudian root concepts that were reincarnated, or adapted perhaps by Dichter, into the world of western marketing as the American economy was changing in the mid twentieth century; it does not suppose an entirely different basic theory on the human psychological condition, yet does consider things brought to light by modern advances in peripheral fields such as cognitive and neuroscience as they are relevant to the concepts being considered).

1. Media interested in exploring: The media most relevant to this subject will be advertising and marketing in general, although it is possible it can stray into other territories like social media. This depends on how in depth the paper goes and to what degree I attempt to suppose some common psychological archetype as present in either varying demographic bodies or if in an entirely secular way. Most likely the farthest I would go in dissecting population groups is the difference between male and female mindsets and not venture into further territories like race or anything of the likes. ______

In the middle of the twentieth century, as the war raged on and the economy’s demand for items exceeded its supply, such a scarcity-of-goods-based model of exchange yielded little need for practicing businesses to understand the psychology of those consuming their products. When the people spending money in an economy are in a rationing mindset and there is a relative scarcity of available goods, retailers are not worrying about how to sell surplus goods because they don’t have any, and businesses have no anxiety concerning whether or not they will be making their money back. When a business does have more supply than there is demand for it, a need for innovation is born, a type of innovation that changes the fabric of a society, a psychological innovation. In the case of being overstocked with goods, a business will want to figure out some sort of way to embed a sense of intrinsic motivation into those who are at liberty to spend their hard earned money on that surplus stock there is no need for, whatever the product; especially if coming out of a sellers market economy like we have been considering as it is a lingering habit to be pragmatic and frugal with ones money. The inner- workings of an economy like this that have yet to experience any sort of explosive birth of competitive branding of goods are tight and predictable, leaving little room for the unknown. This sense of predictability leaves us with the vision of practical exchange across the board, one in which consumers need make very few decisions about what they are buying; they simply need to buy necessities and surplus money will most likely be saved. Say someone needed to buy bread for example; compared to modern day, the consumer will not face an aisle with 10 different types of bread having different brand names, they will simply face an aisle with bread, the only decision to be made being the quantity they want to buy of such a product. Considering this scenario, let us draw a connection between the lack of a need to understand consumer psychology as mentioned earlier and a shopping experience that warrants little to no room for petty decision making on behalf of the consumer. In this sort of economy we can expect rational choices to be made by the part of the self Freud calls the ego. This ‘economy of scarcity and need’ is simple and to the point, and any advertising for items in such an economy need only appeal to and consider the logical faculties of consumers, perhaps as simple as telling someone where to go to find the product they are already gauranteed to buy. “Conversely, he [Dichter] argued, in an economy of ‘abundance and desire’ rather than ‘scarcity and need,’ consumer motivation is largely subliminal: the id[instead of the ego goes shopping—or, at least, it needed to be persuaded to go shopping by a marketing technique designed to generate that scarcest and most valuable resource in an economy of surplus production: namely, desire itself,the desire to spend.” The homo oeconomicus model of the typical shopper is suddenly outdated when this happens and a new type of shopper is suddenly forged from the fire; I hesitate to say a new shopper is born because the desire-centred model of consumption that drives this new type of shopper to shop did not come about naturally, first it had to be summoned from the depths of peoples being, it had to be created. As consumers had been used to shopping with the rational ego sense of themselves, the notion of letting the ID take over and shop was inherently foreign to such folk, that is until advertisements and the power of group psychology came together and introduced a deeper layer of the consumer self to a world of new possibility, one in which logic can be abandoned and replaced with raw human desire. Somehow pleasure had to be incorporated into spending, as opposed to considering the use value of something, which becomes even more important when an economy is powered by laborers doing repetitive jobs that can also strip one of a sense of unique identity. The sense of self-satisfaction from ones work is displaced when a persons job becomes less fulfilling because of monotony and repetition of roles where numerous people are doing the same job, deriving people of a much needed sense of purpose. When that sense of purpose from working is taken away and the fruits of labor are solely monetary, it is natural for one to desire a way to use that money to acquire the sense of satisfaction and purpose which is necessary for the mental well- being of the worker. Here we witness one degree of separation between labor and purpose / satisfaction, which I will contend leaves one with the need for first order subliminalness in advertising in order to close the gap between labor and satisfaction; while wages are held in cash they are existing in a state of limbo because they have not yet fulfilled their purpose of providing the worker with satisfaction, since satisfaction is not received from the work itself in the increasingly industrialized economy. The lingering presence of desire for satisfaction at this stage has now created a fertile grounds in the workers psyche that will readily want meaning in advertising, making them sensitive to subliminal efforts. With advertising existing for commodities and products, which are the exact things one can spend money on in this new surplus economy, I would contend the reason subliminal advertising is so effective is twofold: the consumers at the time wanted meaning in advertisements because they wanted the products they bought to fulfill that which they did not receive from working. This happens as a way for the brain to trick itself into feeling it has been fulfilled with relevant primary psychological needs, as advertisements successfully exploit the energy of satisfaction and pleasure at the most basic of levels- sexually- and embed it into portrayal of the product, if not the product itself via consideration of a few primary theoretical philosophies about the nature of ‘things’ themselves which we will soon look at.

The paper would go on to look at writings by Sigmond Freud concerning things like imitation, identity, and group psychology, etc.., as well as theories from Baudrillard and other writers on the topic. I can not decide if I want to keep the subject matter contained to using Freudian theories about sex and Dicther’s appropriations of them or venture to really consider guilt and shame as well, or use the framework of the prior set of ideas as a means of looking at concepts like guilt and shame… I am going to attach a few excerpts / passages from the works I am looking to cite thus far.

“The most effective advertising must speak to all three of the psychic zones or functions distinguished by Freud, disarming “the parent-surrogate, prohibitionist . . . conscience embodying superego” while flattering the “rational, reflective, reality-oriented ego,” in order to give free rein to the “instinctual, pleasure-seeking . . . amoralid[’s]” basic urge to spend.” This basic urge to spend, however [like mentioned above], is only present when there is one degree of separation between a persons work and sense of purpose derived from such, wherein a psychological vaccuum is created causing the person to seek transformation of their monetary rewards into the satisfaction that is absent because of the effects industrialization has on factory workers such as de-individualization in the lower ranking financial classes of the baby boomer economy. Consumers in this economic class may perhaps be the most susceptible to advertising techniques, yet it is important to consider that this phenomenon is simply an expose of the ontogenesis of psychological advertising techniques and how people came to learn and be conditioned to derive pleasure from spending [We will considers Freud’s work on group psychology soon hereafter to consider concepts such as individuality and explain how this mindset spreads]. As a result of the effectiveness of this paradigm, advertisements have become one of the cultural cornerstones of western society and we are living in the wake of this phenomenon still to this day. It has become so normalized that we do not even second guess why we collectively understand that a “man who drinks his whiskey straight” is a “man’s man” or something of the likes, or why beer is generally considered a mens drink.

______“Negative appeals have long been recognized as an important method of persuasion, and advertisers have used such appeals for decades (e.g., Higbee 1969). However, most academic research on the application of negative appeals in advertising has focused on fear. For example, a search of Journal of Advertising issues from 1972 to 1995 uncovered three articles on fear appeals, but none on guilt appeals. Other negative appeals-anger, insecurity, envy, regret, and shame-also have been largely ignored”

“James B. Twitchell, in his book For Shame: The Loss of Common Decency in America, points to advertising as an indicator of how our attitudes toward shame have changed in recent years. Previously, ads featured shameful, embarrassing conditions like halitosis, for which you should purchase mouthwash. Now shame has been turned upside down, as ads tend to erase or deny shame by insisting that you deserve a break today, you’re worth it,you’ve come a long way, you’re on yourway to the top, and you can be all you can be and other messages that appeal to the narcissistic streak in everyone. If we overspend or overeat, well, it is not really ourfault; the purchases and the food were necessary because deserved. This kind of chatter,which is pervasive in contemporary advertising, undercuts the self-correcting, balancing, modesty-generating forces ofhealthy shame. Philosopher Ken Wilbercalls this self-indulgent pattern “boomeritis”because it is epidemic among individualsof baby-boomer vintage.12,13Social critic Christopher Lasch,14 in hisbook The Culture of Narcissism, observes that, in recent years, we seem to be tryingto construct a shame-free society in whicheveryone feels good about themselves, all the time. However, this does not alwayslead to growth, either of an individual orof a society. Feelings of shame, Lasch suggests,can generate respect for others,awareness of one’s limitations, and modesty.O’Connor agrees, saying, “This, I think, is the kind of shame that we learn as an inevitable part of growing up, of becoming a civilized adult instead of a wildchild.”

“Shame is a chimera. A certain amountof it is valuable for a balanced life, but too much or too little is ruinous.”

“Denying history is a universal way of minimizing national shame. All countries have dirty hands here —the Japanese, inomitting an honest account in theirschool textbooks of their sneak attack on Pearl Harbor; the Russians, for glossing over the horrific death toll of Stalin’s gulags;and the United States, for reasonsmentioned—the list is potentially endless.” --- this quote is relevant to the topic I posted with regards to the seamless ad, except considering shame at a national level, considering it at the level of local gentrification and the sense of shame or embarassment one feels at some level or another when knowing they fit the bill for being one of the active entities gentrifying an area; the argument would contend, in light of this quote, that the advertisement acts as a way to minimize shame felt by that demographic by directly confronting the idea and normalizing it to their perspective; having attributed that dissolution of shame to the brand leaves a lasting impression on the consumer here. Public Culture

Getting the Id to Go Shopping: Psychoanalysis, Advertising, Barbie Dolls, and the Invention of the Consumer Unconscious

David Bennett

Follo owing the news that oniomania, otherwise known as compulsive spending oro shopaholism, will be recognized as a clinical disorder in the next diagnostic manual of the American Psychiatric Association, watchdogs of the mind-control industries have been quick to note the “coincidence” that a Stanford University research team’s recent discovery of a pharmaceutical “cure” for oniomania was funded by a pharmaceutical company.1 Compulsive shoppers, it seems, will be encouraged to make one more purchase: a daily pill to make it all better. Market- ing a cure for a new disorder—itself an effect of excessive marketing—means ﬁ rst marketing the disorder. Some critics of the pharmaceutical companies’ power to create simultaneous supply and demand for products like the shopaholic pill have responded by advocating the more traditional and personally “empower- ing” recourse of psychotherapy—varieties of the “talking cure”—as the better response to oniomania. Such was the approach of the TV talk show program Oprah when it tackled compulsive spending as a self-help issue in 1994. Oprah’s

1. The company is Forest Laboratories Inc., whose antidepressants, Celexa and Lexapro, have been tested on shopaholics at the Stanford University Medical Center. Press reportage of the research includes Anne Marie Chaker, “Do You Need a Pill to Stop Shopping?—For Antidepressant Mak- ers, Shopaholics Are a New Market,” Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2003; and Richard Luscombe, “Anti-Depressant Drug on Offer to Shopaholics,” Scotsman, July 18, 2003, www.news.scotsman .com/index.cfm?id=778492003.

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Public Culture guest expert was writer Neale Godfrey, coauthor of Money Doesn’t Grow on Trees (1994), who talked his audience through various cognitive and behavior-modifi - cation strategies to deal with an inability to control their spending. However, as Jane Shattuc complained of Oprah’s program in her book The Talking Cure: TV Talk Shows and Women: typically, “there was no attempt to ascertain the sources of unrestrained buying.”2 This essay revisits a forgotten episode in the cultural history of the “talking cure” when psychoanalysis was tied to compulsive spending as a patriotic duty; when Freudian analysis, conceived not as a cure but as a catalyst for unrestrained buying, was harnessed to the production of a new kind of citizen-subject, a type of what Georges Bataille called the “sovereign spender”;3 when the market research and advertising industries, falling under the spell of Freud’s “economics of the libido,” set about eroticizing commodities and addressing the consumer not as homo oeconomicus—the rational, economically self-interested decision maker of classical political economy and neoclassical economics—but as a subject driven by unconscious sexual desire. It was a period in the development of consumer culture when, to talk loosely, Freud fathered the Barbie doll and American advertisers set about getting the id, rather than the ego, to do the shopping. The period begins—at least in my account of it—in Austria in the 1930s and offi cially ends in America in the 1960s—but only offi cially. My account of this forgotten episode in the story of Freudianism’s intercourse with consumerism focuses on the career and infl uence of an Austrian psychoanalyst who left Vienna in the 1930s to join the fl ux of European Jewish émigrés to the United States, where he would become the world’s highest paid and most (in)famous market researcher—and who meant something quite different from Oprah’s guest expert when he later commented in his autobiography: “I am interested in Money Ther- apy. We talk about sex much more openly today than we talk about the role money plays in our lives. An important problem that many people seem to have, at least I do, is to enjoy one’s money by spending it. . . . To enjoy expenses that are plain luxury and unnecessary may be recognized as an important experience. It could lead to a liberation from the domination of money.””4 The advocate of uninhibited

2. Jane M. Shattuc, The Talking Cure: TV Talk Shows and Women (New York: Routledge, 1997), 117. 3. See Georges Bataille, “De Sade’s Sovereign Man,” in Erotism: Death and Sensuality, trans. Mary Dalwood (San Francisco: City Lights, 1986), 171; and David Bennett, “Burghers, Burglars, and Masturbators: The Sovereign Spender in the Age of Consumerism,” New Literary History 30, no. 2 (1999): 269–94. 4. Ernest Dichter, Getting Motivated by Ernest Dichter: The Secret behind Individual Motiva- tions by the Man Who Was Not Afraid to Ask “Why?” (New York: Pergamon, 1979), 139.

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spending was Dr. Ernest Dichter (1907–91), who enjoyed international notori- Inventing the ety in the late 1950s as the protagonist of Vance Packard’s best-selling exposé Consumer Unconscious of subliminal advertising and propaganda techniques, The Hidden Persuaders (1957), but whose name has since faded from the textbooks of market research and advertising lore without (to my knowledge) ever being mentioned in histories of psychoanalysis. Addictive shopping fi rst entered the psychiatric textbooks in 1915 (in the eighth edition of Emil Kraepelin’s Psychiatrie, where it fi gures among manias such as kleptomania, pyromania, and anonymous letter writing),5 but it was only in the 1990s that it became the subject of a raft of psychological theories and thera- pies offering to explain and address the emotional needs and personality traits assumed to give rise to compulsive spending. Critiques of consumer culture have often called on psychoanalytic theory to explain the psychology of consumption and commodity fetishism. However, my concern in this essay is with a different aspect of the Freudianism-consumerism nexus, namely, the use of psychoanalytic theory by market researchers and advertisers themselves to construct their campaigns, design their commodities, interpellate consumers, and infl uence their behavior through the mass media in ways they conceived of as “social engineering.”6 In short, my concern is with the use of psychoanalysis in the discursive production of consumer subjectivity, rather than in its diagnosis or “cure.” As Rachel Bowlby has pointed out in Shopping with Freud: “It is common- place to talk about the ‘economic’ model in Freud, but this is never, as far as I have seen, put into relation with either the economics of his time or the psychological preoccupations of that economics in the area of marketing.”7 As we shall see, it was the revolution in marketing theory largely initiated by Dichter that introduced Freudian concepts into the self-consciously hard-nosed, rationalistic culture of American business and advertising during the Cold War. “Spending” was the Victorian vernacular term for orgasm, and Dichter’s project could be described, in a nutshell, as the revival of a dead metaphor. His challenge to the prevailing wisdom of the market research and advertising industries depended on a literal interpretation of Freud’s metaphoric description of the psyche as an “economy” of libidinal energy, or sexual spending power, and its translation into a theory of consumer spending. This theory was intended both to bolster American

5. Emil Kraepelin, Psychiatrie: Ein Lehrbuch Für Studierende und Ärzte (Leipzig: Barth, 1915), 1911. 6. Ernest Dichter, The Strategy of Desire (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1960), 59. 7. Rachel Bowlby, Shopping with Freudd (London: Routledge, 1993), 114.

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Public Culture corporate capitalism in its Cold War with communism and to help form a new kind of citizen or social subject—one resistant to the lures of either communism or fascism to the extent that it was addicted to the “erotic” pleasures of spending in consumer society.

The Background: Psychoanalysis and Money in the 1930s The year 1934 was not the most auspicious moment to start a psychoanalytic practice in Vienna, even for an ambitious young psychologist like Ernest Dichter, with a doctorate in psychology from Vienna University, a training analysis with a member of Freud’s inner circle, and rooms on the Berggasse directly opposite the professor’s own famous apartment. The Nazi bonﬁ res of Jewish and left-wing literature staged outside the Berlin Opera House the previous year had included Freud’s books, and some sixty psychoanalysts were among the ﬁ rst German Jews to leave their country. Over the border, many of their Austrian Jewish colleagues were preparing to follow suit, though Freud himself resisted friends’ entreaties to him to emigrate, believing that the worst Austria could expect was what he called “a moderate fascism,” that the League of Nations would surely intervene if Austrian Nazis introduced anti-Semitic laws, and that France and its allies would prevent an Anschluss between Germany and Austria.8 (Proven wrong on all counts, of course, Freud would be forced to leave Vienna by the German invasion four years later, in 1938.) Meanwhile, the Depression that followed the October 1929 New York stock market crash—and that was so conducive to the psychology of fascism—was hitting Austrians hard.9 Vienna’s largest commercial bank, the Creditanstalt, was forced to report insolvency in May 1931, and by the time Hitler became German chancellor in January 1933, unemployment in Austria had soared to 27 percent. The following month, Austria’s Christian Social chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuss, gave the Viennese a foretaste of Austrian fascism when he brutally repressed a Socialist-led political strike in Vienna, only to be murdered, in turn, by Austrian Nazis in an abortive coup in July 1934 that was to have been followed by Hitler’s invasion. A self-declared “old-fashioned liberal,” Freud showed little pity for the victims of Dollfuss’s brutality, expecting, as he put it,

8. Peter Gay, Freud: A Life for Our Time (London: Papermac, 1989), 593–94. 9. For a 1930s Freudian analysis of the psychology of the Great Depression by a Viennese psychoanalyst, see Paul Federn, “Factors in the World Depression,” Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease 79, no. 1 (1934): 43–58.

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“no salvation from Communism” and regarding a German invasion of Austria as Inventing the an inevitability had the Socialist revolution succeeded.10 Consumer Unconscious But while he was apprehensive of his country’s political prospects, Freud was better insulated than many of his compatriots against the economic hardships of the Depression. While the Austrian mark was plummeting daily and most citizens were turning to barter as the bigger factories and offi ces began issuing their own money, Freud was making a large enough income in hard foreign currency from psychoanalysis to allay even his acute case of the then-common bourgeois Vien- nese affl iction known as the “poorhouse or money neurosis”—an anxiety neurosis described by Peter Drucker as the pervasive tendency of the Viennese bourgeoisie to misrepresent themselves as underpaid and in constant fi nancial distress.11 Since the early 1920s, Freud had become an international, household name (often paired with Einstein, whose books also were burned outside the Berlin Opera House), and psychoanalysis’s popularity had been spreading like wildfi re, fanned as much by faddists, profi teers, and charlatans as by its dedicated practitioners and patrons in the medical community. An indication of its fashionability in England was Ernest Jones’s report of a 1921 advertisement by an “English Psycho-Analytic Publishing Company” offering postal lessons in psychoanalysis, at four guineas for an eight- lesson course, with the promise of £1,000–a-year earnings from psychoanalysis for anyone who completed the course.12 Nowhere was the “talking cure” more fashionable than in the country Freud called “Dollaria,” home of the greenback, a nation he believed had “no time for libido,” being completely “enslaved to that favorite product of anal adults, money.”13 Yet Americans might have been forgiven for seeing psychoanalysis itself as primarily a money spinner, or the epitome of what Jacques Lacan—speaking of American ego psychology—would later call the psychology of free enterprise, which, after all, was how it was also offi cially regarded in Bolshevik Russia from the late 1920s until the 1980s.14 Freud himself had declared that the “consummation of psychoanalytic research” had been his discovery of the “economic” model of the mind, which explained the psyche as

10. Gay, Freud, 595. 11. Peter F. Drucker, Adventures of a Bystanderr (London: Heinemann, 1979), 83–99. 12. Ernest Jones, Sigmund Freud: Life and Work, vol. 3, The Last Phase, 1919–1939 (London: Hogarth, 1957), 50n. 13. Gay, Freud, 568, 570. 14. See Jacques Lacan, Écrits: A Selection, trans. Alan Sheridan (London: Tavistock, 1982), 38; and David Bennett, “Guilt as Capital: Psychoanalysis and the New Russians,” Journal for the Psychoanalysis of Culture and Society 6, no. 1 (2001): 123–38.

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Public Culture an “economy” of libidinal energy that could be pleasurably “spent” or discharged in sexual activity, productively invested in work, or unproductively dammed up in the unconscious by neurosis.15 In both The Interpretation of Dreams and his case history of “Dora,” Freud had developed an elaborate monetary analogy for psychical processes, explaining repressed sexual desire as a form of unused “capital,” or sleeping asset, which requires an “entrepreneur” to invest it profi tably, and he went on to defend the high cost of psychoanalytic treatment as a sound investment for its bourgeois clients in increasing their own earning power, inas- much as it freed their blocked libido from repression for profi table investment in their business or professional work.16 Freud’s clinical and theoretical writings are shot through with monetary metaphors and concepts, including descriptions of psychoanalysis itself as, variously, a form of gold mining, alchemy, burglary, or safe-picking—tropes that draw on a long tradition of pseudo-scientifi c medical writing, stretching back to the 1700s, which fi gured sexual energy and sexual fl uids as a form of liquid currency that could be prudently saved or pleasurably spent, productively channeled into business enterprise or recklessly squandered in erotic activity.17 Still, it is unlikely that Sam Goldwyn was familiar with Freud’s penchant for economic explanations of the psyche when, in 1924, he made his much-publicized offer of $100,000 to the professor, as “the greatest love specialist in the world,” to “commercialize his study” by writing a romantic screenplay for Hollywood—or that the Hearst Press and Chicago Tribune had anything more in mind than capi- talizing on the public fascination with psychoanalysis when, in the same year, they offered Freud any fee he cared to name, plus a specially chartered liner, to bring him to Chicago to analyze two high-society thrill killers then standing trial.18 However, poorhouse neurosis or no poorhouse neurosis, Freud could afford to resist the seductions of Dollaria. By the early 1930s, he was making

15. Sigmund Freud, “The Unconscious” (1915), in On Metapsychology: The Theory of Psycho- analysis, ed. Angela Richards (Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin, 1984), 184. 16. See Sigmund Freud, The Interpretation of Dreams, vol. 5 of The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works, ed. James Strachey (London: Hogarth, 1953), 561; Case Histories 1: Dora and Little Hans, ed. James Strachey (Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin, 1977), 125; and The Case of Schreber; Papers on Technique and Other Works, vol. 12 of The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, trans. James Strachey (London: Hogarth, 1958), 123–33. 17. See Bennett, “Burghers, Burglars, and Masturbators.” 18. See “To Ask Freud to Come Here,” New York Times, December 21, 1924, sec. 7, 3; and Ernest Jones, Sigmund Freud: Life and Work, vol. 2, Years of Maturity, 1901–1919 (London: Hogarth, 1967), 108–9.

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enough money from part-time work not only to support his large, extended fam- Inventing the ily (including providing living allowances for sons-in-law whose businesses were Consumer Unconscious failing in the Depression) but to accumulate capital at the same time. By then, most of his clients were foreign trainee analysts keen to join him in the lucrative profession of psychotherapy and able to pay his steep fee of $25 per analytic hour in hard cash. Economically, then, if not politically, psychoanalysis might have seemed an attractive career in 1934 for an ambitious young Jewish Viennese psychologist. Such were the conditions—a booming international market for psychoanalysis and a looming, anti-Semitic fascism in Austria, fueled by soaring infl ation and unemployment—in which the twenty-seven-year-old Ernest Dichter started up his own psychoanalytic practice in his family apartment across the street from Freud’s. When refl ecting in his autobiography on the need for “money therapy” or “a course in hard cash psychotherapy” to help people learn to spend guiltlessly, Dichter would look back fondly on his experience of hyperinfl ation in Austria during 1929–30 as the period of most anxiety-free spending in his life: as he explained, a high infl ation rate is the ideal condition for encouraging uninhibited spending, since money has to be spent instantly or it quickly becomes worthless.19

“Getting Motivated”: Marketing (to) the Unconscious Dichter had left school at ﬁ fteen to become the family breadwinner, and while his younger brothers were growing up as socialists, he was identiﬁ ed as the family capitalist. While studying for the Vienna University entrance exam, he worked as a window dresser in his uncle’s department store and saved enough money to spend a year in Paris (1929–30), where he registered at the Sorbonne for courses in literature and philosophy, became romantically infatuated with a socialist psychology student, and switched his study to psychology. In 1934, he graduated with a doctorate in psychology from Vienna University, where he claims to have been one of “two star pupils” of his statistics teacher, Paul Lazarsfeld, the pioneer sociologist and psychologist of mass communications, with whom he would later work in market research for CBS after they had both emigrated to America. Dur- ing an impoverished year after graduating, Dichter set himself up as a lay psychoanalyst, having been analyzed free of charge by an American analyst in exchange

19. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 142.

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Public Culture for German lessons.20 Still cash-strapped in 1936, however, he accepted work with Vienna University’s Psychoeconomic Institute, conducting interviews on the milk-drinking habits of the Viennese, during which he and several of his colleagues were arrested and jailed for a month by the Austrian police on suspicion of spying. After a week’s incarceration, he discovered that the institute had been used by socialists as a secret mailing center during the Dollfuss and Schuschnigg fascist rule of Austria. In his autobiography, he recalls how “the next morning the papers were full of stories about how market research and public opinion research had been used to cleverly disguise the subversive socialist activities of the underground. The Social Democratic Party leaders and all the union leaders had either fl ed months before or were in jail.”21 A few days after his arrest, the offi cial Nazi newspaper in Germany, the Volkische Beobachterr, published a list of “subversives” that included the names of Freud, Einstein, Marx, Engels, and Dichter himself. This, combined with the growing number of Nazis in the Aus- trian police, bureaucracy, and professions and his bleak employment prospects as a Jew, persuaded Dichter to leave what he claimed was his then “burgeoning psychoanalytic practice”22 and move to Paris, where he found work as a traveling salesman for a labels factory and made his seminal discovery that sales depended not on customers’ actual needs but on the ability of the salesman to motivate them to spend. In 1938, the same year that Freud escaped Vienna via Paris to England, Dichter escaped Vienna via Paris to Dollaria, arriving in New York, where his fi rst job was with a market research company, analyzing the milk-drinking habits of Americans. American marketing theory in the 1930s was tied strictly to questionnaire- based statistical research on consumer preferences—an approach that Lazarsfeld had helped to develop but which struck the Freudian Dichter as “naïve empiri- cism” and tantamount to what in psychoanalysis would be termed the mistake of self-diagnosis. Likening consumption, ironically, to disease, Dichter would later recall in an interview with the Journal of Marketing Research: “What struck me,

20. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 10, 43, 24. Dichter’s sketchy accounts of his own analysis vary. He mentions working with Wilhelm Stekel at this time (Getting Motivated, 11) and also being analyzed by a member of Freud’s original circle (quoted in Daniel Horowitz, “The Emigré as Celebrant of American Consumer Culture: George Katona and Ernest Dichter,” in Getting and Spending: European and American Consumer Societies in the Twentieth Century, ed. Susan Strasser, Charles McGovern, and Mathias Judt [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998], 149–66), but neither Stekel nor, presumably, any of Freud’s other close associates would have required German lessons from Dichter. 21. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 17. 22. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 23.

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coming from clinical psychology and psychoanalytic research, was that people Inventing the were being asked through questionnaires why they were buying milk . . . and I Consumer Unconscious just couldn’t swallow that. It was almost comparable to asking people why they thought they were neurotic or to a physician asking a patient whatever disease he thought he had. I started fi ghting against that.”23 As Dichter saw it, the questionnaire approach to researching consumer motivation could only yield answers clouded by unanalyzed transference, in which consumers projected a fl attering self-image of rational, needs-based, economic decision-making (“The last thing I should do,” he said, “is let the person who behaves in one form or another interpret his or her behavior . . . because you cannot get reliable answers that way. You get rationalized answers”).24 His own approach, by contrast, was not to solicit answers to a predetermined set of marketing questions but to encourage his interviewees “to talk in a free-associative way” about their everyday habits and tastes; by interpreting the subtext or latent meaning of their discourse, he would develop psychoanalytic hypotheses about the subliminal motivations of consumers and their unconscious relations of desire and identifi cation with commodities. In short, his concern was with what the title of one of his books called The Strategy of Desire.25 Marrying his talent for self-salesmanship with his experience of researching both Austrian and American milk-drinking habits, Dichter then wrote to six big American companies, introducing himself as “a young psychologist from Vienna” with “some interesting new ideas which can help you be more successful, effective, sell more and communicate better with your potential clients.” In 1939, he landed an assignment with the magazine Esquire—the Playboy or Penthouse of its day—researching why men read the magazine. His unsurprising discovery was “something that everybody knew but nobody dared to put down on paper,” namely, that the magazine’s major attraction was its photographs of naked women. Ever the shrewd salesman, however, Dichter managed to “sell” this research fi nding to the reluctant magazine proprietors by arguing that sexually arousing images dilated the pupils of readers, thus making them more susceptible to visual advertising; hence what Esquire should be selling to its potential advertisers was precisely the increased effectiveness of its ads.26

23. Rena Bartos, “Ernest Dichter: Motive Interpreter,” Journal of Advertising Research 26, no. 1 (1986): 15. 24. Dichter quoted in Bartos, “Ernest Dichter,” 16–17. 25. Dichter quoted in Bartos, “Ernest Dichter,” 18; Dichter, Strategy of Desire. 26. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 33–35.

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Public Culture From this modest success, Dichter proceeded to make $200 by discovering the autoerotic associations of soap lather for the Compton Advertising Agency and its client, Ivory Soap. Observing that “one of the few occasions when the puritanical American was allowed to caress himself or herself was while applying soap,” he conducted “a hundred non-directive interviews where people were per- mitted to talk at great length about their most recent experiences” with soap—a technique that he would later dub “the depth interview,” modeled on the psychoanalytic session.27 The depth interview’s free-association technique could be supplemented with another technique from the psychoanalytic armory, called the “psychodrama,” which he described as “penetrat[ing] just a few pegs deeper than the depth interview” and “where we ask people to act out a product”: “You are a soap, let’s say. . . . How old are you? Are you feminine? Are you masculine?”28 He would later demonstrate the technique of “psychodrama” before a TV audience of millions on The David Frost Show, in which a woman from the studio audience was asked to impersonate a typewriter.29 It was when researching Ivory Soap that Dichter rediscovered Marx’s insight into the fetishization of commodities, or the process whereby a social relation between workers appears as a social relation with or between their products, the commodities they buy and sell. Dichter’s own insight into commodity fetishism came in the form of his groundbreaking “concept of the ‘personality’ or ‘image’ of a product”—a notion now banally familiar but one that was as novel to Ameri- can business in the 1930s as the whole “philosophy” of branding that would soon be built on it. Through canny listening to his free-associating interviewees, Dich- ter discovered that soap acquires more value by association with washing before a special occasion—such as a romantic date—when people bathe longer, more carefully, and more luxuriously; hence the more erotic a soap’s connotations or the more sexual its “personality,” the greater its perceived value and the more likely the consumer is to spend on it. Dichter’s report to the Compton Advertising Agency was that Ivory Soap, in 1939, “had more of a somber, utilitarian, thor- oughly cleansing character than the more glamorous personalities of other soaps such as Cashmere Bouquet.”30 The “personalities” of cars also proved to be fundamentally sexual. From Ivory Soap in Chicago, Dichter drove to the Chrysler Corporation in Detroit in 1939 to

27. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 33–35; Dichter, Strategy of Desire, 33. 28. Dichter quoted in Bartos, “Ernest Dichter,” 17. 29. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 53. 30. Dichter, Strategy of Desire, 34.

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help sell its Plymouth car by conducting depth interviews with car buyers. His Inventing the method of Motivational Research (MR)—as he came to call his psychoanalytic Consumer Unconscious probings—revealed that men unconsciously regard sedans as symbolic wives and convertibles as symbolic mistresses; and while middle-aged men might buy a convertible to indulge “their secret wish for a mistress” “without the expense and guilt of having a live mistress,” most men, infl uenced in their purchasing decisions by their real wives, settled for “the sedan: the ‘wife,’ comfortable and safe.” Hence Dichter’s recommendation to Chrysler that “it was psychologically desirable and effective . . . to use a convertible as . . . the ‘bait’ ” in the showroom window to lure in the male buyer—an advertising strategy that dramatically boosted Chrysler’s sales of sedans. The dividend for Dichter himself came in the form of a publicity coup that launched him as a budding celebrity in the American advertising industry: a two-column article in Time magazine captioned “Viennese Psy- chologist Discovers Gold Mine for Chrysler Corporation,” which described him as “the fi rst to apply to advertising the really scientifi c psychology” that tapped “hidden desires and urges.”31 At the level of manifest, if not latent, content, Dichter’s fi nding for Chrysler might seem at odds with his later research for Ford into the failure of its Edsel car, in which he reported that “sex was responsible for a half-billion dollar blunder.” The problem he found with the Edsel was that “some designer who knew little about human motivations” had inadvertently “castrated the car. It had a gaping hole at the front end” where its nose should have been: “Our survey showed that the otherwise inhibited Americans were referring to this oval-shaped opening either as a lemon or, the more outspoken ones, as a hole which needed a bit of pubic hair around it to make it more real. This was a major reason for the fl op.” To resolve the apparent contradiction between the success of Chryslers as mistress symbols and the failure of Fords as castrati or vulva symbols required only a modicum of psychoanalytic insight, for the “personality” of the sports car as mistress refl ects precisely the sexual potency of the owner whom the Edsel was symbolically castrating. As Dichter put it: “The fact that most cars either resem- ble or have names which have something to do with aggression and, if you want to be psychoanalytic, with phallic symbols, is now fairly well known. Whenever a car does not correspond to this concept of penetrating the highway, or moving aggressively forward, it becomes a fl op. The failure of the Edsel . . . was due to a misunderstanding of the soul of a car.” That objects have “souls” was another of Dichter’s insights, underpinning his construction of “personalities” for com-

31. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 38, 40–41; Horowitz, “Emigré as Celebrant,” 159.

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Public Culture modities. Under the title “The Soul of Things,” he explained, “People on the one hand, and products, goods, and commodities on the other, entertain a dynamic relationship of constant interaction. Individuals project themselves into products. In buying a car they actually buy an extension of their own personality.”32 While working for the same agency that had landed the Chrysler contract, Dichter also researched the psychology of smoking, surreptitiously photograph- ing smokers at ice-skating rinks, analyzing their behavior, and concluding that, nicotine addiction aside, “smoking, of course, is oral satisfaction”: “holding a cigarette in your mouth is comparable to sucking at the nipples of a gigantic world breast and deriving from it the same type of satisfaction and tranquilizing effect that the baby does when being nursed.”33 Dichter’s Freudianism proved no less marketable for being of the vulgar variety. Among his numerous other ﬁ ndings in the same vein were: that lipstick could be a subliminal invitation to fellatio (“In a study on lipsticks, we found that the more phallic the lipstick and the packaging appeared, the more it attracted women”); that life insurance could be sold to newly married young men as a form of symbolic resistance to the phallic mother and economic proof of their sexual potency or spending power; that “tractors and steam shovels take on [female] sexual characteristics when ﬁ ltered through the engineer’s emotions”; and that a German necktie manufacturer’s sales could be substantially boosted by an advertisement that contrasted an “old, very wrinkled, and limp tie . . . hanging on an old man” with “a new tie—smooth, colorful, erect, and manly,” hanging on the same man ten years younger.34 (A fellow market researcher similarly reported that men’s belts could be sold more successfully to wives when displayed on a shelf rather than hanging limply from a rack. As he explained: “Marketing tests and experience have shown that . . . hanging belts do not arouse a woman’s interest. A hanging belt has no attraction power. It is limp, unstimulating and undesirable. To the normal, healthy, energetic woman a hanging belt is not a symbol of virility or quality. It cannot possibly be associated with her man.”)35 Dichter also lifted a typewriter manufacturer’s sales by arguing that the body of a typewriter should be modeled on the female body, “making the key-

32. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 94, 126; Dichter, Strategy of Desire, 86. 33. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 42; cf. Ernest Dichter, The Psychology of Everyday Living (New York: Barnes and Noble, 1947), 88. 34. See Ernest Dichter, Packaging, the Sixth Sense? A Guide to Identifying Consumer Motiva- tion (Boston: Cahners, 1975), 100; Dichter, Strategy of Desire, 216–17, 157; Dichter, Getting Moti- vated, 93. 35. Louis Cheskin, Why People Buy: Motivation Research and Its Successful Application, 2nd ed., with introduction by Howard D. Hadley (London: Business Publications Ltd., 1960), 219.

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board more receptive, more concave,” and he claimed to have “laid the ground- Inventing the work for the symbolism” of Esso’s “Tiger in the Tank” ad campaign by decoding Consumer Unconscious a patient’s dreams of fi ghting with a powerful animal, which he recognized as “a symbolic way of fi ghting and loving his father”—an insight that could be translated into a gasoline ad’s appeal to the subliminal desire to incorporate the father, or the father’s power, cannibalistically. As Dichter explained: The “Tiger in the Tank” [w]as another worldwide, successful translation of sex into sales. A gas tank is mysterious and dark like a womb. It can be fertile or sterile. The hose of the gas pump resembles you-know-what. Rational? Who cares? The symbol of power, of virility, of strength, goes through the oddly shaped nozzle into the receptive womb and gives it power and strength. It worked practically around the world. I want you to realise that I am as amazed as the infi dels are. How can such a contrived mixture between sexual allegories, mysticism, and cave- man symbolism result in millions of dollars of very unmysterious cash through increased sales?36 Louis Cheskin, a colleague of Dichter’s in the motivational research industry, described him admiringly in 1959 as “the ‘total psychoanalyst’ of marketing,” who “looks for Freudian symbolism in every product and libidinous meanings in every human action. Nearly every utterance attributed to him that has come to my attention indicates an almost complete preoccupation with Freudian symbolism and libidinous connotations.”37 Perhaps the symbolic culmination of Dichter’s work was his marketing campaign for Mattel Toys’ Barbie doll, in which, with spectacular success, he combined his “sex sells” or “sex into sales” principle with his strategy of investing commodities with “personality,” as a result of which a Barbie doll is now sold somewhere in the world every half second. When the founders of Mattel Toys (Ruth and Elliott Handler, parents of a real-life Barbara and Ken) commissioned him to design a sales campaign for the toy in 1958, Dichter was so besieged with commissions that he was delegating many of them to his staff, but he kept the Mattel project for himself. The fruits of his six-month motivational research into toys—based on depth interviews with 357 children and 58 parents and encom- passing dolls, guns, holsters, and rockets—included his fi ndings that “big guns are like penises” and that the unconscious motivation of child’s play with toys is to relieve psychic tension and maintain a child’s “ ‘psycho-economic equilibrium’

36. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 53, 80, 93. 37. Cheskin, Why People Buy, 155.

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Public Culture in the face of growing knowledge, growing bodies and growing pressure from the adult world.”38 The marketing industry’s rediscovery of the child-as-consumer in post–World War II America was indispensable to Barbie’s success, and Dich- ter argued that one of the functions of an advertising campaign was to provide children with arguments that could be used to persuade a parent to purchase the commodity for them or to allow them to buy it themselves. Probing “the gift psychology of adults” and the purchasability of a child’s love, Dichter recognized the potential of the doll’s sexually racy persona (epitomized in her “Mount Rushmore breasts”)39 as a medium in which a child could play out her rebellion against her parents, and he recommended a win-win marketing formula to Mattel: Barbie’s sexual maturity, self-display, and social independence would speak to the child’s desires, while her elaborate wardrobes and grooming needs spoke to the mother’s anxieties about how to turn an unkempt, tomboyish daughter into a marriageable “poised little lady.””40 On the strength of Dichter’s research fi ndings and recommendations, Mattel decided to break with tradition and market the toy as a “personality” with a “life that was as glamorous and American as possible.” (“We never mentioned the fact that she was a doll,” a copywriter reported. “The positioning from the very fi rst commercial was that she was a person.”)41 Constructing the doll not as the generic infant of little girls’ maternal or oedipal fantasies but as a teenage fashion model–cum–Hollywood denizen with a lifestyle as remote as possible from the contemporary American suburban family’s, Dichter and Mattel produced what many fi rst-generation Barbie owners experienced as a “revelation” of what the girl-as-fancy-free-consumer might become—even, for some, “a sort of feminist pioneer.””42 Happily unmarried, parent-free, and child-free, Barbie was a successful career girl and sexual free agent whose social mobility required as many (profi t-generating) outfi ts as there were social occasions—from “Easter Parade” to “Roman Holiday” and “Gay Parisienne,” from beach dates to high state occasions.43 Between them, Dichter and the Handlers had constructed an

38. M. G. Lord, Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll (New York: Wil- liam Morrow and Co., 1994), 40. 39. Gail Caldwell, “Major Barbie: She’s the Plastic Miniature of Everything Good, Bad and Ugly about American Culture,” Boston Globe, November 27, 1994, A13. 40. Dichter quoted in Lord, Forever Barbie, 40. 41. Lord, Forever Barbie, 41. 42. As one interviewee in Lord’s Forever Barbie (9) said, “She didn’t teach us to nurture, like our clinging, dependent Betsy Wetsys and Chatty Cathys. . . . She taught us independence. . . . She could invent herself with a costume change.” 43. It was only under pressure from consumers’ demands for a boyfriend for Barbie that Mattel released its Ken doll in 1961, two years after Barbie’s release.

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object of female childhood desire that was a prototype of the compulsive spender Inventing the and guiltless consumer driven by desublimated sexual desire. Consumer Unconscious Expounding the theory of his increasingly lucrative practice, Dichter published numerous (usually ill-written) articles and books promoting the philosophy of Motivational Research. Selling his methods to American businessmen in the 1930s and 1940s meant challenging their attachment to that cornerstone of neoclassical economics, the homo oeconomicus model of the shopper as a rationally calculating, self-aware consumer, and displacing it with a desire-centered model of consumption. Dichter’s persuasive reasoning was that the “science” of MR, which undertook to tap or desublimate repressed sexual desire and convert it into monetary spending, was the answer to a crisis of oversupply in the post- war American consumer marketplace. During the war, with scarcity of goods, rationing, and demand in excess of supply, there was little need for understanding consumer psychology; but as the sellers’ market ended and the mass-production techniques stimulated by the war rapidly increased supply till it far outstripped demand, marketers had to rely more and more heavily on branding and advertising, which, in turn, entailed analysis of consumer desires. According to Dich- ter, in an economy of scarcity and need, consumers make rational choices—in Freudian terms, the ego does the shopping. Conversely, he argued, in an economy of abundance and desire rather than scarcity and need, consumer motivation is largely subliminal: the id goes shopping—or, at least, it needed to be persuaded to go shopping by a marketing technique designed to generate that scarcest and most valuable resource in an economy of surplus production: namely, desire itself, the desire to spend.44 Motivational Research, in other words, was the ruse of a marketing industry faced with the challenge of selling new brands of otherwise indistinguishable goods to consumers whose conscious needs were already more than met by the existing brands. As a strategy for uncovering hidden desire and putting it into proﬁ table circulation in the market economy, Motivational Research bore more than a mere resemblance to the psychotherapeutic technique Freud described in his 1913 paper, “On Beginning the Treatment,” in which he depicted the goal of psychoanalysis as the liberation of libido from blockage in neurosis for productive invest-

44. As Dichter’s fellow motivational researcher Louis Cheskin put it: “Motivation research deals with the unconscious mind, and as long as we have an economy of abundance in which brands are competing for the consumer’s dollar, we need research into the unconscious motives of the consumers. You have to be sure that your product has favorable psychological connotations before it is putt on the market, because the actual product may be about the same in performance as competing product.” Cheskin, Why People Buy, 102.

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Public Culture ment in the patient’s business or professional activities. If Dichter was unpacking Freud’s economic metaphors by literalizing them, it was something Freud himself had already done.45 The major difference was that where Freud’s technique was production-oriented and driven by the work ethic, Dichter’s was consumption- oriented and governed by the pleasure principle of spending. (As Dichter argued in The Psychology of Everyday Living, the pleasure yield, rather than use value, of commodity consumption becomes paramount in an economy in which labor is monotonous, repetitious, mechanical, deindividualizing, and not itself a source of pleasure or self-satisfaction.)46 Dichter’s Packaging, the Sixth Sense? A Guide to Identifying Consumer Motivation (1975) provided “packaging engineers” with a rudimentary lesson in Freud’s “dissection of the psychical personality,””47 explaining that the most effective advertising must speak to all three of the psychic zones or functions distinguished by Freud, disarming “the parent-surrogate, prohibitionist . . . conscience- embodying superego” while fl attering the “rational, refl ective, reality-oriented ego,” in order to give free rein to the “instinctual, pleasure-seeking . . . amoral id[’s]” basic urge to spend. Here is how theory could be translated into packaging practice by the tobacco industry, disguising its promise of nipple-sucking pleasure from the censorious superego and the rational ego: In cigarette packaging . . . the combination of fi lter and pleasure-appeals attempts to communicate with both the rational ego bent on preserving health and with the id clamoring for sensuous gratifi cations. A third kind of appeal, which currently stresses the “sociability” of smokers, even appeals to the superego. Here one attitude, “cigarette is a vice,” is com- bated by another: “cigarette creates a bond among people.” Theoretically it should be possible to subdivide the whole cigarette market and the way cigarettes are packaged into predominantly ego, superego, and id markets and fashion symbolic appeals according to the main demands of each category. . . . The most powerful, the most pen-

45. The “unpacking” of Freud’s metaphoric model of the psyche as an “economy” of libido has continued long after the ofﬁ cial discrediting of MR. In 1975, a psychoanalytic study of the sex lives of Wall Street brokers and investors found a correlation between wealth and libido, showing that its subjects’ frequency of orgasm was directly linked to the rise and fall of prices on the New York Stock Exchange. See Paul Frisch and Ann Frisch, “Male Potency and the Dow Jones Average,” New York, October 20, 1975, 10–12. 46. Dichter, Psychology of Everyday Living, 67. 47. See Sigmund Freud, “The Dissection of the Psychical Personality,” in New Introductory Lec- tures on Psychoanalysis, Pelican Freud Library 2 (London: Pelican, 1973), 88–112.

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etrating symbols are those that reach and act upon all three layers of the Inventing the human personality.48 Consumer Unconscious Selling such theory and praxis to the U.S. marketing industry in the 1930s and 1940s was itself a triumph of marketing savvy. Before Dichter’s interven- tion, American market research was dominated by the hard-nosed, “masculine” ethos of number-crunching statistical analysis, in contrast to the “feminine” (because intuitive and “psychological”) “qualitative” approach of Motivational Research. While Freudianism may have been high fashion and fad with the American public and press in the 1920s, it took another decade or two for Dichter and his fellow motivational researchers to persuade American business culture to embrace psychoanalytic concepts. But embrace them they did: by the late 1950s, there were eighty-two organizations registered with the U.S. Advertising Research Foundation (ARF) that were conducting motivational research,49 and its vogue was such that in 1953 the ARF’s Committee on Motivational Research published a book-length dictionary of psychological terms for use by market researchers— glossing everything from “abreaction,” “anal eroticism,” and “analysand”; through “memory-trace” and “mother-fi xation”; to “wish-fulfi llment” and “word-association test”; and stipulating that “the only comprehensive and systematic approach to a study of motivation is based on Freudian concepts.”50 So hotly was MR selling in the 1950s that there was fi erce competition to own the brand. Various con- tenders among Dichter’s colleagues in the psychological marketplace published their own manifestos, with titles like Introduction to the New Science and Art of Motivation Research and Why People Buy: Motivation Research and Its Success- ful Application, claiming the discovery of MR for their own companies and in one case dating its invention as early as “circa 1914.”51

48. Dichter, Packaging, 125–26. 49. Barbara Mostyn, Motivational Research: Passing Fad or Permanent Feature? (Bradford, U.K.: MCB, 1977), 1. 50. Joseph W. Wulfeck and Edward M. Bennett, The Language of Dynamic Psychology as Related to Motivation Research (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1954), 7. 51. In his book Introduction to the New Science and Art of Motivation Research (Liverpool: D. Bell, n.d., c. 1958), J. George Federick, president of the Business Bourse in New York, attributed the discovery of motivational research to his own organization as far back as “circa 1914.” In Why People Buy (102), Louis Cheskin, a specialist in the psychological effects of colors and packaging, claimed to have been, in the 1930s, a pioneer of “unconscious level testing.”

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Public Culture The Breaking/Making of Motivational Research MR’s greatest publicity coup, however, was what would soon be read as its obitu- ary: the publication of a book that quoted Dichter (often unacknowledged) on nearly every page and that topped the U.S. nonfi ction best-seller list for six weeks in 1957 and continued to sell well, internationally, for another two decades. It was Vance Packard’s The Hidden Persuaders—his demonizing exposé of subliminal selling techniques, which helped to “prove” their scientifi c credentials even as it discredited them morally. Claiming that America had moved “into the chilling world of George Orwell and his Big Brother,” Packard reported that “the use of mass psychoanalysis to guide campaigns of persuasion has become the basis of a multimillion-dollar industry”; “large-scale efforts are being made, often with impressive success, to channel our unthinking habits, our purchasing decisions, and our thought processes by the use of insights gleaned from psychiatry and the social sciences” (Packard was hazy about the differences between psychiatry and psychoanalysis). “The sale to us of billions of dollars of United States products is being . . . revolutionized by this approach,” which “marketers call ‘motivation analysis’ ”; moreover, it was also being used by professional politicians to manipulate voters, by fund-raisers “to wring more money from us,” and by public relations experts to “ ‘engineer’ our consent to their propositions.”52 The scandal was partly sexual, in Packard’s account: Motivational Research verged on pornography, if not statutory rape. He reported that a Chicago advertising agency had “been studying the housewife’s menstrual cycle and its psychological concomitants in order to fi nd appeals that will be more effective in selling her certain food products. . . . Seemingly, in the probing and manipulating nothing is sacred. The same Chicago ad agency has used psychiatric probing techniques on little girls.”53 In a later edition of his book, Packard would report how Dichter’s subliminal “sex into sales” principle was being applied in the most literalistic fashion by advertisers who were embedding subliminal messages in printed advertisements for products such as cosmetics and liquor, consisting simply of the word sex, or occasionally fuck, barely discernible in the shadow pattern of ice cubes in a gin ad, for example, and making pervasive use of blatant sexual symbolism in packaging, such as the use of penis-shaped containers for women’s stockings.54

52. Vance Packard, The Hidden Persuaders (New York: D. McKay Co., 1957), 3–5. 53. Packard, Hidden Persuaders, 5. 54. Vance Packard, The Hidden Persuaders, 2nd ed. (Harmondsworth, U.K.: Penguin, 1981), 234.

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So seductive was the idea of “subliminal seduction” to Cold War American Inventing the capitalism that even revelations of its groundlessness could not diminish its Consumer Unconscious appeal. Six years after Packard’s book reported that a New Jersey cinema had dramatically boosted its sales of food and drink by fl ashing subliminal commands to fi lm viewers to eat popcorn and drink coke, his source for the story, James Vicary, founder of Subliminal Production Inc., admitted he had bamboozled Packard and that no such experiment had ever occurred.55 As Hal Shoup, executive director of the American Association of Advertising Agencies, observed in 2000, subliminal advertising “is a myth that has been perpetrated for the last 30 or 40 years”—but its perennial exposure as myth hasn’t stopped U.S. department stores from embedding subliminal antishoplifting messages in their Muzak or American consumers from spending $50 million per year on self-help tapes designed to help them to quit smoking, learn a foreign language, or lose weight while they sleep—or George W. Bush from slinging subliminal mud at Al Gore in a $2.5 million presidential election campaign ad that fl ashed the word rats on the screen when Gore’s policies were mentioned.56 (The revelation of Bush’s alleged skulduggery seems to have left no more of a dent in his reputation than Vicary’s revelation of his original hoax dented the reputation of subliminal selling itself.) With enemies like Packard, Dichter and his fellow motivational researchers hardly needed friends. The Hidden Persuaders made the careers of both its author and its prime suspect, Dichter, whose company—now called the Institute for Motivation Research—increased its staff from six to sixty and opened offi ces in eleven different countries to cope with all the contracts that fl owed in as a result of Packard’s “adverse” publicity.57 Dichter began receiving consultancy and speaking invitations from as far afi eld as India and Australia and appeared on numerous TV and radio programs in discussions with his “opponent,” Packard, debating the morality of his business of “manipulating and persuading people with mysterious means to do things that they never intended to do.”58 Much like Freud, Dich- ter acquired a reputation for mantic powers to penetrate and manipulate people’s unconscious—powers he was paid to apply to the election campaigns of politicians such as U.S. vice president Hubert Humphrey, Austrian chancellor Bruno Kreisky, and the Leonist party of Venezuela. Dichter also used sex to sell the Christian

55. Richard Glen Boire, “Laced Media,” Journal of Cognitive Liberties 1, no. 3 (2000): 73. 56. Boire, “Laced Media,” 72–73. 57. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 105. Dichter initially called his company the Institute for Mass Motivation Research but dropped the “Mass” because of its unwanted associations with Commu- nism. 58. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 82–83.

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Public Culture Democrats to Italian voters and, after the Vietnam War, was commissioned by the Pentagon “to prepare a secret plan” for motivating veterans to volunteer for another war and prepare the American public to accept involvement in it.59 On the other hand, civil libertarians, soon to be joined by feminists, were up in arms against MR following Packard’s revelations, which did seemingly irrepa- rable damage to its reputation in the textbooks of American marketing theory—if not in much actual advertising practice—for the rest of the twentieth century. MR’s offi cial demise seemed sealed in 1963 by the publication of Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique (1963), which acknowledged Dichter (“this most helpful of hidden persuaders”) and his institute’s archives as a prime source for its information. Friedan laid the blame for a disastrous return of patriarchal stereotypes of femininity in the 1940s squarely at the doors of the popularizers of applied psychoanalysis who pushed the barrow of Freud’s pansexualism and his anatomy-is- destiny gender-essentialism in everything from marketing theory to anthropology to marriage guidance manuals. In her chapter “The Sexual Sell,” Friedan depicted Dichter and his fellow hidden persuaders, American ad men, as crucial agents in the fabrication and marketing of “the feminine mystique,” selling to American women the self-image of housewife, mother, and consumer and persuading them, as the preeminent shoppers, that spending money on commodities could give them “the sexual joy they lack,” along with “the sense of identity, purpose, creativity, the self-realization” they also lacked. America had become the center of the psychoanalytic movement as Freudians, Jungians, and Adlerians fl ed Vienna and Berlin to live on the lucratively multiplying neuroses of Americans, and Friedan saw Freudianism as installing itself in the hollow core of American consumer subjectivity, performing the same function as the religious revival. “The Freudian mania in the American culture,” she wrote, “fi lled a real need in the forties and fi fties: the need for an ideology, a national purpose, an application of the mind to the problems of people. Analysts themselves have recently suggested that the lack of an ideology or national purpose may be partially responsible for the personal emptiness which sends many men and women into psychotherapy.” As prime perpetrators of the “Freudian mania,” Dichter and his ilk were fi lling that emptiness with sexual desire (they were responsible, Friedan charged, for “the mounting sex-hunger of American women,” their successful reduction “to sex creatures,

59. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 97–102, 148. Dichter was also consulted by Stanley Kubrick on the appropriateness of using humor in his anti–atomic war ﬁ lm Dr. Strangelove (1964) and was commissioned by an Italian publisher to write a book on the uniﬁ cation of Europe called “The Disease of Nationalism.”

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sex-seekers”), helping to produce a citizen who, now convinced that her behavior Inventing the as spender and consumer was motivated by repressed sexual desire, was prepared Consumer Unconscious to buy psychoanalysis itself.60 It was partly in response to Packard’s and Friedan’s ethically stigmatizing, if profi t-generating, exposés of his “hidden” infl uence that Dichter elaborated his defense of MR as a contribution to democracy and the survival of capitalism in its Cold War with communism. In his 1960 book, The Strategy of Desire, Dichter described himself as a “social scientist” engaged in “social engineering” through advertising: his projects included strengthening the capitalist economy through the trickle-down effect of conspicuous consumption and retraining conformist American citizens, who had been molded by the mass culture of the 1930s and 1940s, in autonomous decision-making, and hence individualism, through consumer choice—the antithesis of communism’s and fascism’s party-made decisions and social conformity. By presenting Americans with a potentially dazzling variety of individuated “brand images” or “brand personalities” from which to choose, MR’s programmatic fetishization of commodities encouraged them to defi ne their mutual differences and construct their own personalities as individuals through their purchasing decisions.61 As Dichter put it in his 1947 book, The Psychology of Everyday Living: “Possessions expand our personality,” and for Americans, who lack European noble titles, “the trademark products they own” are a “modern source of distinction.”62 Democracy, according to Dichter, imposed an unwanted burden of responsibility on conformist Americans that he called “the misery of choice”: “one of the basic tasks of modern life is to learn to decide. Democracy represents one of the most diffi cult forms of life adjustment. . . . Yet few of us have learned to make decisions. Contrary to what we think, changing one’s brand, one’s [political] candidate, one’s jobs, are all miseries of choice rather than pleasures.”63 The role of the marketer as social engineer was to invest these choices with libidinal pleasure, liberating the consumer from both social conformity and “masochistic” self-denial into guiltless spending.64 Training in such individualism could mean everything from being offered individual-sized packages of butter, jam, sugar, and salt in restaurants and hotels to learning to live guiltlessly with excess, a superfl uity of commodities.65

60. Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (London: Gollancz, 1963), 208, 187–88, 261. 61. Dichter, Strategy of Desire, 231. 62. Dichter, Psychology of Everyday Living, 212. 63. Dichter, Strategy of Desire, 242. 64. Dichter, Getting Motivated, 185. 65. Dichter, Packaging, 75; Dichter, Getting Motivated, 185.

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Public Culture The Psychology of Everyday Living anticipates by more than four decades the world of Brett Easton Ellis’s American Psycho (1991) in its vision of identity as a function of designer labels, its prediction that “it may soon be customary to describe an individual’s personality not by referring to him as one who is timid or self-conscious or characterized by any other traits, but rather, for example, as one who wears an Adam hat, drives a Plymouth car, drinks PM whiskey, and wears Arrow ties and shirts.”66 Dichter’s book also anticipates by half a century contemporary marketing theorist Tom Peters’s advocacy of what he terms “personal branding,” or “The Brand Called You.” “Big companies understand the importance of brands,” Peters wrote in 1997. “Today, in the Age of the Individual, you have to be your own brand. Here’s what it takes to be the CEO of Me Inc.”67 Dichter’s market populism also reads like an uncanny echo—from within the advertising machine itself—of the Frankfurt School’s critique of mass culture, social conformity, and fascism and its celebration of individualism. The logical outcome of MR’s investing of otherwise indistinguishable goods with individuated “personalities” was the breakup of a single mass market regulated by a mass culture into a plurality of niche markets regulated by the so-called “segment- making media” along lines of sex, age, region, race, class, and so on. The rhetoric of self-deﬁ ning citizens and subcultures differentiating themselves by distinctive patterns and practices of consumption—the rhetoric so seductive to postmodern cultural studies—can thus be seen as the legacy of a Cold War advertising industry solving the “problem” of surplus production and insufﬁ cient consumer desire through the multiplication of brand identities or “personalities.”

Sexual Desire: The Catalyst or the Commodity? One possible conclusion to draw from the episode of cultural history I have been describing is that the “unconscious” of structuralist cultural studies might be Moti- vational Research itself—in other words, that behind the tendency of French cultural theorists to shrug off Marxism in favor of the semiotic analysis of consumer society in the 1970s lies the success of the marketing and advertising philosophy that Dichter promoted. Jean Baudrillard, for example, used Dichter as a whipping boy when he embarked on his structuralist analysis of consumer culture at the end

66. Dichter, Psychology of Everyday Living, 213. 67. Tom Peters, “The Brand Called You,” Fast Company, August–September 1997, 83. For a discussion of Peters’s marketing theory, see Thomas Frank, One Market under God: Extreme Capi- talism, Market Populism, and the End of Economic Democracy (London: Vintage, 2002).

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of the 1960s, but he wasn’t above repeating many of Dichter’s own themes. In La Inventing the société de consommation (1970), Baudrillard dismissed the economists’ notion of Consumer Unconscious rationally calculating, self-aware, self-interested homo oeconomicus as a purely mythic creature, without considering that mid-twentieth-century marketers had been working very hard indeed to make this creature obsolete or mythic and to “sell” to American business, to the public, and to cultural theorists alike the image of a consumer driven by an irrational desire to spend beyond any satisfi able need.68 Dismissing homo oeconomicus as myth, Baudrillard postulates two bed- rock “truths” about subjectivity: that desire is insatiable and that social subjects needd difference, a “need” they pursue and communicate by consuming commodities as signs (messages, images) rather than for their utility.69 In Baudrillard’s account, it is as if the Cold War marketing industry’s “dematerializing” of goods and displacing of their use value with a constructed sign value, or “brand-image,” had simply produced a new or expanded language in which the human “need” for social difference could be infi nitely pursued. Again, Baudrillard’s semiotics seems to naturalize the appetite for symbolic difference, whereas, arguably, it was the marketing and advertising industries themselves that worked to produce symbolic difference as a commodity, or marketable good, and train consumers to desire it. Such training meant persuading citizen-consumers to discover in themselves a desire they didn’t know they had, an unconscious desire. In order to sell to the id, however, the consumer had fi rst to be psychologized, or Freudianized, and this is what both Motivational Research and Packard’s exposé of its scandal achieved. The discrediting of subliminal selling as a sinister commercial practice was part of the successful marketing to consumers of the belief that they had repressed desires which might be variously manipulated, symbolically satisfi ed, neglected, or frustrated—in other words, the selling to consumers of a personality radically different from, indeed antithetical to, homo oeconomicus. Insofar as these unconscious desires were understood to be fundamentally sexual, then the care of the self in consumer society meant care of one’s sexual desire—hence the pervasive eroticization of consumer culture, which purports to “speak to” the individual’s interiority, or unconscious, by providing the symbolic goods that realize its “fantasies.” But what is speaking here, of course, is neither Desire nor the Unconscious but rather psychoanalytic culture itself, in its banalized, commercialized, mass-

68. Jean Baudrillard, The Consumer Society: Myths and Structures (London: Sage, 1998), 68– 69. 69. Baudrillard, Consumer Society, 77–78.

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Public Culture mediated form. And if eroticized advertising refers not to unconscious desires but rather to psychoanalytic culture as it has entered into the everyday, then what this psychoanalytic culture in turn connotes or signifi es is self-cultivation as liberation from repression—a new way of relating to, or understanding, the self as a domain of complexity and contradiction. The Feminine Mystique and The Hid- den Persuaders established the terms of debate about eroticized advertising as a struggle between those who would plumb and manipulate subliminal desires and those who would censor the former’s advertisements in order to protect the personal unconscious from exploitation by commerce, capital, the mass media. But the real conditioning to which consumers are subjected by what Baudrillard called “the machinery of erotic advertising” is not some “ ‘deep-level’ persuasion or unconscious suggestion” but rather their blinding to the fact that the meanings into which goods have been transformed are all on the surface, constructed not by the individual’s primordial hidden drives but by the culture that is accused (not least by Freudianism itself) of disciplining, “distorting,” or denying those drives.70 In short, to make a Baudrillardian point, the whole Dichter-Packard “scandal” served to defl ect attention from the fact that the codes of commodities and advertising, the whole codifi ed play of sexual signs, had no reference—not only no “deep” meaning but no reference at all (except to themselves). Thus, the sexual came to stand in for reference or meaning. Psychoanalysis having established that the hidden, the unconscious, was essentially sexual, the sexual itself came to stand for hidden meaning, the elusive truth or value that the consumer desires. And if a commodity (a new brand of gasoline, say, or tires) had no meaning, then a pseudo-secret meaning, a symbolically “disguised” one, could be invented for it by advertising that eroticized it. Once sexualized, it became meaningful, and by this means, sexuality became synonymous with meaning itself. So to saturate society or the self with meaning must be to sexualize it. The circularity or self- referentiality of the process was precisely what Dichter was defending in arguing that selling brand-images or brand-personalities to consumers was the way to invent a society of individuals with interiority, depth, or desire for more in life than mere means of subsistence. This is the process by which the catalyst to consumption or spending—sex— becomes the commodity, or object of consumption. (The corollary of the “sexual sell” was what Friedan identifi ed as a new tendency of suburban housewives in the 1950s to seek fulfi llment and identity in sex, including sexual promiscuity. As

70. Baudrillard, Consumer Society, 148.

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another commentator observed in 1950: “More than before, as job-mindedness Inventing the declines, sex permeates the daytime as well as the playtime consciousness. It Consumer Unconscious is viewed as a consumption good not only by the old leisure classes but by the modern leisure masses.”)71 Dichter set out to make money from repressed sexual desires, which, being repressed and only manifest in “disguised” or symbolic form, could be satisﬁ ed by the symbolic means of the eroticized commodity— Ivory Soap, the Plymouth automobile, and so forth. Perhaps it was inevitable that the disguise should be shed and the catalyst become the commodity—such that what consumers learned to desire as a token of their belonging in consumer culture was an insatiable quantity of sexual desire itself.

David Bennett is director of postgraduate studies in the Department of English and Cultural Studies at the University of Melbourne, where he lectures on psychoanalysis, postmodernism, and the politics of art censorship. His essay comes from a book in progress that examines how the discourses of sexual psychology and economics have interacted since the eighteenth century. His other books include Multicultural States: Rethinking Difference and Identity (1998), Cultural Studies: Pluralism and Theory (1993), and Rhetorics of History: Modernity and Postmodernity (1990).

71. David Riesman, The Lonely Crowd: A Study of the Changing American Characterr (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1950), 172; quoted in Friedan, Feminine Mystique, 391.

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Published by Duke University Press VOLUME 11 NUMBER 3 1994

Conceptualizing Guilt in the Consumer Decision-making Process Melissa S. Burnett and Dale A. Lunsford

Introduction Previous studies in the areas of clinical Recent emphasis has been placed on studying psychology, social psychology and sociology emotions and their relation to affect and have found guilt is playing a vital role in cognitions (Aaker et al., 1986). The evidence behavioral tendencies (Bozinoff and Ghingold, 1983; Darlington and Macker, suggests that “even mild affective states can 1966; Freedman et al., 1967; Ghingold, 1980; substantially influence cognitive processing Konoske et al., 1979). Defined as a violation and social behavior” (Aaker et al., 1986). A (or an anticipated violation) of one’s internal number of emotional responses exist, such as standards, guilt provides explanations for love, anger, fear, guilt and worry. This paper compliant and altruistic behavior. A proposes to investigate one type of emotion preliminary definition of consumer guilt that has been virtually ignored by marketers. defines the term as “a negative emotion Specifically, the construct of guilt will be which results from a consumer decision that examined as it relates to the consumer violates one’s values or norms. Consequently, decision-making process. the consumer will experience a lowering of Evidence is emerging that guilt is a self esteem as a result of his decision.” In the motivator of consumer behavior in context of this definition, consumer guilt is purchasing situations (Butler, 1993; related specifically to consumption decision Steenhuysen, 1990). Foods are positioned as situations. “full of pleasure with no guilt”. Social issues Consider the following consumption are marketed using guilt appeals. Yet, the decision situations which are influenced by concept of guilt and its role in consumer guilt feelings. As public acceptance of behavior is poorly understood. This article recycled and recyclable products increases, reports the findings of initial research to purchasing products which are detrimental to define a construct of consumer guilt and the environment may cause post-purchase explore its managerial implications. guilt feelings for the consumer. Guilt may also influence behavior from parents who work away from home and may make extra or Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 3, 1994, pp. 33-43 © MCB University Press, 0736-3761 special purchases for their children as a 33 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING

substitute for the time which they are away. consumer guilt construct may have potential In this scenario, feelings of guilt precede the as a new market segmentation tool. New purchase decision. Consequently, it is segments may be developed based on important to note that guilt could serve as a differences between individual guilt levels. major factor affecting initial, as well as repeat Public policy objectives may be achieved purchase decisions. through the use of guilt techniques for Marketers are using implied and explicit discouraging unwanted behaviors. An guilt feelings to persuade consumers to example of social issue marketing using guilt purchase their products. Most of the techniques is recent advertising which advertising which uses guilt as a persuasion emphasizes the importance of proper prenatal technique tries to motivate consumers to buy care, specifically not smoking while pregnant. a product in order to avoid having guilt The advertisements offer rational facts that feelings. The Country’s Best Yogurt store correlate low birth rates and learning chain publishes a take-out menu which is deficiencies to the babies of mothers who titled “All of the Pleasure. None of the Guilt.” smoke during pregnancy. The ad goes on to The menu implies that consuming yogurt is a pleasurable experience that will not make you show an emotional side as well. Specifically, feel guilty, but consuming alternative it depicts the guilt-ridden emotional fattening products such as ice cream will consequences that endure long after the birth create feelings of guilt. A more subtle of the baby. example of using guilt to persuade consumers From focus group research, we derive a is found in a television advertisement for preliminary consumer guilt definition as well Quaker Oats hot breakfast cereal. The as accompanying dimensions of the construct. spokesperson, Wilford Brumly, explains that Finally, proposed classifications of how guilt families should be taking better care of their influences behavior and the accompanying health and that unless they purchase Quaker managerial implications are presented. Oats for their breakfast food, they are failing to do so. The last scene of the advertisement ends with Brumly stating, “Quaker Oats is the Derivation of Previous Consumer Guilt right thing to do”. It can be argued that the Definition goal of the advertisement is to cause people to The term “guilt” has been used and defined in anticipate feelings of guilt if they fail to a multitude of ways. Individuals often purchase Quaker Oats. The investment in describe their emotional states in an active such guilt arousing advertisements suggests way such as being “guilt ridden”. Others in that some marketers believe that guilt may be an effective type of persuasion technique. search of an appropriate emotional While marketers may not frequently use description profess to be on a “guilt trip”. guilt appeal advertisements, individuals do Some individuals build a career on the ability experience feelings of guilt in the consumer to determine others’ state of innocence or decision-making process. The consumer guilt guilt. Although the term guilt is used construct combined with individual frequently, its meaning is seldom the same. differences among consumers may have Our purpose here is to present the derivation important implications for marketers. and definition of the term “consumer guilt”. Consumers’ buying intentions and attitudes The definition of this term is derived largely may be influenced by guilt, and if so, may be from previous works which seek to define the manipulable by marketing techniques. The term guilt. 34 VOLUME 11 NUMBER 3 1994

Prior definitions of the term guilt which dissonance is the need for an individual to were used to derive the definition of consumer maintain cognitive consistency. As conceived guilt range over approximately a 20-year time by Festinger (1957), individuals tend to span, and carry common threads of thought. develop opinions and attitudes that represent Freedman et al. (1967) state that guilt is the a “cluster” of internal consistencies. feeling that results from an individual’s Inconsistencies are, in Festinger’s terms, knowledge that he acted against his own moral psychological discomforts, which he or ethical standards. Stein’s 1968 definition of describes as dissonance. When one guilt is the sense of being accountable for experiences feelings of dissonance, the violating internal standards. Several years later, individual: English and Macker (1976) confirm the belief ● seeks to reduce these negative that guilt results from a violation of internal inconsistencies; or standards. They also suggested that these ● attempts to avoid situations and/or regretful feelings result in lessened personal information that might increase the worth on that account. Finally, in 1985, Miller dissonance (Festinger, 1957). defines guilt as “the feeling that results from an individual’s knowledge that he acted against In essence, dissonance is “the existence of his own moral or ethical standards”. By non-fitting relations among cognition” integrating these definitions it can be said that (Festinger, 1957). Cognition is similar to guilt implies the existence of the following two knowledge, opinion, or beliefs about oneself, states: the environment or an individual’s behavior. Since guilt is defined as a violation of one’s (1) a violation of one’s internal standards; and norms, values, or internal standards, it is easy subsequently to see the linkage between guilt and (2) a lowering of self esteem. dissonance. In this context, it could be argued These two states will be used throughout the that when an individual experiences feelings discussion of the consumer guilt construct. of guilt, he/she is experiencing dissonant Before developing a formal definition of cognition. consumer guilt, the term must be examined Not only do the definitions of dissonance from a theoretical perspective as well as a and guilt have strong similarities, but the concept of fear. courses of action suggested to reduce the feelings of both dissonance and guilt are similar as well. The unpleasant internal state Dissonance as a Theoretical of guilt will cause an individual actively to Explanation seek a course of action to relieve this negative As illustrated in the literature, guilt has been feeling by: found to be an important variable in attitude ● doing good deeds; change as well as behavioral intentions. One ● undoing harm to the injured party; of the most plausible theoretical explanations ● self-criticism; or of such events is provided by dissonance theory. ● self-punishment. As noted by Ghingold (1980), dissonance The most likely behaviors are compensation, theory can provide a theoretical structure for expiation and denial of responsibility. understanding guilt-induced behavior. The Evidence of the applicability of dissonance primary basis underlying the theory of theory is illustrated by the effects of guilt on 35 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING

compliant and altruistic behavior. That is, in a lowering of self-esteem. Presumably, if guilty subjects are more prone to engage in one experiences feelings of guilt, one must compliant behavior to reduce feelings of also feel a decrease in self-esteem. Fear, inconsistency than non-guilty subjects however, can occur with or without any effect (Darlington and Macker, 1966; Freedman et on one’s self-esteem. al., 1967; Regan et al., 1972). The only exception to these results existed when the guilty subjects anticipated having to meet Control face to face with the injured party for whom Whether or not an individual possesses some the request had been asked (Darlington and degree of control over the outcome of a Macker, 1966). However, the findings of this situation determines whether or not feelings study are still consistent with the explanations of guilt may be present. Guilt feelings are provided by dissonance theory, as one could more likely when an individual has some argue that the guilt induced subjects were degree of control over the outcome. The more seeking to avoid direct contact with the control one has over a situation, the higher harmed individual. the expected level of guilt feelings will be With a theoretical framework that allows over a negative outcome. If one has no one to understand the effects of guilt, it control over the outcome, then no guilt appears that such a construct could have feelings should be experienced. Feelings of significant implications for marketers. Guilt’s fear will result even in situations where one proven role in attitude formation and has little, if any, control over the outcome of behavioral intention calls for study of the role the situation. of guilt specifically to consumer behavior. Support for this linkage between guilt and Before beginning that study with our control can be drawn from the literature construct development, guilt is contrasted to investigating causal attributions of success the emotion of fear. and failure. As shown in Figure 1, Weiner (1985) identifies four explanations using high and low conditions of control and stability. In Guilt Construct Distinguished from this context, control refers to the ability of the Fear Construct individual to influence the outcome while The constructs of guilt and fear are closely related. Fear is a negative emotion, an anxiety caused by anticipated consequences of some particular negative outcome (Ghingold, 1980). Control Guilt may also be a negative anticipatory Low High emotion. Thus, a distinction between the two constructs lies not in their prior definitions, but Low Luck or Guilt in analyzing the two constructs in relation to Chance (effort-linked) self-esteem and control. Stability

Self-esteem High Fear Social fear (task difficulty) (ability-linked) The emotions of guilt and fear hold different or Humiliation relationships with feelings of self-esteem. By definition, guilt is a violation or anticipated Figure 1. violation of internal standards, which results Attributions of Guilt and Fear 36 VOLUME 11 NUMBER 3 1994

stability refers to the variability or temporal characterized by high stability, regardless of state of the outcome. the individual’s control over the outcome. For example, if an individual has low control over the outcome and the outcome stability is low, the individual’s success or Dimensions of Consumer Guilt failure is attributed to luck or chance. Conceptualization of the consumer guilt Conversely, if the individual has a high construct was further defined by way of a degree of control over the outcome and the focus group/pilot study. Four focus groups outcome stability is high, the outcome is were held at a major midwest university. Two attributed to the individual’s ability. To independent moderators led the sessions, continue with these attributions of outcome, if while the authors viewed a monitor from an an individual has low control over the adjoining room. Groups of eight to 12 were outcome and the outcome stability is high, the videotaped to provide a closer examination at outcome is attributed to the difficulty of the a later date. Subjects included a wide range of task. In this situation, no matter what the ages (18-60), religious affiliations, individual tries, the outcomes are consistent. occupations and income levels ranged in ages Finally, if the individual has high control over from 21 to 56. the outcome and the outcome stability is low, The script included a brief introduction the performance is attributed to the effort with the moderators explaining the concept of given to the task. focus groups. In addition, the participants Individual performance was further were informed that the session was taped. The investigated by examining its relationship to first part of the script was designed to help self-worth in a study conducted by Corington define guilt. The next section provided an and Omelich (1987). Self-worth was opportunity to discuss purchase situations in investigated in relation to the amount of effort which the participants believed their exerted among failure-avoiding and failure- purchases to be influenced by guilt. Nominal accepting students. Self-worth in this context techniques were used to help prevent bias was measured in terms of shame. responses. The next part involved showing Used for this purpose, the concept of the subjects advertisements that related to four appropriate dimensions of guilt appeals. shame consisted of two dimensions. One After viewing the ads, subjects were asked to dimension of shame was an ability linked comment on the emotions that the ads dimension called humiliation. The second elicited, attitudes toward the messages, and dimension of shame was an effort linked potential behavioral influences. The groups variable defined as guilt. Results of the study concluded by completing a demographic indicated that high effort is found to increase profile. After completing the task, the feelings of humiliation and decrease feelings members were then thanked for their of guilt. participation and debriefed with regards to the Drawing from the works of Weiner (1985) specific details of the study. and Covington and Omelich (1985), the Two last methods of sampling the domain concepts of guilt and humiliation can be were used. As suggested by Churchill (1979), extended to the concepts of control and experience surveying and insight examples stability. Guilt, the effort linked dimension, is were also conducted and gathered. characterized by low stability and high Experience surveying involved personal control over the outcome. Fear is interviews with a clinical psychologist, social 37 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING

psychologist, sociologist, and and advertising Ads that often use financial guilt appeals executive. These interviews allowed the attempt to convince the target market that authors to incorporate a multidisciplinary and they have “earned” or “deserve” to splurge a managerial perspective into the development little on themselves. One example of such an of the construct. Personal interviews lasted ad can be seen in the advertisement for Zales approximately one hour. The last step that Diamonds. In the print advertisement, the was used in identifying the construct was headline asks the soon-to-be-groom isn’t she insight examples which involved collecting worth two months of his salary? The copy and identifying advertisements that utilized continues to persuade the reader that while guilt appeals. Fifty-six undergraduates were that amount may seem like a lot of money, used to complete the task. They assigned the surely the lady with whom he has chosen to ads to one of the four a priori dimensions or if live the rest of his life is worth a minimal they believed that these dimensions did not amount equivalent to a two-month paycheck to signify his love. In this context, the work, they were asked to identify separate message implies if he is not willing to categories. A total of 168 print conform to this average price level, well then advertisements were gathered. All ads were he must be either cheap and/or not really care placed into one of the four dimensions. about his bride. With the information learned from the A seven-point Likert statement scale was focus groups, the experience surveys, and the developed to assess individuals’ levels of insight examples, a total of 31 survey items financial consumer guilt. Examples of two of were generated and tested. The items the nine items read as follows: consisted of seven-point Likert statements (1) I do not regret making purchases that I am that were worded to reflect the purchase unable to logically justify. decision situations and experiences which elicited feelings of guilt described by the (2) I feel guilty when I make impulse participants and implied in the ads. purchases. Results from the factor analysis study Health guilt occurs if an individual believes suggest that four dimensions of consumer that he is not taking care of his physical guilt were identified: welfare. This dimension includes purchasing (1) financial guilt; decisions that are not beneficial to one’s health, such as consuming foods high in fat or (2) health guilt; smoking cigarettes. (3) moral guilt; and Advertisers of food products and exercise (4) social responsibility guilt. equipment often use guilt appeals. Weight Watchers new campaign suggests that with Explanations and examples of each of the their products the consumer can enjoy “Total consumer guilt dimensions follow. Indulgence. Zero Guilt”. Likewise, Financial guilt is characterized by feelings spokesperson Sandy Duncan tells viewers of guilt that result from making purchases that Wheat Thins is the only snackfood that that are not easily justified. “Unneeded” or leaves her guilt free. extravagant expenditures are examples of Five items were created to assess purchases which could stimulate financial individual levels of consumer health guilt. guilt. Impulse shopping, or a lack of bargain One example asks respondents to indicate shopping may also generate financial guilt their level of agreement with “I feel feelings. disappointed in myself when I eat junk food”. 38 VOLUME 11 NUMBER 3 1994

The third dimension of consumer guilt is Save the Children Foundation make it clear guilt that results due to one’s moral beliefs. that without public support lives will be lost. This dimension attempts to capture guilt that Other examples include ads for recycling and occurs when a purchase decision (or environmental concerns which remind anticipated purchase decision) violates one’s viewers that it is up to everyone to insure a moral values. clean and safe world for future generations. For example, various religious groups Clearly marketers should be concerned with believe that smoking, drinking, gambling and the types of consumer guilt that exists. other behaviors are immoral. Thus when a However, other factors must be considered purchase or potential purchase is influenced by when explaining the effect that such guilt has learned moral values, he or she is experiencing on buyer behavior. The next section examines a moral guilt. One example of this type of appeal classification system that provides such insight. can been seen in advertisements for condoms which stress that one is responsible for the life of your partner. From a moral viewpoint, this Classifying Consumer Guilt – relates to learned values such as respect and Managerial Implications care for all living things. As shown in Table I consumer guilt can be Six items were used in assessing consumer generally classified across the four moral guilt. Statements such as “I will not buy a dimensions of the construct by three product if it is against my religious beliefs” and categories: “moral issues do not influence my purchase decisions” are examples of these items. (1) state of the guilt; The final dimension of consumer guilt (2) purchase decision; and identified is labeled social responsibility guilt. (3) focus of the guilt. Social responsibility guilt occurs when one violates one’s perceived social obligations as The following sections will discuss each a result of a purchase decision. Situations classification of guilt and its importance for which have the potential of generating social understanding consumer guilt’s impact on responsibility guilt include purchase/no buyer decisions. purchase decisions involving charity contributions, environmental issues, family State of the Guilt obligations, and gift-buying behavior. State of the guilt refers to the time period in A couple of examples of items used to which the guilt feelings occurred. assess individual levels of social Specifically, the two possible time periods in responsibility guilt read as follows: which guilt can occur are: ● I would not feel guilty if someone gave me (1) after one has violated a value or norm a Christmas present and I did not give (reactive guilt); or them one in return. (2) prior to a transgression (anticipatory ● If I did not buy insurance to provide guilt). financial support for my family, I would The distinction between anticipatory and feel guilty. reactive guilt is particularly important to A number of ads utilize this type of marketers because this difference implies that persuasion technique. For example, ads for St feelings of guilt can occur before and after Jude’s Children’s Hospital and messages purchase decisions. Advertising messages given by spokesperson Sally Struthers for could therefore use two types of persuasion 39 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING

Types of consumer guilt Classification Financial guilt Health guilt Moral guilt Social responsibility guilt

State of guilt: Pre-decision guilt Purchase Purchase Fully loaded Candy Sexually Non-American made (anticipatory guilt) decision product compact disc explicit products player material (e.g. foreign cars)

Not purchase Zales diamond Low calorie Church Charities product foods offerings

Post-decision guilt Focus Oneself Purchasing a Smoking and Drinking Non-American made (reactive guilt) of compact disc but concerned for (belief that products guilt feeling that you own health immoral) (e.g. union-worker) should have purchased a coat

Others Purchasing a Smoking and Drinking Charities compact disc but feeling guilt for (concerned for feeling that you harm to others family) should have saved for children’s education

Table I. Classifying Consumer Guilt tactics, depending on the specific product and reactive state of guilt classification. target consumer. Anticipatory guilt feelings Conversely, consumers may also experience might be evoked by advertising which guilt from either not purchasing a product, or explores the feelings of guilt the consumer purchasing a competing product. The may have if he does not purchase the following discussion presents examples of advertiser’s product. Reactive guilt is also consumer guilt occurring as a result of an important for marketers to understand. If guilt individual’s purchase decisions for each of is experienced by the purchaser of the the four dimensions of consumer guilt company’s product, then advertising (financial, health, moral and social messages may be effective in trying to help responsibility). modify the consumer’s internal purchasing If an individual on a tight budget standards which are causing the guilt feelings. impulsively decides to purchase a compact Repeat purchases could be significantly disc player, complete with all the extra affected by this approach. features, he may experience financial guilt. This form of post-purchase financial guilt could result if the buyer believes that the Purchase Decision purchase was too extravagant or unnecessary In this context, purchase decision refers to the given his financial obligations. Financial guilt premiss that consumer guilt can result from can also occur as a result of not having made either having made a purchase or from not a purchase. The example of the Zales having made a purchase. Consumers may diamond ad typifies such a persuasion experience guilt from purchasing a particular technique. Again, if the groom does not buy a product, which is directly related to the diamond that meets a certain price guide level

40 VOLUME 11 NUMBER 3 1994

from Zales but rather opts to purchase a less individual’s purchase decision may have expensive engagement ring then he may adverse effects either on that individual or on experience post-purchase financial guilt that others. It is important to understand toward results from failure to purchase a product. whom the guilt is directed, because the focus Purchase decisions which could evoke of the guilt may affect the salience of the feelings of health guilt include buying emotion. For example, some individuals may consumable items that are generally viewed hold little concern for the consequences of as unhealthy (e.g. cigarettes or alcohol). their actions on others while some individuals Unpurchased products which could induce a may care deeply how their actions affect feeling of health guilt might include low- others. The four dimensions of consumer calorie foods, the decision not to join a health guilt will be examined in this context as club, or the decision not to have annual follows. check-ups by a physician. Moral guilt refers to the feelings that one n experiences when one has engaged (or is tempted to engage) in some type of behavior Financial guilt will be that is generally considered wrong by society. determined on the basis of In a consumer context, moral guilt may be the foregone opportunity experienced by some individuals who buy n products such as sexually explicit material or non-prescription drugs. Moral guilt could also result as a consequence of not engaging in The focus of financial guilt will be certain consumer decisions such as giving to determined on the basis of the foregone charities or a church. opportunity. Relating to the example of The fourth type of consumer guilt, social purchasing a compact disc player, if the responsibility, alludes to the belief that individual believes the money spent on the consumer guilt may result from not living up compact disc player may have been better to one’s social obligations. For example, if an spent on his children’s education, then the individual purchases a foreign car, and feels focus of the guilt is related to someone other that his purchase is adding to the hardship of than the consumer. However, if the decision the American auto workers, social maker believes that the money would have responsibility guilt may arise. An example of been better used to purchase a winter coat, social guilt occurring as a result of not having then the focus of the guilt is directed toward made a purchase can be seen in gift buying oneself. behavior. Gift buying is a common ritual and, Health guilt will be examined through an as such, carries with it certain social example of an individual who smokes. The expectations. Thus, if one forgets to purchase individual may feel health guilt because of a gift for an appropriate occasion, one may the adverse effects of smoking on his own experience social responsibility guilt. health. He may also feel health guilt because of the harmful effects of secondary smoke which is imposed on the health of others who Focus of Guilt may be around him while he smokes. The final classification of consumer guilt Some product examples used for health describes it in terms of whom is affected by guilt can also be used for moral guilt. That is, the actions of the decision maker. An not only is smoking, drinking and drug use 41 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER MARKETING

generally viewed as unhealthy, but it is also persuasion tactics to influence consumers to thought by some individuals to be morally buy their products. wrong. Thus, engaging in these purchase Not only can it be used as a valuable decisions may generate health guilt/moral persuasion tool for private industry, but it also guilt for the consumer. The consumer may serves as an important method of presentation take moral guilt one step further and relate the from a public policy perspective as well. For adverse effects of his consumption activity on example, guilt appeal might serve as a his family, thereby directing the focus of guilt successful type of motivational appeal in the on others. demarketing of unwanted behaviors such as abusive alcohol consumption, smoking, drug n usage, etc. Hopefully this article has prompted interest in this unexamined Consumer guilt may help motivator and has contributed to that to explain consumer awareness and knowledge. purchase behaviour n n

References and Further Reading Social responsibility guilt also contains a continuum whereby the decisions of an Aaker, D.A., Stayman, D.M. and Hagerty, M.R. individual will affect him to various degrees. (1986), “Warmth in Advertising: For example, one may feel guilty for not Measurement, Impact, and Sequence contributing to the world hunger problem. In Effects”, Journal of Consumer Research, this context, the focus of the guilt is Vol. 12 No. 4, March. exclusively directed at the negative Bozinoff, L. and Ghingold, M. (1983), consequences of one’s actions on others. “Evaluating Guilt Arousing Marketing However, social responsibility guilt may Communications”, Journal of Business result from a decision which relates to one’s Research, Vol. 11, June, pp. 243-55. personal welfare. For example, if an auto Butler, D. (1993), ”Fat and Happy?”, American union member decides to purchase a foreign Demographics, January, pp. 52-7. car, he may experience social responsibility guilt. In this case, he may feel that his Churchill, G.A. (1979), “A Paradigm for decision could contribute to the problems Developing Better Measures of Marketing experienced by American automakers, and Constructs”, Journal of Marketing Research, thus the individual auto worker as well. Vol. 26 No. 1, February, pp. 64-73. Covington, M.V. and Omelich, C.L. (1985), “Ability and Effort Valuation among Failure- Conclusion Avoiding and Failure-Accepting Students”, Guilt is an emotion which can have a Journal of Educational Psychology, Vol. 77 significant impact on the behavior of No. 4, pp. 446-59. consumers. As a new construct in the field of Darlington, R.B. and Macker, C.E. (1966), marketing, consumer guilt may help to ”Displacement of Guilt-produced Altruistic explain consumer purchase behavior and Behavior”, Journal of Personality and Social provide opportunities for marketers to use Psychology, Vol. 4 No. 4, pp. 442-3. 42 VOLUME 11 NUMBER 3 1994

English, H.B. and Macker, A.C. (1976), A Macaulay, J.R. and Berkowitz, L. (Eds), Comprehensive Dictionary of Psychology Altruism and Helping Behavior, Academic and Psychoanalytical Terms, David McKay Press, New York, NY. Company, New York, NY. Regan, D.T., Williams, M. and Sparling, S. Festinger, L. (1957), A Theory of Cognitive (1972), “Voluntary Expiation of Guilt: A Field Dissonance, Stanford University Press, Experiment”, Journal of Personality and Standford. Social Psychology, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 42-5. Steenhuysen, J. (1990), “Nostalgia Hooks a Freedman, J.L. Wallington, S.A. and Bless, E. New Generation”, Advertising Age, Vol. 61 (1967), “Compliance without Pressure: The No. 3, 30 July, p. 26. Effects of Guilt”, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 7 No. 2, pp. 117-24. Stein, E.V. (1968), Guilt: Theory and Therapy, The Westminster Press, Philadelphia, PA. Ghingold, M. (1980), “Guilt Arousing Marketing Weiner, B. (1985), “An Attributional Theory of Communications: An Unexplored Variable”, Achievement, Motivation and Emotion”, in Monroe, K.B. (Ed.), Advances in Psychological Review, Vol. 92 No. 4, Consumer Research, Association for December, pp. 548-73 Consumer Research, Ann Arbor, MI, pp. 442-8. Konokse, P., Staple, S. and Graft, R.G. (1979), Melissa S. Burnett is Associate Professor of “Complaint Reactions to Guilt: Self-esteem or Self-Punishment”, The Journal of Social Marketing at Southwest Missouri State Psychology, Vol. 108, pp. 207-11. University, Springfield, Missouri and Dale A. Lunsford is Associate Professor of Marketing Rawlings, E.I. (1970), “Reactive Guilt and at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA. Anticipating Guilt in Altruistic Behavior”, in

43 EXPLORATIONS

Shame

“What! Must I hold a candle to my shames?” During those years, I witnessed or was told mother discovered her, the lid was off the of countless shaming incidents that made container, and the child appeared to have William Shakespeare me grit my teeth in disgust. drunk from it. Fortunately, this was not One involved a case conference focused the case, and no harm was done. The ER on a woman who died from diabetic keto- physician, however, berated the woman he young medical student, having acidosis. After the young doctor in charge because she was careless, in front of the ER completed his examination of the of the case presented the facts, the profes- personnel. How could a competent parent infant, turned to report his find- sor analyzing them tore into him with a fail to safeguard toxic chemicals? The re- T ings to the attending physician. vengeance. His objections dripped with morseful young mother sobbed uncon- Unfortunately, he forgot to raise the rail sarcasm and degenerated into a rant. trollably as the angry physician walked on the baby’s bed before walking away, an Reaching a crescendo, he picked up the away, leaving her smitten. I remember the omission the supervising doctor noticed deceased woman’s chart, flung it across incident vividly because I was that critical immediately. The physician flew into a the room, and shrieked, “You killed her! physician—young, idealistic, energetic, rage over the mistake. He began scolding Murderer! Murderer!” The young physi- fresh out of training. I was considering cian, whom everyone considered excep- only the welfare of the toddler and failed the student mercilessly, calling him “care- tionally talented, could bear the humilia- to take into account the feelings of the less” and “stupid” in front of his col- tion no longer. With as much dignity as he mother, whose self-criticism was sufficient leagues. The episode triggered memories could salvage, he calmly rose from his seat without my heaping shame on her. To this of his punitive father, who often shamed and, weeping, exited the room and the day, I deeply regret my behavior and wish and embarrassed him in front of his screaming professor. that I could take it back. friends while growing up. During the fol- In a strange twist of logic, medical edu- A decade after I finished my training, lowing week, the student went into an cators such as this professor believe they shaming and other forms of medical-stu- emotional tailspin and became nonfunc- can emotionally terrorize medical student abuse began to draw the attention of tional. He withdrew from medical school, dents and at the same time turn them into researchers. In 1982, physician Henry K. entered intensive psychotherapy, and compassionate, caring practitioners. They Silver, of the University of Colorado never returned. consider shame and humiliation as moti- School of Medicine, reported a change This medical student, a good friend of vators and legitimate teaching devices, among medical students over the course mine, was in the class ahead of me. He was and they invariably say that “nothing per- of their training—from idealistic, bright- one of the most gifted, compassionate stu- sonal” is meant by this approach. This is a eyed, “eager-beavers” to frustrated, de- dents I ever knew—and a casualty of the hollow defense, however, analogous to the pressed, cynics—and hypothesized that devastating effects of shame. parent who abuses a child “for its own these changes were caused by some sort of This was not an isolated incident. good.” traumatic event.2,3 By 1990, rigorous sur- Shame and humiliation were favorite Shaming takes many forms. I was once veys of medical-student abuse were being teaching techniques of many of my med- on emergency room (ER) duty in a large published.4,5 A 1998 study found that the ical-school professors, several of whom metropolitan hospital when a young most frequent form of abuse reported by were internationally famous in their fields. mother came to the ER in tears, cradling young doctors during their year of intern- They seemed completely unaware of the her screaming toddler in her arms. The ship was being shamed, belittled, or hu- destructiveness of the pain they caused child had found a can of household drain miliated. This study, which included all students by publicly embarrassing them. cleaner under the kitchen sink. When the the residency training programs in the

Explorations EXPLORE March 2005, Vol. 1, No. 2 75 United States, found that 86% of the re- was caused by the Devil.8 People who be- points to advertising as an indicator of spondents had been humiliated at least lieve such things feel shamed in the eyes of how our attitudes toward shame have once during their year of internship, and God. They may delay seeking medical changed in recent years. Previously, ads 53% had been shamed three times or treatment or abandon it later because they featured shameful, embarrassing condi- more. Thirty-eight percent reported being are convinced that they deserve to suffer as tions like halitosis, for which you should slapped, pushed, kicked, or hit; 30% re- a consequence of their sinfulness or purchase mouthwash. Now shame has ported being sexually harassed; 31% had wrongdoings. Furthermore, feelings of been turned upside down, as ads tend to their reputations or careers threatened; shame can actually generate destructive erase or deny shame by insisting that you and 25% reported racial and/or ethnic dis- physiologic changes within the body, as deserve a break today, you’re worth it, crimination.6 we shall see. you’ve come a long way, you’re on your A problem is that shaming leaves psy- way to the top, and you can be all you can chologic wounds that often never heal, THE ESSENCE OF SHAME be and other messages that appeal to the narcissistic streak in everyone. If we over- and the victim may reenact the emotional What, really, is shame? My Webster’s dic- spend or overeat, well, it is not really our trauma later in life by visiting it on others, tionary tells me that it is a painful feeling fault; the purchases and the food were nec- as in the well-recognized cycle of abused of having lost the respect of others because essary because deserved. This kind of chat- children who, as parents, abuse their own of improper behavior or incompetence ter, which is pervasive in contemporary offspring and they their offspring. and involves feelings of disgrace, dis- advertising, undercuts the self-correcting, Matthew J. Kleinerman, while a medical honor, unworthiness, and embarrassment. balancing, modesty-generating forces of student at Columbia University College So there is a public side to shame—my healthy shame. Philosopher Ken Wilber of Physicians and Surgeons, in the Journal medical-school friend and the ER mom I calls this self-indulgent pattern “boomeri- of the American Medical Association, main- humiliated. However, most experiences of tained that abuse affects students in a va- tis” because it is epidemic among individ- shame are not that dramatic and may not 12,13 riety of ways. “They may include leaving uals of baby-boomer vintage. even be noticeable by others. They take 14 medicine earlier than planned, disparag- place privately, as in an example by psy- Social critic Christopher Lasch, in his 9 book The Culture of Narcissism, observes ing the profession, ignoring the emotional chologist Robert Karen. A professional, that, in recent years, we seem to be trying needs of patients, and repeating the pat- divorced man, 50 something, is standing to construct a shame-free society in which tern of abuse toward students and others on a subway platform and eyes an attrac- everyone feels good about themselves, all . . . [A]ttrition from medical school may tive young woman. He fantasizes about the time. However, this does not always indeed be the earliest ‘symptom’ of expe- her for a few moments—inviting her on a lead to growth, either of an individual or rienced abuse.”3 date, charming her, and having sex. He of a society. Feelings of shame, Lasch sug- Of course, shame in medicine is not senses his male power—until the fantasy is gests, can generate respect for others, limited to medical schools and training broken, as she suddenly sends him a look awareness of one’s limitations, and mod- programs. Throughout history, individu- of utter disgust that is so unmistakable, so esty. O’Connor agrees, saying, “This, I als suffering from diseases such as leprosy, deflating, that he privately fears that he is a think, is the kind of shame that we learn as epilepsy, and venereal diseases have been lonely, old, pathetic man who is inade- an inevitable part of growing up, of be- routinely shamed by society at large. Even quate and incapable of forming a real re- coming a civilized adult instead of a wild in our so-called enlightened age, certain lationship with a woman. Although he child.”10 diseases continue to be tinged with shame. pushes the incident out of his mind, he Individuals may be reluctant to be tested feels depressed and grouchy for the rest of SHAME AND CHANGE IN HEALTHCARE the day, unable to be productive, for rea- for HIV or AIDS because they fear the Physician Frank Davidoff, editor emeritus sons he cannot put his finger on. humiliation that may result. Regrettably, of the prestigious journal Annals of Internal This scenario captures the essence of in some circles, cancer is still considered Medicine, calls shame the “‘elephant in the shame, which psychologist Richard the result of personal weakness or moral room’ [of the medical profession]: some- O’Connor describes as “a deep, pervasive failure, a sign of a life gone wrong and thus thing so big and disturbing that we don’t experience of loathsomeness or disgust a cause for shame. Shame can also result even see it, despite the fact that we keep about who or what we are. Where guilt, 15 from the careless comments of physicians, bumping into it.” He cites an example hopefully, is about specific actions that as when a doctor asks a lung cancer patient from the 1960s that illustrates the tortured may be put right or forgiven, shame is accusatorially, “You smoked three packs attitudes of physicians toward shame. A 7 about our core identity; the experience of of cigarettes a day for how many years?” large, randomized clinical trial by the Uni- seeing ourselves from another perspective, Importantly, shame during illness can versity Group Diabetes Program found in the worst possible light; or of fearing be engendered by certain religious views. that tolbutamide, the main oral agent then that others see the secret self we keep hid- Psychologist Kenneth I. Pargament, an au- used to lower blood sugar in diabetics, was den away and only remember when we are thority on religious beliefs and health, of associated with a significant increase in forced to.”10 Bowling Green State University, et al death among patients who developed found increased mortality in hospitalized myocardial infarction. The most appropri- patients following discharge if they be- GOOD SHAME? ate response from the medical profession, lieved that their illness was caused by James B. Twitchell, in his book For Shame: says Davidoff, should have been gratitude abandonment or punishment by God or The Loss of Common Decency in America,11 because here was an important way of im-

76 EXPLORE March 2005, Vol. 1, No. 2 Explorations proving patient care. “But in fact,” he re- sicians may be more vulnerable to shame, Dickerson, of the University of California, calls, “the response was doubt, outrage, he suggests, because they are high achiev- Los Angeles, et al found that inducing self- even legal proceedings against the investi- ers and are self-selected for perfectionism blame in patients leads to feelings of gators; the controversy went on for years.” when they choose to enter the profession. shame and inflammatory and stress Why? Clues surfaced during an annual They also may have become sensitized to changes in the body.20 They had one meeting of the American Diabetes Associ- being shamed during their training, as the group of individuals write about traumatic ation soon after the findings were made above surveys suggest. experiences in which they blamed them- public. “During the discussion, a practitio- How should practicing physicians deal selves, and another group wrote about ner stood up and said he could not, and with shame? Davidoff suggests that we rec- neutral experiences. In the “blame” group, would not, accept the findings, because ognize shame as a fundamental human the felt experience of shame and guilt in- admitting to his patients that he had been emotion that is not about to go way, so we creased, as did blood levels of the stress using an unsafe treatment would shame have to mitigate and manage it in healthy hormone cortisol and inflammatory and him in their eyes.” ways. We should acknowledge that it is a immune-related blood chemicals. Shame In contrast with this physician’s stance, powerful barrier to improvement and seemed to be the initiator; those who re- Davidoff suggests that shame can be “the change in the healing professions, partic- ported only feelings of guilt did not show universal dark side of improvement”—or ularly where medical mistakes are con- these changes. as Samuel Johnson put it 2 centuries ago, cerned. Making discussions of errors pub- The implications may be profound. “Where there is yet shame, there may in lic would help neutralize its harmful Health psychologist Margaret Kemeny, of time be virtue.”16 Playwright George effects. This would show that everyone the University of California, San Fran- Bernard Shaw took the connection be- makes medical mistakes, so “how shame- cisco, found that HIV-positive men who tween shame and betterment further, ful can these issues be if they are being were sensitive to rejection showed more maintaining that “the more things a man widely shared and openly discussed?” he rapid deterioration and shorter survival is ashamed of, the more respectable he says. than those who were less sensitive to rejec- is.”17 Davidoff is not that enthusiastic However, this situation is bewilderingly tion, even if they did not experience de- about the benefits of shame but believes complex and calls for change not just in pression or other mood disorders. How nonetheless that a moderate degree of em- doctors but also in “the system,” including should this situation be dealt with? The barrassment can have a healthy effect on the law. Unless physicians and nurses are goal, Kemeny believes, is not to eradicate the improvement of physicians’ perfor- allowed to report their errors anony- shame, which seems quite impossible, or mance. “After all,” he says, “improvement mously, it is probably naïve to suggest to replace shame with an inflated sense of they will do so willingly because such an self. “We believe the key,” she says, “is . . . means that, however good your perfor- admission can be an open invitation for a maintaining self-acceptance, being able to mance has been, it is not as good as it malpractice lawsuit in which one acknowl- accept the good and the not-quite-so-good could be.” However, he maintains, be- edges guilt before the legal contest has in ourselves.”21 cause physicians are supersensitive to be- even begun. ing embarrassed, improvement, which There is progress. In April 2004, New SHAME AND HEALING ought to be a no-brainer, remains a gener- Jersey became the 18th state to require the To call someone shameless is to suggest ally slow and difficult process. reporting of medical errors in hospitals, that their exaggerated sense of self-impor- Davidoff is an acute observer of the outpatient clinics, diagnostic centers, and tance renders them incapable of experi- connection between shame and improve- nursing homes and to establish a shield of encing shame. This situation is incompat- ment. He is a member of the board of anonymity and confidentiality for health- ible with delivering compassionate care to directors for Physicians for Human care professionals in the reporting, analy- those in need. To see why, consider the Rights. He and his colleagues have discov- sis, and discussion of these mistakes. The following incident described by medical ered that shaming has enormous power law exempts both actual errors and “near ethicist E. J. Cassell: when used by human-rights organizations misses” from legal discovery. These stat- During the 1930s, my grandmother saw as their principal lever for social change, utes are a significant advance for patient a specialist about a melanoma on her face. especially when applied to governments safety and should be adopted nationwide. During the course of the visit when she and institutions that are guilty of “shame- In states that have implemented these asked him a question, he slapped her face, less” behavior. laws, the shame-and-blame context has saying, “I’ll ask the questions here. I’ll do Shame also surfaces in medicine in the shifted. Physicians and nurses no longer the talking.” Can you imagine such an reluctance of doctors to report medical er- have to stand up and proclaim, “I screwed event occurring today? Melanomas may rors, which are a major cause of mortality up; this is what I did wrong.” Everyone not have changed much in the last 50 18 in the nation’s hospitals. For many phy- benefits—except, some might say, attor- years, but the profession of medicine 22 sicians, to acknowledge a mistake is to in- neys.19 has. criminate oneself as incompetent and The melanoma specialist is a caricature therefore to shame oneself before one’s THE PHYSIOLOGY OF SHAME of the ego-ridden, pompous physician. He colleagues. Thus, suggests Davidoff, much Shame is more than an emotion that floats is a reminder of the value in Davidoff’s of the distress doctors feel when they are in the cranium north of the clavicles; it suggestion that a certain degree of shame sued for malpractice is attributable to pervades the body and leaves physical in healthcare professionals is a good thing, shame rather than to financial losses. Phy- traces throughout. Psychologist Sally D. good because of the essential nature of the

Explorations EXPLORE March 2005, Vol. 1, No. 2 77 act of caring. If we value ourselves too book The Biology of Transcendence, a seg- inches wide, and shaped at one end to in- highly, how can we find the humility to be ment of the Christian right has been pro- sure a firm grip. Here is an intriguing fea- of service to others? If one is utterly moting a form of shaming—frequent ture: It is meant for white kids only. That shameless, what will prevent inflation of spanking—as a way to ensure that the sin- is because Kingdom Identity Ministries the ego and the desire to dominate others, ful, impulsive nature of children can be seeks to spread its message to only “the as in the melanoma specialist? controlled.24 The logic behind this prac- White spirit-race known Scripturally as Emily Friedman, a health policy and tice is that, unless the child’s will is bro- ‘sons of God.’” By the way, if you are look- ethics analyst, discussing efforts to reform ken, God cannot enter, reflecting the doc- ing for work, this organization is recruiting national healthcare in the Journal of the trine of original sin. a “QUALITY DEDICATED CHRIS- American Medical Association, asks, “How Spanking and its derivatives have an im- TIAN WHITE LADY.” So if you possess long should we keep at it? The answer pressive pedigree. Nearly 2 millennia ago, “genuine sweet, gentle, feminine manner- comes from the words of the captain of a St. Augustine, championing the value of a isms” and are “racially pure”—“govern- boat that was attempting to rescue passen- harsh approach to children, declared, ment, Jewish, or other agents DO NOT gers from the sinking ship Andrea Doria in “True education begins with physical qualify!”— and are willing to work for 1956, in heavy seas. He was hailed by an- abuse.”25 He also believed that children “room, board, and spending money,” 27 other rescue boat captain who was return- were in urgent need of salvation, saying, check ‘em out. ing to shore, abandoning the drowning “The weakness of little children’s limbs is SHAME’S EXTREMES passengers, who warned him that he innocent, not their souls.”26 If spanking Sometimes it is possible to see the value of would be in danger if he continued to try indeed rests on the twin pillars of educa- something only when it goes missing. Just to save them. The first captain shouted tion and salvation, who could gainsay it? so, shame’s importance is most apparent back, ‘We ain’t leaving ‘til we don’t hear John Wesley, the founder of the Meth- 23 in people who are completely bereft of it. no more screaming.’” odist Church, took St. Augustine’s views These shameless individuals are often so- This incident shows how self-esteem, to heart. Pearce notes that Molly, Wesley’s ciopaths and criminals who have no con- compassion, and caring are related. Some- wife, described in her diary the anguish science, no internal compass of right and one with an inflated view of his own im- she experienced on hearing the screams of wrong. portance can have great difficulty putting her children as John gave them their daily It is often said that sociopathic persons his life on the line to save another person thrashing. She tried to find consolation in suffer from a lack of self-esteem, but re- or putting forth his best effort as a healer, the knowledge that this was for the chil- search by sociologist Roy Baumeister, of even if a life-and-death situation is not in- dren’s own good and had to be done, for, volved. People with inflated egos see Case Western Reserve University, et al has unless her husband beat the Devil out of themselves as better than others. They revealed the opposite: They have an exag- them, they would continue in depravity cannot stoop to help those in need and get gerated sense of self-esteem and self-im- and wind up in hell for eternity.24 their hands dirty. Arrogance is incompat- portance. This leads to arrogance and hu- The idea that regular beatings might pu- ible with the great traditions of healing. bris, and the certainty that the norms, rify the soul or render the body so inhos- Narcissists should go into another line of values, and laws of society do not apply to pitable that the Devil might desert it was work. themselves. These individuals are like a applied to adults long before Wesley pro- computer with a missing chip, which, in SHAMING AND CHILD DISCIPLINE moted the practice in children. It lay at the this case, is the capacity to experience Sigmund Freud, the godfather of psycho- heart of the flagellant movement in the shame and guilt and a sense of conscience. analysis, maintained that children at the Catholic Church during the Middle Ages, This is why attempts to build self-esteem end of the toddler period undergo a fun- in which zealots often whipped them- as a corrective to sociopathic, criminal be- damental shift in consciousness in which selves senseless in orgies of shame and havior have not met with great success. the “pleasure principle” gives way to the guilt. The sociopath does not need more self- “reality principle.” The main driver in this To promote this approach to godliness, esteem; he is already drowning in it. On transition, Freud believed, is shame, as Kingdom Identity Ministries of Harrison, this point, Baumeister is unequivocal. In children learn to be ashamed of certain Arkansas, is selling the Speak Softly his book Evil: Inside Human Violence and behaviors and experiences and not others. Spanking Stick on their Web site for only Cruelty, he states the following: This process reflects Freud’s certainty that $2.00. This charming implement is im- Over and over again, . . . we find that pleasure and reality are incompatible op- printed with six Bible verses that, in the groups with higher self-esteem are more posites and that it is desirable literally to view of the organization, endorse spank- violent and aggressive than others. When shame children into growing up. ing. This includes the so-called “beater’s self-esteem rises, violence rises too. . . . Although Freud has never been em- charter,” Proverbs 13:24: “He who spareth [T]he wide-spread and traditional theory braced by mainstream religions, it is amaz- his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth that links violence to low self-esteem ing how close some religions are aligned him chasteneth him betimes.” This flat should be discarded. Many researchers with him on the inherent incompatibility wooden stick, the Web site proclaims, have alluded to it, and some recent social of pleasure and reality when children are “may not be hickory, but it serves the same policy in the United States appears to be concerned and the role of shame in their purpose in teaching children good old- based on it, but, on close inspection, not maturation and rearing. As author-educa- fashioned discipline.” The Speak Softly much is provided in the way of proof or tor Joseph Chilton Pearce observes in his means business—16 inches long, nearly 2 evidence. The low self-esteem theory is

78 EXPLORE March 2005, Vol. 1, No. 2 Explorations contradicted by everyday experience and Hindu society as one of the lower castes, America’s claim to the moral high ground by large masses of statistics. Low self-es- was serially raped and finally killed by a in this conflict. The images of these sordid teem does not cause violence.28 group of higher caste Yadav men. Her incidents are now seared into the memo- The flip side of this situation is too crime was that her son had married a ries of people around the world, where much shame, which can paralyze lives and “higher” Yadav girl. Honor killers can be they will fester for generations and impede ruin careers, as in my medical-student equal-opportunity murderers. Sometimes our efforts against terrorism. However, it friend above. Excessive shame can also the groom is killed instead of the bride, as was not only the prisoners in Abu Ghraib have lethal consequences, as in the tradi- in a 2003 case in which a man was attacked who were shamed. Our entire country felt tion of the “honor killing”—a flagrant oxy- by men of his bride’s higher caste, who cut dishonored as well, as we should have felt moron—of women who have been ac- off his hands and legs and then killed him in the wake of this unexpected confronta- cused of rape, infidelity, flirting, or some for daring to marry one of “their” women. tion with the shadow side of human na- other incident that is perceived as bringing The influential All India Democratic ture, which many mistakenly believed did disgrace on a family. To restore the fami- Women’s Association (AIDWA), who re- not apply to us. As historian Arthur ly’s honor and to reestablish its standing ports these instances, estimates that honor Schlesinger, Jr, put it, “[These] appalling in the community, the woman is killed by killings compose 10% of all murders in the episodes . . . have disgraced the United a male relative. Often the killing is based northern Indian states of Haryana and States and make our talk about human only on suspicions, and the woman is not Punjab. In a resolution passed in New rights appear arrant hypocrisy in the eyes given a chance to defend herself. Fre- Delhi in 2004, AIDWA decried the fact of the world.”34 quently, the murderer goes unpunished or that, “Central to such violence is the sub- Although these incidents have left an receives a reduced sentence. ordinate position of women and girls in all indelible stain on our national character, The United Nations Population Fund castes and communities. Women are they offer the opportunity for new insight estimates that up to 5,000 females are be- viewed as the property of the family, the and growth as a people. Like my medical- ing killed each year as a result of honor caste and the community.” The group is school professors who bullied and shamed killings, although this figure is imprecise working for a drastic change in the coun- students without realizing the pain and try’s laws to permit more vigorous prose- because many of these crimes go unre- 30 humiliation they caused, we should reex- ported. Honor killings tend to predomi- cution of honor killings. amine the impact of many of our own nate in countries with a majority Muslim The entire civilized world has a stake in activities on the global stage for the unrec- population, but many Islamic leaders and eradicating this custom—not just because ognized grief they may be evoking. Like scholars deny that the custom is based in it is barbaric but also because honor kill- physicians who improve their practice by ings have been reported in countries as religious doctrine. Instead, it seems to be a openly discussing medical mistakes, we diverse as Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, tribal tradition that antedates Islam and would benefit as a nation from a similar Egypt, India, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Mo- that stems from patriarchal interests in self-examination. rocco, Pakistan, Sweden, Turkey, Uganda, maintaining power. If we are courageous in this process, we and the United Kingdom. Many Islamic groups emphatically con- will acknowledge that Abu Ghraib is not Many countries recognize that family demn this custom, such as the Muslim the first incident in our nation’s history shame is no defense for murder. An admi- Women’s League, an American Muslim that has evoked national shame. Disgrace- rable example is the United Kingdom organization. Citing Islamic scripture to ful events of even greater magnitude have where, in 2002, 16-year-old Hsehu Jones back up their views, they boldly state the periodically occurred, undercutting the was stabbed to death by Abudullah Jones, following: current contention that Abu Ghraib was a her father, because she had a Christian The Qur’an is explicit in its emphasis singular anomaly caused by a few “bad ap- boyfriend and had become “Western- on the equality of women and men before ples.” An unflinching look at our history ized.” Her murder was one of 12 honor God. . . . So for a woman who does engage killings estimated by Scotland Yard to will help us realize that something sinister in illicit sexual activity, she and she alone have taken place in the United Kingdom lurks in the remote regions of the psyche bears the consequences as determined by that year. Abdullah Jones was given a life of all nations, including ours, a dark im- God. The problem of “honor killings” is sentence.31 pulse that is ready to erupt when condi- not a problem of morality or of ensuring tions are ripe. that women maintain their own personal NATIONAL SHAME Slavery is one malevolent force to virtue; rather, it is a problem of domina- In 2004, the world learned that, in which we fell prey. Another was our pro- tion, power, and hatred of women who, in Baghdad’s Abu Ghraib prison, shame- gram of genocide toward Native Ameri- these instances, are viewed as nothing based torture techniques were routinely cans, particularly in the 19th century to- more than servants to the family, both used by United States personnel to extract ward the Plains Indians following the 1876 physically and symbolically.29 information from enemy detainees.32,33 Custer defeat. According to this strategy, In some countries such as India, honor These practices led to the death of some the US Army systematically engaged in killings often revolve around relationships prisoners and violated the Geneva Con- dawn ambushes of Indian villages, slaugh- or marriages between people from differ- ventions, to which the United States is sig- tering men, women, and children indis- ent castes. In one case, a woman from the natory. These incidents undermined the criminately.35 Why children? If one wants state of Uttar Pradesh who belonged to a humanitarian reasons given for our going to exterminate an entire people, it only caste of barbers, considered in traditional to war in Iraq and greatly diminished makes sense that their progeny be eradi-

Explorations EXPLORE March 2005, Vol. 1, No. 2 79 cated. As one proponent of the child kill- cuse those who call attention to events siderable, if neglected, literature on the ing succinctly explained, “Nits make and comments such as these of being un- subject. One of the most careful works is lice.”35 patriotic, treasonous, un-Christian, or the scholarly book Indian Wars by Robert Looking back on our attempted geno- frenchified America bashers, who delight Utley, former chief historian for the Na- cide of First Americans, many people in putting our country and its leaders in tional Park Service and an authority on wonder, “How could we have done that?” the worst possible light. This criticism is America’s western tribes, and his coauthor Some answer, “We didn’t.” To them, these overheated, and there is a whiff of self- Wilcomb E. Washburn.35 atrocities are so barbaric they are simply righteousness in it. We do our democratic The National Park Service has made an incomprehensible and inadmissible, and traditions no favor by remaining silent admirable attempt to make this informa- the mind rebels by denying that they re- about the shameful ways we have behaved tion public at the Big Hole National Bat- ally happened. as a people. Now, more than ever, we need tlefield in southwestern Montana near the However, the genocidal policy that to acknowledge our capacity for behaving little town of Wisdom.41 This is some of flourished during the late 19th century disgracefully because this can generate the the most majestic geography in North was not a fluke but was long in the making. vigilance that is required to avoid repeat- America, where the Great Plains meet the George Washington in 1779 instructed ing these actions and to secure our future Rocky Mountains, the quintessential one of his generals to attack Iroquois na- safety. Yes, now, more than ever. American West. Here, in the early morn- tives and “lay waste all the settlements Schlesinger again: “Never in American ing hours of August 9, 1877, elements of around . . . that the country may not be history has the United States been so un- the US Army, accompanied by civilian merely overrun, but destroyed.” In 1807, popular abroad, regarded with so much volunteers, attacked a sleeping village of Thomas Jefferson wrote to his Secretary of hostility, so distrusted, feared, hated.” 34 A Nez Percé Indians. The ambush killed be- War, “And . . . if ever we are constrained partisan view? Hardly. On the third anni- tween 60 and 90 people, mostly women to lift the hatchet against any tribe, we will versary of the September 11 terrorist at- and children. The National Park Service never lay it down till that tribe is extermi- tacks, a poll found that Osama bin Laden has created a brief film regarding the inci- nated, or is driven beyond the Missis- is more popular that President George W. dent, which is shown periodically sippi.” He continued, “[I]n war, they will Bush in Egypt, a staunch US ally and re- throughout the day at the visitors’ center. kill some of us; we shall destroy all of cipient of billions of US dollars in finan- The reenactment of the battle is wrench- them.” Also, Theodore Roosevelt once re- cial aid.38 Even before Abu Ghraib, Mar- ing, punctuated by the screams of frantic marked, “I don’t go so far as to think that garet Tutwiler, a veteran Republican who Nez Percé mothers fleeing the attacking the only good Indians are dead Indians, was in charge of public diplomacy at the soldiers with children in arms. The film is but I believe 9 out of 10 are, and I State Department, spoke for many Repub- factual and does not moralize. Visitors are shouldn’t like to inquire too closely into lications when she declared that America’s invited to walk the battlefield on a self- the case of the tenth.” These quotations standing abroad had deteriorated to such a guided tour. A museum features bio- are from the book American Holocaust by level that “it will take years of hard, fo- graphic information of combatants on David E. Stannard, professor of American cused work” to repair it.39 In the wake of both sides, together with artifacts con- studies at the University of Hawaii.37 Abu Ghraib, it may take decades. nected with the event. Commenting on Jefferson’s words and Denying history is a universal way of In August 2003, Barbara, my wife, and I our tendency to repress our national minimizing national shame. All countries visited the battlefield and museum. We shadow, he writes, “[H]ad these same words have dirty hands here—the Japanese, in viewed the film with around 50 other in- been enunciated by a German leader in omitting an honest account in their dividuals who were also vacationing out 1939, and directed at European Jews, they school textbooks of their sneak attack on west, a cross-section of Americans of vari- would be engraved in modern memory. Pearl Harbor; the Russians, for glossing ous ages and color. Following the film, the Since they were uttered by one of America’s over the horrific death toll of Stalin’s gu- mood was funereal. As we filed silently founding fathers, however, . . . they conve- lags; and the United States, for reasons from the theater, many wept. One could niently have become lost to most historians mentioned—the list is potentially endless. sense the question that was on everyone’s in their insistent celebration of Jefferson’s One of the most worrisome current exam- mind: “We did that?” I am sure that, for wisdom and humanity.”37 However, let us ples is the growing number of Europeans many, the film was their first confronta- acknowledge that America has never pro- and Americans who say they doubt that tion with this shameful chapter in our na- duced a spotless president and that it is easy the Holocaust really happened during tion’s history and that they had great dif- to cherry pick among the faults of even our WW II. Once considered a harmless part ficulty believing that we as a people, a greatest leaders. My point is not to disparage of the lunatic fringe, Holocaust denial has nation, were capable of such carefully Washington, Jefferson, or Theodore Roos- become an internationally organized planned atrocities. evelt, all of whom I immensely admire and movement and continues to gain adher- Wallowing in shame and remorse is pa- whose insights far exceeded their blind ents.40 thetic, and I am not advocating it. I stand spots, but to suggest that, if men as sagacious To continue with the example of our simply for a truthful accounting of who we as they can harbor such impulses, so, prob- policies toward Native Americans, how are and what we have done because doing ably, can anyone. can we confront the shame of our geno- otherwise is cowardly and dishonest. Fur- Unfortunately, in the current post-9/11 cidal policies toward them? The simplest thermore, I believe that confessions, climate, it has become fashionable to ac- way is to read about them. There is a con- whether or not they may be good for the

80 EXPLORE March 2005, Vol. 1, No. 2 Explorations soul, are certainly good for the future. As 8. Pargament K, Koenig H, Tarakehswar N, MA: Little, Brown and Company; Wilber says, “We will be aware of our Hahn J. Religious struggle as a predictor of 1992:114. shadow or we will beware it”12—and our mortality among medically ill elderly pa- 27. Kingdom Identity Ministries Web site. shadow includes the shameful ways we tients: a two-year longitudinal study. Arch “Children’s Catalog,” White Christian La- have behaved in the past, things we wish Intern Med. 2001;161:1881-1885. dies Only,” and “Dr. Wesley Swift.” Avail- that we could retract. Painful? Of course, 9. Karen R. Shame. Atlantic Monthly. February able at: http://www.kingidentity.com. Ac- 1992. See also: Karen R. Becoming Attached: cessed September 9, 2004. but it is through facing our shame that we First Relationships. New York, NY: Oxford 28. Baumeister RF. Evil: Inside Human Violence may be healed as individuals and as a peo- University Press; 1998. See also: Shame. and Cruelty. San Francisco: W. H. Freeman; ple and be spared the repetition of similar Available at: http://www.marshillaudio.org/ 1999:140. events in the difficult days that lie ahead. resources/topic_detail.asp?IDϭ182. Accessed 29. Muslim Women’s League. Position paper on Santayana’s warning still applies: “Those July 31, 2004. “honor killings.” Available at: http://www. who cannot remember the past are con- 10. O’Connor R. Shame: destructive or use- mwlusa.org/publications/positionpapers/ demned to repeat it.”42 ful? Available at: http:/www.mental- hk.html. April 1999. Accessed September 9, Shame is a chimera. A certain amount health-matters.com/articles/print.php? 2004. of it is valuable for a balanced life, but too artIDϭ117. Accessed July 31, 2004. 30. Verma R. Honor killings on rise in India: much or too little is ruinous. Shame has 11. Twitchell JB. For Shame: The Loss of Com- women’s group. Available at: http:// been virtually tabooed in medicine; how- mon Decency in American Culture. New York, womensissues.about.com/gi/dynamic/ ϭ ever, with the recognition that shame has NY: St. Martin’s Press; 1997. offsite.htm?site http%3A%2F%2Fsouthasia. its own unique physiology and can be le- 12. Wilber K. Boomeritis. Boston, MA: Shamb- oneworld.net%2Farticle%2Fview%2F76542% thal, this is certain to change. Clinical syn- hala; 2002. 2F1%2F. 12 January, 2004. Accessed Septem- 13. Debold E. Boomeritis and me. What Is En- ber 9, 2004. dromes and practices are being recognized lightenment? Fall/Winter 2002;22:55-63. 31. Katz N. Honor killings. Available at: that involve too much shame, such as 14. Lasch C. The Culture of Narcissim. New http://womensissues.about.com/cs/ shame-based religious experience and York, NY: W. W. Norton; 1991. honorkillings/a/honorkillings.htm. No- honor killings, and too little shame, such 15. Davidoff F. Shame: a major reason why vember 4, 2003. Accessed September 9, as sociopathy, criminality, and “boomeri- most medical doctors don’t change their 2004. tis.” As these developments continue, views. Br Med J. 2002;324:623-624. 32. Bravin J. Pentagon report set framework for shame—the elephant in the living room of 16. Johnson S. In: Auden WH, Kronenberger use of torture. The Wall Street Journal. June medicine and society—will hopefully be L, eds. The Viking Book of Aphorisms. New 7, 2004. made visible. York, NY: Barnes & Noble; 1993:35. 33. Lifton RJ. Doctors and torture. N Engl 17. Shaw GB. In: Auden WH, Kronenberger L, J Med. 2004;351(5):415-416. Larry Dossey, MD eds. The Viking Book of Aphorisms. New 34. Schlesinger A Jr. The making of a mess. The Executive Editor York, NY: Barnes & Noble; 1993:125. New York Review. September 23, 2004; 18. Starfield B. Is US health really the best in LI(14)40-43. the world? JAMA. 2000;284:483-485. 35. Utley R, Washburn WE. Indian Wars. New 19. 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Explorations EXPLORE March 2005, Vol. 1, No. 2 81 JOURNAL OF CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY, 15(4),307-3 15 Copyright O 2005, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

Three Rs of Interpersonal Consumer Guilt: Relationship, Reciprocity, Reparation

Darren W. Dahl University of British Columbia Heather Honea Sun Diego Stute University

Rajesh V. Manchanda University of Manitoba

This article explores the role of consumer guilt in a retail context. The results of a field study indicate that a consumer's lack of purchase can lead to a guilt response when social connectedness with a salesperson exists and the consumer perceives he or she has control over the purchase decision. A subsequent laboratory study established that when consumers experience guilt, they intend to pursue reparative actions during future purchase interactions with the salesperson to reciprocate the initial connection they established. This reparation is directed specifically toward the salesperson and not the firm.

Guilt is the negative state that an individual experiences in re- the context of ongoing or intimate relationships (e.g., action to either a positive but undeserved event or a negative Tangney & Dearing, 2002). Although long-term relation- but deserved event (Roseman, 1984). Despite its negative va- ships can exist between buyers and sellers, much of con- lence, guilt is considered a functional emotion, because it sumer activity involves short-term or disconnected interac- informs individuals that they have violated personal or social tions. This research focuses on the possibility that guilt standards and motivates reparative action (Tangney, Miller, reactions emerge in the initial stages of a relationship. To test Flicker, & Barlow, 1996). In a consumption context, guilt has our predictions, we chose a retail purchase context in which been linked to impulsive buying (Rook, 1987), compulsive social interaction between a salesperson and a consumer nat- consumption (O'Guinn & Faber, 1989), and overspending urally occurs. Our predictions were motivated by the as- (Pirisi, 1995). In these instances, intrapersonal concerns spe- sumption that when the interaction with a salesperson estab- cific to the consumption situation can motivate a guilt re- lishes social connectedness, failure to make a purchase sponse. However, consumer guilt is not entirely self-focused. induces guilt. The effects we observed establish the mini- In fact, an interpersonal dimension to consumption-related mum level of social connectedness that is required for rela- guilt has been proposed (e.g., Dahl, Honea, & Manchanda, tionship-motivated guilt to occur and, in so doing, give depth 2003) but has not been experimentally investigated. In this to the interpersonal character of this emotion. In a field study, research we examined the impact of interpersonal consider- we manipulated social connectedness in conjunction with the ations on the elicitation of guilt in a consumption context and perception of personal control over one's purchase behavior tested the role of these considerations on the manner in which and established that perception of control is a necessary con- guilt is resolved. dition for interpersonal guilt to be realized. Research in psychology indicates that interpersonal con- A second goal of this research was to assess the behavioral cerns are key to the experience of guilt (e.g., Tangney, 1991). consequences of interpersonally motivated guilt that is expe- However, these investigations have considered guilt only in rienced in a consumption context. When the expectations of making a purchase are not fulfilled, guilt is likely not only to Requests for reprints should be sent to Darren W. Dahl, Sauder School of motivate reparative consumer actions but also to determine Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia. the type of action taken. This reparation is directed specifi- E-mail: [email protected] cally toward the salesperson (e.g., the amount that consumers 308 DAHL, HONEA, MANCHANDA

would be willing to spend with the salesperson on a subse- experience guilt as a result of a negative action toward a per- quent store visit and the proclivity to recognize the salesperson, even if a relationship with, or strong attachment to, the son by crediting him or her for a sale) and not the firm. Fur- person does not exist (Baumeister, Wotman, & Stillwell, thermore, these reparative actions are driven directly by 1993; Leith & Baumeister, 1998; Levenson & Gottman, feelings of guilt and not by a more general connectedness or 1983; Sommer & Baumeister, 1997). liking for the salesperson. Reciprocity and Purchase GUILT AS A SOCIAL EMOTION Because consumers are generally aware that their patronage is an outcome sought by marketers and salespeople (Friestad Social Appraisal &Wright, 1994), they may consider the act of purchase to be Cognitive theories of emotion identify a particular appraisal normative and, therefore, expected. Consumers generally re- process as responsible for eliciting differentiated emotional act positively to their social interactions with a salesperson reactions. First, an individual determines that an outcome is despite their knowledge of the person's motivation to elicit a relevant to his or her personal well-being (C. A. Smith & purchase. (Campbell & Kirmani, 2000), and so this knowl- Ellsworth, 1987). Then, once relevance is established, an in- edge does not inhibit purchase (Kang & Ridgway, 1996). dividual is motivated to make subsequent appraisals. These This may be because investment in a relationship by a firm appraisals, such as those related to agency, distinguish encourages psychological bonding (J. B. Smith & Barclay, whether circumstance, other people, or oneself is responsible 1997). This bonding, in turn, can create pressure to adhere to for an event and therefore determine what specific emotion is social norms of reciprocity (Bagozzi, 1995; De Wulf, experienced (Roseman, 1984). Odekerken-Schroder, & Iacobucci, 2001). Manstead and Fischer (2001) labeled the aforementioned The normof reciprocity encourages individuals to pay back process classic appraisal. In contrast, they characterized so- in kind what others provide to them (Gouldner, 1960). How- cial appraisal as a process by which an individual not only ever, individuals do not necessarily reciprocate with a re- evaluates an outcome relative to his or her personal sponse that matches initial actions (Cialdini, 1980). When it well-being but also factors into his or her appraisal the comes to reciprocating others' actions, efforts tend to focus on well-being and potential reactions of others. Guilt is likely to meeting the needs of the other, whatever these needs may be result from social appraisal, as it tends to arise when thinking (Clark, 1986).If aconsumer experiences social connectedness about oneself in relation to others (Baumeister, Reis, & through a salesperson's actions, and the social context is a re- Delespaul, 1995). So, if an individual (a) engages in actions tail environment, then theconsumer will feel that the appropri- or inactions that have negative consequences for another and ate response is to reciprocate through purchase. In general, (b) is motivated to consider the impact of such actions based reciprocity can facilitate the development of relationships on a concern for the well-being of that person, guilt will within a dyad (Gross & Latane, 1974; Staub, 1972). At the emerge (Tangney, 1991, 1992). same time, the failure to reciprocate as a means to validate social connectedness by making a purchase will result in dissonance for the consumer (Shumaker & Jackson, 1979). Social Connectedness According to cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, It might seem unlikely that consumers would have significant 1957), a person who has performed a certain behavior will concern for a salesperson's circumstances or outcomes. Over experience cognitive dissonance if the behavior violates a time, of course, consumers do make connections with mar- personal norm or value and if the person feels responsible for keting agents (Bhattacharya, Rao, & Glynn, 1995; Doney & the occurrence of this behavior. Thus, suppose the failure to Cannon, 1997) and form relationships with sellers whom reciprocate one's social connectedness to a salesperson is they value (Dwyer, Schurr, & Oh, 1987). A long history of in- counternormative. If this is so, then a person who has failed teraction or an established relationship, however, may not be to make a purchase should experience dissonance if he or she a requirement for feeling concern for a salesperson in a con- feels socially connected to the salesperson (and, therefore, sumption context. Individuals appear predisposed toward believes that a norm has in fact been violated) and the person adopting a prosocial orientation toward one another. Even has control over the negative purchasing decision. This disso- complete strangers who perceive some small potential for a nance is likely to be expressed in feelings of guilt. (For evi- relationship with one another will interact in a more mutual dence in other areas that individuals experience guilt as a re- or communal manner (Clark, 1986; Howard, Gengler, & sult of failure to reciprocate another's positive behavior, see Jain, 1995). Indeed, a feeling of social connectedness, or an Baumeister et al., 1993.) These considerations suggest the affinity toward another individual that is experienced at the following hypothesis: outset of a relationship, can provide the necessary motivation for concern over the other's well-being. Thus, social H1: Individuals who fail to reciprocate salesperson ac- connectedness may be sufficient to stimulate individuals to tions by making a purchase will feel guilt if (a) they experience social connectedness toward the salesper- money. They were told they could purchase any product son and (b) they have control over their decision not within their $2 budget and that they could keep the product to purchase. and change left over from the transaction. To control for potential order effects in store visitation, participants were ex- This hypothesis was evaluated in Study 1. The effects of plicitly told the order in which to make their initial visits. guilt feelings on purchase behavior were evaluated in Study 2. This instruction was counterbalanced across the two retail locations. Purchase control was manipulated by varying the task in- STUDY 1 structions provided to the participant. In the free-choice condition, participants were told to make a purchase at one of the In Study 1, we explored the possibility of guilt reactions two campus retail locations they visited (the Commerce Con- emerging in response to a lack of purchase in a retail sales nection or the Snack Shop). In the forced-choice condition, context. We tested the importance of social connectedness participants were told that although they would be visiting with a salesperson and an individual's perceived control over both retail locations, they were required to make a purchase purchase in this context. Experimental manipulations were at the Snack Shop. Thus, participants had control over where administered within the framework of participants' visits to they could make their purchase in the free-choice condition two retail stores. Participants were required to visit the retail but not in the forced-choice condition. establishments, make a purchase at one of the establish- To create a situation in which feelings of consumer guilt ments, and then fill out a questionnaire under the guise of re- could be realized, and to ensure an equal comparison be- porting back general store information. tween the two purchase conditions, it was important that participants in the free-choice condition make their purchase at the Snack Shop. To ensure the likelihood of participants Method making this choice, the merchandise available to participants Hypotheses were tested in a 2 x 2 between-subjects experi- at the Commerce Connection was controlled. Five souvenir mental design with social connectedness (low connectedness items (i.e., a poster, bookmark, pen, pin, and postcard) that vs. high connectedness) and purchase control (forced choice had recently been removed from the merchandise selection vs. free choice) as the experimental factors. Participants in because of lack of interest were made available for purchase. the study were 105 Arts and Science undergraduate students. These were the only items at the Commerce Connection that They were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions participants could purchase within their budget. The and received $10 compensation for their participation. undesirability of these items was confirmed in a pretest in which 15 participants were asked to make a purchase deci- Procedure. Participants took part individually and sion between the five Commerce Connection souvenir items were asked to meet the experimenter in the business school and five items under $2 that were available at the Snack building. On arrival, they were told that the study required Shop. All participants selected items that were available at them to act as mystery shoppers at two retail locations in the the Snack Shop. business school (the "Commerce Connection" and the After receiving the initial instructions, participants pro- "Snack Shop") and provide feedback from their shopping exceeded with the assigned task (i.e., store visitations and prod- perience. The Commerce Connection is a general merchan- uct purchase). At this point, the experimenter contacted a dise establishment that carries a variety of student-specific trained confederate through a two-way walkie-talkie to warn products, including apparel, school supplies, and business of the participant's arrival and provide a description of him or school crested souvenirs. The proprietor of the store is the her. This confederate, who assumed the role of an employee Commerce Students' Association, but for the duration of the at the Commerce Connection, was responsible for imple- study the organization ceded control of store operations to menting the social-connectedness manipulation. One man the experimenters and allowed confederates to pose as store and one woman alternated as the confederate. Both confeder- employees. The Snack Shop is a confectionary establishment ates were blind to the experimental hypotheses. providing small meals and snack items such as soda, chips, In the high-connectedness condition, the confederate and chocolate bars. Participants were not business students, greeted the participant on his or her entry into the store and so it was assumed they had not visited these retailers previ- initiated a conversation with the participant. The conversa- ously. (This assumption was confirmed on the basis of partic- tion included the initial greeting, an offer of assistance, an in- ipants' questionnaire responses.) terchange of dialogue, and ended with a statement of thanks Participants were instructed to visit both store locations, when the participant left the store. In the low-connectedness to spend a couple of minutes at each location examining the condition, the confederate did not interact with participants overall retail environment, merchandise, and prices, and then when they visited the store but rather engaged in other work make a purchase. Participants were given $2 to use in making duties (i.e., working the cash register, doing shelf facings, their purchase and were instructed not to use their own etc.). 31 0 DAHL, HONEA, MANCHANDA

After finishing the assigned task, participants completed a Results questionnaire and were debriefed, compensated, and thanked Preliminary analyses. Of the 105 participants who for their participation. took part in the study, 100 successfully completed the assigned task. A further 8 participants were eliminated from the Dependent variables. The questionnaire contained original sample for electing to make their purchase at the the dependent variables of interest as well as questions re- Commerce Connection. The sample used in the analysis pre- garding the store (e.g., ratings of store appearance, merchan- sented consisted of 91 participants (35 men and 56 women). dise selection) to maintain the cover story. To assess the level Cell sizes ranged from 20 to 25. of guilt experienced, three 7-point scale items, ranging from The manipulations were effective: Participants' estimates 1 (no guilt at all/no remorse at alNnot worried about upset- of connectedness were higher when the manipulated level of ting someone) to 7 (a lot of'guilt/a lot of remorse/very wor- connectedness was high (M = 6.03) than when it was low (M ried about upsetting someone) were drawn from previous re- = 1.74), F(l,87) = 306.50, p < .OO 1, and this effect did not de- search and interspersed among a battery of other positively pend on purchase control (p> .lo). Correspondingly, partici- and negatively valenced affect adjectives (Coulter & Pinto, pants' perceptions of control were greater in the free-choice 1995; Jones, Schratter, & Kugler, 2000). Factor analysis indi- condition than in the forced-choice condition (4.94 vs. 2.61, cated these three items loaded together, and thus they were respectively), F(1, 86) = 42.86, p < ,001, and this effect did averaged to form an overall guilt index (a= .78).' Immedi- not depend on connectedness 0, > .lo). ately after the affect ratings, participants were asked to explain what had caused their feelings during the shopping experience. Two research assistants, blind to the hypotheses, Test of hypotheses. Hypothesis 1 predicted that indi- coded these responses for an indication that a lack of pur- viduals who fail to reciprocate a salesperson's actions through chase at the Commerce Connection fostered their feelings (1 purchase would feel guilty if they experienced social con- = yes, 0 = no). Initial agreement between the coders was nectedness toward the salesperson and had control over the 91.2 1%, and disagreements were resolved through discus- purchase decision. Participants reported feeling more guilty sion with one of the authors. when they experienced social connectedness (M = 2.54) than After completing these measures, participants responded when they did not (M = 1.87),F(l,87) = 8.59,~< .Ol. As pre- to a manipulation check for social connectedness by evalu- dicted, however, participants who experienced both high so- ating the level of relationship that the salesperson started to cial connectedness and free choice of where to make a pur- establish, from 1 (did not form relationship) to 7 (did form chase reported feeling more guilt (M = 3.07) than participants relationship), and the friendliness of the salesperson, from in any of the otherconditions (allps < .05), which did not differ 1 (not at all friendly) to 7 (very friendly), r(91) = .80, p < from one another (high-connectedness-forced-choice M = .001. To assess the purchase control manipulation, they in- 2.09, low-connectedness-free-choice M = 1.86, low-connec- dicated how much choice they had in their purchase deci- tedness-forced-choice M = 2.09; all ps > .lo). This pattern is sion, from 1 (no choice at all) to 7 (complete choice), free- supported by an interaction effect of purchase control and so- dom over where to make a purchase, from 1 (no freedom at cial connectedness, F(1, 87) = 4.31, p < .05. all) to 7 (complete freedom), and how restricted they felt in We assumed that the guilt response realized through the making their purchase, from 1 (not restricted at all) to 7 manipulation of social connectedness and control should be a (completely restricted), reverse scored; a = 32). All manip- direct result of not making a purchase at the Commerce Con- ulation check measures were assessed with 7-point scales. nection. Supporting this prediction, participants in the Participants also indicated their gender, age, student status, high-connectedness-free-choice condition were signifi- and whether they had been to the store on a previous occa- cantly more likely to indicate that their lack of purchase was sion, and they completed a suspicion probe. Responses to responsible for their emotional response, x2(1, 1) = 23.27,~< demographic items had no effect on the results reported in .001. We expected that this identification of purchase failure either this study or the subsequent study and are not dis- would mediate the effect of social connectedness and per- cussed further. None of the participants indicated that they ceived control on the elicitation of guilt. In fact, when this re- had visited the Commerce Connection on a previous occa- sponse variable was used as a covariate in the initial analysis, sion. Finally, the suspicion probe indicated that 1 partici- the previously significant interaction between the two ma- pant successfully identified the experimental hypotheses, so nipulated factors disappeared (p> .lo). It is important to note this individual's data were excluded from the subsequent that the proportion of variance (w2) accounted for by the in- analysis. teraction effect was reduced from 3.2% to 0.0%. Further- more, the purchase failure covariate was shown to be significant, F(1, 86) = 14.00, p < .001, and accounted for 10.9% of 'The other affect items loaded onto a positive affect factor and an anxiety the variance. Thus, a failure to meet the expectation of pur- factor. Analysis using these measures as dependent variables did not show chase mediates the effect of social connectedness and per- significant effects of the manipulated factors (all ps > .lo). ceived control on the elicitation of guilt. We conducted additional analyses to check for any sys- that benefit the firm itself (e.g., revisiting the store) may not tematic influence of the confederate's gender and the order of be affected. store visitation. No effects involving these variables were significant (all ps > .lo). H2: Individuals who experience social connectedness toward a salesperson but fail to make a purchase will later pursue reparative actions that benefit the sales- Discussion person but will not necessarily pursue actions that Study I indicates that something as simple as social interac- benefit the firm alone. Feelings of guilt will mediate tion serves to generate connectedness toward a salesperson the former actions but not the latter. that can pressure the consumer to "appropriately" reciprocate the salesperson's actions. Our results show that if an individ- Method ual has control in a purchase situation and does not reciprocate positive salesperson interaction by making a purchase, Participants in the study were 46 male and 57 female under- then a guilt response is realized. Finally, in the absence of so- graduate students randomly assigned to each condition of a 2 cial connectedness, no norm of reciprocity is violated, and (social connectedness: high vs. low) x 2 (purchase incidence: therefore feelings of guilt are not identified. purchase vs. no purchase) design. The students received $10 for their participation.

STUDY 2 Procedure. Participants were asked to read a scenario describing a hypothetical purchase experience. They were The mediation analysis conducted in Study 1 indicated that a told that the purpose of the study was to better understand self-reported lack of purchase in the retail context was the consumers' thoughts and feelings in everyday retail shopping central factor in the elicitation of interpersonal guilt. In Study situations and that the scenario was meant to facilitate this 2 we sought to strengthen this conclusion by manipulating goal. Participants were instructed to read through the sce- purchase incidence. If a purchase is the normatively appro- nario line by line and take time after each line to close their priate response to actions that create social connectedness, eyes and imagine in detail each of the events as if they were then it should prevent feelings of guilt from occurring. Study actually happening to them. 2 confirmed this hypothesis. The scenario described a trip to a local mall. Participants In Study 2 we also examined the reparative actions that are were asked to imagine they had planned to go shopping be- likely to occur when a consumer fails to make an initial pur- cause they were in need of some new clothing and had set chase and this failure elicits guilt. Because feelings of guilt aside some funds for a shopping trip. The scenario asked par- are aversive, they are likely to motivate individuals to elimi- ticipants to imagine that during their trip they wandered into nate the conditions that gave rise to them (Campos & Barrett, a new store in the mall and looked around and examined the 1985; Keltner & Kring, 1998). The resolution of interper- merchandise in the store. Social connectedness was manipu- sonal guilt is often accompanied by a correction of any im- lated by providing different descriptions of the interaction balances or inequities that have been created between the shared with the retail salesperson in that store. In the parties involved (Hassebrauck, 1986). In the retail context high-connectedness condition, participants were given infor- that we examined, the failure to reciprocate by making an ini- mation about the salesperson (e.g., well dressed) and were tial purchase may become an outstanding debt that demands told to imagine the salesperson greeted them, had an interac- some form of reparative behavior (Uehara 1995). It is impor- tion with them through friendly conversation, and said good- tant to note that this behavior is theoretically driven by guilt bye when they left the store. In the low-connectedness condi- and the need to reciprocate rather than by simply liking for tion, however, there was no indication of interaction with the the salesperson. salesperson. Participants only received information about the When guilt results from a failure to reciprocate social salesperson and the salesperson's activities (e.g., well connectedness, the reparative actions it motivates should be dressed and working at the register). directed toward enhancing the personal relationship with the The purchase incidence manipulation was related by vary- individual with whom the connection is established ing the purchase incidence within the scenario. In the pur- (Baumeister, Stillwell, & Heatherton, 1994). That is, actions chase condition, participants imagined that they made a pur- that do not provide a specific benefit to the salesperson will chase at the retail location. In the no-purchase condition, not alleviate the guilt (Gouldner, 1960), as they would not en- participants imagined that they did not make a purchase. hance the relationship with this person. Thus, the resolution After reading and visualizing the scenario, participants of guilt should manifest itself in the form of future purchase completed a short questionnaire containing the dependent behaviors that benefit the sales agent (e.g., spending more measures. The first part of the questionnaire contained the with the salesperson, offering the salesperson credit for fu- same battery of affect items used in Study 1, including three ture store purchases, etc.). However, nonreparative behaviors items pertaining to guilt. Responses to these items were aver- 31 2 DAHL, HONEA, MANCHANDA aged to provide a single index of this em~tion.~Participants TABLE 1 then indicated their likelihood of future purchase on two Guilt Feelings and Future Behavior as a Function of Social Connectedness 7-point scales ranging from 1 (not very likely to shop there and Purchase Behavior: Study 2 again/definitely not shop there again) to 7 (very likely to shop there agaiddefinitely shop there again), r(102) = 22, p < Variable and Condition No Purchase Purchase ,001, and estimated the dollar amount they would spend with Guilt index the salesperson if they visited the store again. They also were Low social connectedness 2.21, 1.58, asked to rate, on a 7-point scale ranging from 1 (very un- High social connectedness 3.75b 2.04, likely) to 7 (very likely), how likely they would be to credit Dollar amount for future purchase Low social connectedness 46.67, 50.96, the initial salesperson for subsequent purchases in the store. High social connectedness 67.89h 52.67, Finally, participants were asked to rate, using a series of Sales credit for salesperson 7-point scales ranging from 1 (not at all) to 7 (very much so), Low social connectedness 2.33, 2.07, what would motivate their future purchase behavior at the High social connectedness 4.17b 2.43, store. Items included good service, need to reciprocate, pre- Future purchase likelihood Low social connectedness 5.09, 5.06, vious shopping success, and future purchase needs. High social connectedness 5.67h 5.45b Manipulation checks included the social connectedness Need to reciprocate measures from Study 1, r(103)= .73,p < .001, and a question Low social connectedness 3.08, 3.19, regarding whether the scenario indicated a store purchase. A High social connectedness 5.21b 3.56, question that confirmed the ability of participants to imagine Nore. For each measure, overall cell means with unlike subscripts are the scenario and a suspicion probe revealing that they had no significantly different at p c .05. awareness of the experimental hypotheses concluded the questionnaire. Future purchase intentions toward the salesperson. Results According to Hypothesis 2, individuals who experienced social connectedness toward a salesperson and did not make a Preliminary analyses. Our manipulations were effec- purchase should pursue reparative actions specific to the tive: Participants' estimates of connectedness were higher salesperson. The results summarized in Table 1 confirmed when the manipulated level of social connectedness was high this expectation. Indeed, the effects of connectedness and (M = 5.54) than when it was low (M = 3.63), F(l,99)= 78.71, past purchase behavior had significant interactive effects on p < ,001. Furthermore, 94% of the participants correctly participants' estimates of their need to reciprocate, F(1,98) = identified the incidence of purchase within the scenario, ~2(3, 7.41, p < -01;the money they imagined spending on a future N = 103) = 78.82, p < ,001. purchase from the salesperson, F(l,99)= 5.1 1, p < .05; and the likelihood of giving credit to the salesperson for such a Guilt feelings. Participants imagined feeling more purchase, F(1,85) = 3.68,~< .05. As the data in Table 1 indi- guilt if they failed to make a purchase (M = 2.98) than if they cate, these estimates were invariably greater when the sales- made one (M = 1.81), F(1, 99) = 33.32, p < ,001. Further- person had ostensibly established a social connection but more, they reported more guilt if they experienced social participants failed to make a purchase than they were in any connectedness with the salesperson (M = 2.83) than if they other condition, whereas the other conditions did not signifi- did not (M = 1.88), F(l,99)= 24.22, p < .001. However, par- cantly differ. Thus, it was not connectedness or liking of the ticipants imagined feeling guilty only if the salesperson es- salesperson per se that motivated participants' actions, but tablished high connectedness but they did not make a pur- rather the need to reciprocate given the lack of initial chase (M = 3.75). As the data in Table 1 indicate, the guilt purchase. imagined by these individuals was significantly greater than that imagined by participants under any of the other three combinations of connectedness and purchase behavior, Future purchase intentions toward the firm. Partic- which did not differ from one another. The interaction of ipants' reactions to the firm, in contrast to their reactions to connectedness and purchase behavior was significant, F(1, the salesperson per se, were not a function of their past pur- 99) = 7.16,~< .0l. chase behavior. Participants estimated a greater likelihood of making a future purchase if they were socially connected than if they were not (Ms = 5.57 vs. 5.07), F(l,98) = 4.70,~< .05, and this difference did not depend on whether they imag- 2As in Study I, a factor analysis of these items yielded three factors per- ined making a prior purchase (Ms = 5.45 vs. 5.06) or not (Ms taining to guilt, positive affect, and anxiety. Analyses of these latter emotions = 5.67 vs. 5.09; F< 1). Thus, their future behavior was appar- as a function of experimental manipulations indicated that people imagined experiencing more positive affect if they made a purchase than if they did not ently targeted at the firm more generally (i.e., future purchase @ < .05). No other significant effects on either emotion were evident. likelihood is not specific to the salesperson) and did not show THREE Rs OF INTERPERSONAL CONSUMER GUILT 31 3 evidence of being mediated by reparative motivation.' In- tentions regarding future behaviors that would benefit the stead, participants who experienced social connectedness in- firm in general. However, the negative emotions that result dicated that good service would motivate their future pur- from the failure to comply with social-connectedness norms chase actions (Ms = 6.00 vs. 5.43), F(1, 99) = 5.34, p < .05. motivated only very specific agent-focused future purchase No effects were noted for the other motivation measures. activity. Our findings, however, should be interpreted with some caution given that participants were asked to imagine Guilt as a mediator. Hypothesis 2 also predicted that the salesperson interaction and report intended versus actual feelings of guilt would mediate the effect of social con- future behaviors. nectedness and failure to purchase on the reparative actions of the consumer. As noted earlier, the manipulated factors significantly interacted to influence both feelings of guilt and GENERAL DISCUSSION future behavior intentions that included the need to reciprocate, assigning purchase credit, and dollar amount spent with This research represents one of the first attempts to consider the salesperson. When guilt was inserted as a covariate into guilt in the context of more formative relational dynamics the analyses for these future intentions, the previously signif- that characterize many consumption situations. Our results icant interaction terms fell from significance: need to recip- indicate that a consumer's failure to make a purchase can lead rocate, F(1, 97) = 3.18, p > .05; purchase credit interaction, to feelings of guilt when social connectedness with a sales- F(1,98) = 2.54, p > .lo; dollar amount interaction, F(l,84) = person exists, and this is particularly true when consumers 1.66, p > .lo. Thus, the proportion of variance (x2) accounted perceive they have control in the purchase context. Finally, in for by the significant interaction term was reduced in each the retail setting we considered, we established that consum- analysis from 4.8% to 1.5%, 3.3% to 1.2%, and 2.8% to ers who imagine experiencing guilt believe they would en- 0.6%, respectively. Furthermore, the guilt covariate was gage in reparative actions during future purchase interactions shown to be significant in the analyses: need to reciprocate with the salesperson. covariate, F(l,97) = 17.08,p < .001, x2= . 1 1; purchase credit Our findings suggest some interesting interpersonal ex- covariate, F(1, 98) = 6.21, p < .05, ~2 = .04; dollar amount tensions to appraisal-based explanations of emotional re- covariate, F(1, 84) = 7.53, p < .01, ~2 = .06. Thus, H2 was sponse. We find that even newly developed social con- supported. nectedness can produce the motivation to assess others' well-being as well as one's own. This motivation orients the consumer to be responsive to the needs of a salesperson, Discussion whatever those needs might be. In the retail situation we Study 2 confirmed our expectation that failure to purchase studied, it generates an obligation to purchase that, when dis- produces a guilt response when individuals are socially con- regarded, generates guilt. Thus, something as simple as a nected to a salesperson. The results also show that the resolu- brief positive social interaction can orient individuals toward tion of interpersonally motivated guilt manifests itself in re- prosocial action in a consumption context, and this response lationship-enhancing behavior as guided by the consumption may be quite dissimilar to the action that initiated it. context; namely, guilt drives reparative intentions such as fu- The reparative actions that consumers take when they ex- ture spending with or crediting the retail salesperson in sub- perience guilt in a retail setting appear to be targeted at the sequent purchase situations. Participants' reparative actions salesperson alone. In contrast, although participants' imag- after experiencing guilt seemed to work toward achieving ined social connectedness with the salesperson increased balance in their relationship with the salesperson as opposed their belief that they would make a future purchase in gen- to engaging in a more general act (i.e., future purchase inten- eral, this effect occurred independently of the effects of the tions) that would benefit the firm alone. guilt they imagined having as a result of failing to make a We also found support for the general notion that social purchase initially. The distinction between the determinants connectedness motivates future purchase intentions regard- of reactions to a salesperson and reactions to a store in gen- less of previous purchase actions. The process of establishing eral has rarely been articulated in previous research and rep- a social connection with a salesperson appeared to induce resents a unique and interesting finding. perceptions of good service. Consequently, it increased in- Future research opportunities are motivated by the limitations inherent in our experimental context, methods, and populations. As noted previously, conclusions drawn on the ?To ensure the integrity of our reparative findings, we reexamined the fu- basis of imagined events must be treated with caution; the ac- ture dollar amount and salesperson-credit questions using a subsample of tions that people imagine they would take are not always an participants who had indicated a likelihood of future purchase (i.e., those indication of their actual behavior. An opportunity for future who scored at or above the scale midpoint). Using this criterion, 93.1% of research lies in assessing actual reciprocal behavior moti- the original participant sample was retained in the subsample. Our results using this subsample remained significant and replicated the reported mean vated by guilt in a real world context. Second, Study 1 did not patterns found in the full sample. permit us to determine whether the perception of control over 3 1 4 DAHL, HONEA, MANCHANDA one's failure to make a purchase serves to alleviate guilt once Cialdini, R. B. (1980). Full-cycle social psychology. Applied Social Psy- it has occurred or whether it prevents guilt from being experi- chology Annual, 1, 2147. Clark, M. S. (1986). Evidence for the effectiveness of manipulations of com- enced in the first place. Finally, it would be desirable to ex- munal and exchange relationships. Personality and Social Psychology plore the long-term consequences of guilt. 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Cornelia Pechmann and Jesse R Catlin

Advertisements and other marketing communications the present into how advertising and other related mar-

extensively discuss food and nutrition, tobacco, alcohol, and keting communications can affect consumer health, and

prescription drugs. In addition to mass media advertising and secondly, highlight theoretically interesting and substan-

public service announcements (PSAs), messages are placed tively important ﬁndings. In this review, we examine

on product labels and in television shows and social media. traditional mass media advertising as well as PSAs and

Research indicates that these health-related communications messages on product labels and in television shows and

can have signiﬁcant and measurable effects on consumer social media.

cognitions, emotions, and behaviors. Some messages

enhance health by discouraging unhealthy or risky Our review of the literature on advertising, marketing

consumption; others do the opposite. While many messages communications, and health in the top journals in mar-

have their intended effects, other messages are discounted or keting, psychology and health communication identiﬁed

even counterproductive. The speciﬁc effects often depend on three major areas of inquiry: ﬁrstly, food and nutrition,

message content and/or execution in combination with secondly, tobacco and alcohol, and thirdly, direct-to-con-

consumer characteristics. Therefore, it is important to tailor the sumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs. Research-

communications to the target consumers, and to test for ers have studied these topics using various methods

intended and unintended effects. including experiments, surveys, content analyses, sec-

Addresses ondary data, in-depth interviews and neuroscience; and

The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine, we will review the main ﬁndings below.

Irvine, CA 92697-3125, USA

College of Business Administration, California State University,

Sacramento 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819-6088, USA Food and nutrition advertising

How food and nutrition advertising and related marketing

Corresponding author: Pechmann, Cornelia ([email protected])

communications affect eating has been, and continues to

3 be, a popular research area. The speciﬁc topics that have

The authors contributed equally to this manuscript.

been studied extensively in recent years include: ﬁrstly,

consumer responses to food-related advertising and prod-

Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 10:44–49 uct labeling, secondly, individual differences in consumer

This review comes from a themed issue on Consumer behavior response, and thirdly, how children respond.

Edited by Jeff Joireman and Kristina M Durante

Many studies have examined how consumers respond to

For a complete overview see the Issue and the Editorial

functional food ad claims, for example, claims about a

Available online 15th December 2015

food’s physiological or drug-like effects. One study in-

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2015.12.008 vestigated exposure to a medical article questioning

ingredient (e.g. ‘‘contains lignans, fuel to boost your

immune system’’). Results suggest that when consumers

saw the medical article casting doubt on the functional

food claim, those with lower levels of health conscious-

ness (i.e. who viewed food ingredients as personally less

Research on how product advertising, public service relevant) exhibited a lower likelihood of choosing the

announcements (PSAs), and related marketing commu- product, but those with higher levels of health conscious-

nications may inﬂuence consumers and their health has ness continued to express interest in the product [4].

long been of interest to scholars from numerous disci- Another study found that functional health claims for an

plines [1–3]. Unifying theories remain elusive, but re- otherwise unhealthy food (e.g. high antioxidants in a

search has provided many important insights about how chocolate bar) failed to promote consumption of the food.

advertising and other marketing communications are These claims had strong health connotations, increased

used and how they may affect consumer health and health goal salience, thereby increased goal conﬂict due to

well-being. the indulgent nature of the food, and actually reduced

consumption of the food [5]. In contrast, hedonic health

The two main goals of this review paper are to: ﬁrstly, claims (e.g. low fat in a chocolate bar) did promote

assess the contemporary state of inquiry from 2009 to consumption. These claims had strong taste connotations,

Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 10:44–49 www.sciencedirect.com

Marketing communications and health-related behaviors Pechmann and Catlin 45

reduced health goal salience, lowered goal conﬂict, and program was undermined by the use of thin rather than

increased consumption of the food. normal sized models in the program materials [15]. A

different study found that both older and less educated

Other researchers investigated the effects of labeling consumers were more likely to recall ads about increasing

unhealthy food items on restaurant menus, as well as physical activity [13].

the effects of price surcharges for such items [6 ].

Employing either approach alone did not deter demand Research also suggests that response to food and nutrition

for the unhealthy food items, but combining the two advertising relates to consumers’ salient motivations. One

approaches worked. Also, a study about using nutritional study found that intent to purchase organic foods was

facts to deter unhealthy food consumption found it was related to altruistic motives such as being environmental-

beneﬁcial to use reference points, for example, to highly friendly, not just egoistic motives such as nutritional

light that a product had 10 g of fat compared to the value [14 ]. Hence an egoistic appeal alone was less

standard 30 g, versus simply stating it had 10 g of fat effective, relative to a combined egoistic and altruistic

[7]. Other researchers found that even seemingly unre- appeal or an altruistic appeal alone.

lated positive information about a food manufacturer’s

corporate social responsibility can create a ‘‘health halo’’ Due to ongoing concerns about childhood obesity, a

that can decrease estimates of their products’ calorie number of studies have sought to better understand

content and can increase consumption of their products the factors inﬂuencing children’s nutritional choices.

[8 ]. One study found that promotional materials that

highlighted that a healthy kid’s meal came with a toy

Very simple package icons or visual symbols can also increased its choice share, but only when the unhealthy

affect food consumption. One study compared two icon alternative meal did not include a toy [16]. Another study

approaches (Smart Choices versus Trafﬁc Light Guide- found that materials depicting overweight (versus normal

line Daily Amounts) and found that the less visually weight) cartoon characters activated an overweight ste-

complex approach (Smart Choices) tended to result in reotype and increased children’s food intake [17 ].

nutritional evaluations that were overly positive [9]. Also

research conducted in a retail setting found that consu- A study on food PSAs for children found that, to promote

mers with low (versus high) levels of self-control beneﬁt- fruit eating, PSAs were more effective when they used

ted the most from trafﬁc-light styled icons on food gain frames about the positive beneﬁts of consuming

packages, in terms of resisting unhealthy food purchases more, rather than loss frames about the negative conse-

[10 ]. quences of consuming less; and when they used afﬁrma-

tion rather than negation language, for example, ‘‘more

Researchers have also investigated how individual dif- healthy’’ as compared to ‘‘more unhealthy’’ [18]. How-

ferences can impact consumers’ interpretation of and ever, the opposite effects were found for PSAs to discour-

response to nutrition-related labeling and advertising. age unhealthy lollipop eating. Also older children were

One study found that consumers with a French cultural more affected by these linguistic variations. In different

mindset, a mindset that focuses on food enjoyment, work involving ﬁeld studies at schools, pledges, incen-

evaluated foods that provided nutritional information tives, and competitions were found to encourage children

less favorably and as posing more health risks, apparently to eat healthier; however, competitions and incentives

due to cultural incongruence. These effects were not were better for younger than older children [19]. Yet

found for consumers with an American cultural mindset another study found that a Canadian ban on ads directly

[11 ]. aimed at children (food or otherwise) was found to be

related to less fast food consumption [20].

Another study found that response to advertising for a

weight management program was inﬂuenced by consu- Tobacco and alcohol advertising

mers’ temporal orientation and whether their prevention Tobacco-related and alcohol-related advertising and re-

or promotion focus matched the goal pursuit strategy lated marketing communications have been studied ex-

featured in the ad [12]. For instance, among promotion- tensively for decades, including both messages to

focused college students, that is, those who were motivat- encourage and discourage use [1,21]. This research con-

ed to achieve positive outcomes, an ad highlighting an tinues and, recently, much of it has focused on these

eager goal pursuit strategy such as ‘‘seek healthy foods’’ topics: ﬁrstly, how product advertising affects overall

was more effective than one with a vigilant strategy such as product consumption, secondly, current pro-use and an-

‘‘avoid unhealthy foods’’. This differential response was ti-use advertising themes and trends, thirdly, what fea-

strongest among students whose temporal orientation tures of PSAs may enhance their efﬁcacy, fourthly,

was to avoid considering the future consequences of tobacco and alcohol messages in TV shows and social

their actions. An additional study on weight management media, and ﬁfthly, new research methods for studying

found that consumers’ motivation to participate in a diet advertising effects.

www.sciencedirect.com Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 10:44–49

46 Consumer behavior

Regarding advertising and consumption, a recent meta- Recent studies of PSAs have also examined fear appeals,

analysis found that cigarette advertising had the strongest and have found evidence that fear works. For example,

effect on brand loyalty and switching, followed by smok- fear-evoking anti-drinking PSAs caused avoidance of pro-

ing initiation, and ﬁnally smoking continuation, though all drinking product ads [33]. Also fetal alcohol syndrome

effects were statistically signiﬁcant [22]. Unexpectedly, PSAs that used a loss (versus gain) frame and exemplars

effects were stronger among adults than children. A (versus statistics) increased risk severity perceptions by

different study found that cigarette advertising increased evoking fear [34]. Graphic visual health warnings on

children’s perceptions of smoking prevalence [23]. Spe- cigarette packages increased negative health beliefs

ciﬁcally, a greater number of children overestimated and quitting thoughts among young smokers by evoking

smoking prevalence in the USA than Finland despite fear, except among the youth who smoked the most

Finland’s actual prevalence being double, and this was [35 ]. Graphic visual health warnings on cigarette

attributed to cigarette advertising in the USA versus an packages (versus less graphic ones) elicited fear among

advertising ban in Finland. Moreover, prevalence percep- adult smokers and increased their quitting intentions,

tions were positively related to smoking intention. despite lowering recall of the adjacent verbal warnings

[36].

Research on cigarette advertising themes found changes

since the 1998 US Master Settlement Agreement, in Shame and guilt were also found to be powerful emotions

which US tobacco ﬁrms agreed to modify their advertising in PSAs. In anti-drinking PSAs [37], eliciting guilt and

to address concerns about youth targeting and other stressing gains from drinking responsibly led to problem-

issues. Since that time, in cigarette advertising, problem- focused coping, for example, making action plans to avoid

atic increases have been observed in sexually explicit drinking. In contrast, eliciting shame and stressing losses

imagery [24], implicit health and ‘‘light’’ product mes- from not drinking led to emotion-focused coping, for

sages, and overt smoking in ads [25]. More recently, US example, delving into one’s feelings about avoiding

tobacco companies were mandated by the courts to run drinking. Either approach lowered drinking intent and

corrective PSAs to combat their prior misinformation the time spent viewing pro-drinking ads [37]. If people

about smoking and health, and these PSAs were found were already experiencing guilt or shame, however, evok-

to correct the targeted health beliefs despite positive ad ing more of it in anti-drinking PSAs boomeranged and

visuals [26]. However, a different study found that iden- raised alcohol consumption [38].

tifying a tobacco company as the sponsor of an antismok-

ing PSA lowered the PSA’s credibility; and also its Research on an antismoking TV show that was created for

perceived efﬁcacy unless it contained a strong health youth found that the show was effective because it

message [27]. showed overt social disapproval of smoking which offset

the background visuals of attractive youths smoking [39].

Antismoking PSA themes have also changed over time; However, revealing at the end that the TV show’s sponsor

there has been an increased focus on youth rather than was an anti-tobacco health organization caused a boomer-

adult smoking and a heightened emphasis on disclosing ang or backlash among smokers. Research on a TV series

tobacco industry manipulation of consumers [28]. In the that depicted both the positive and negative conse-

alcohol arena, recent research found ethnic targeting by quences of alcohol use (e.g. having fun but getting a

alcohol companies but not by health promotion groups; hangover) found that more exposure to the series was

namely newspapers targeting a black versus general mar- associated with more negative alcohol perceptions, while

ket audience had more alcohol ads but fewer alcohol and more connectedness to the series was associated with

tobacco PSAs [29]. more positive alcohol perceptions [40]. Work on social

media found that an email with a link to an antismoking

Substantial research has focused on factors that may ad resulted in weeks of viral dissemination, especially if

inﬂuence PSA efﬁcacy. Overall, anti-use PSAs pose a the antismoking ad was humorous [41].

challenge because words that are negations (e.g. non-

smoker, nondrinker) are harder to learn and remember Behavioral neuroscience, and fMRI speciﬁcally, are just

than afﬁrmations (e.g. smoker, drinker) [30]. Effective starting to be used in studies of health-related advertising.

PSAs can be created, but different approaches may be One recent study tested ads to promote a smoking quit-

needed for product users and nonusers. A recent study of line and found that neural response in the prefrontal

antismoking PSAs found that nonsmokers were inﬂu- cortex predicted quitline calls while self-reported percep-

enced primarily by whether they liked the PSAs while tions of ad efﬁcacy did not predict calls [42].

smokers were inﬂuenced primarily by the strength of the

arguments made in the PSAs [31]. Also, because smokers Direct-to-consumer prescription drug

tended to have an independent (versus interdependent) advertising

self-construal, they were more persuaded by self-referring Direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug advertising

(versus other-referring) PSAs [32]. also continues to be a major topic of debate and inquiry.

Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 10:44–49 www.sciencedirect.com

Marketing communications and health-related behaviors Pechmann and Catlin 47

Recent studies have generally fallen into one of three is critically important. Also, because ads can have unin-

categories: ﬁrstly, the effects of DTC advertising on tended effects, testing ads seems highly advisable.

consumers, secondly, individual differences in consumer

response, and thirdly, the content of DTC advertising and Conﬂicts of interest

trends. Nothing declared.

Beginning with DTC ad effects on consumers, it is clear

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www.sciencedirect.com Current Opinion in Psychology 2016, 10:44–49 Midwifery 40 (2016) 49–54

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Midwifery

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/midw

Sympathy, shame, and few solutions: News media portrayals of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

Ines Eguiagaray, MA (Consultant)a,b,1, Brett Scholz, PhD (Postdoctoral Research Fellow)c,n,1, Caterina Giorgi, BSci(Hons) (Director of Policy and Research)d a Australian National Internships Program, The Australian National University, ACT, Australia b Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, United Kingdom c SYNERGY Nursing and Midwifery Research Centre, The University of Canberra and ACT Health, The Canberra Hospital, Garran, ACT 2605, Australia d Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, PO Box 19, Deakin West ACT 2600, Australia article info abstract

Article history: Objective: there is a lack of public understanding about fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD), and Received 25 August 2015 many countries lack policies to deal with FASD concerns. Given the role of news media in disseminating a Received in revised form range of health information, the aim of the current study was to explore the media coverage on alcohol 23 May 2016 use during pregnancy and FASD, and to identify ways to improve associated health messages. Accepted 3 June 2016 Design: the current study uses a framing analysis of news media reports about FASD over a 1-year period. Framing analysis seeks to better understand how media messages serve to shape the thoughts, feelings, Keywords: and decisions of readers. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Findings: two frames dominated the media coverage of FASD: a frame of sympathy, and a frame of Alcohol shame. Some news media encouraged feelings of sympathy for children with FASD, while others en- Pregnancy couraged sympathy towards mothers of these children. At the same time, mothers were also portrayed as News media Framing analysis deserving of shame. Key conclusions: the interrelated frames of sympathy and shame may confuse readers, as they inconsistently hold different parties responsible for the impact of FASD. Media portrayals that encourage women to refrain from alcohol consumption during pregnancy might be more useful than stigmatising and isolating those who do. Implications for practice: practitioners should be aware that conﬂicting messages about alcohol consumption during pregnancy might lead to shame and confusion, and should encourage openness with mothers to challenge stigma. Guidelines for media reporting should discourage stigmatising frames, and media articles should also consider the role that government, non-government organisations, and the alcohol industry could play for improving FASD shame. & 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Introduction learning disabilities, poor impulse control, poor memory and concentration, inability to understand or learn social mores and The consumption of alcohol during pregnancy is one of the consequences, no empathy, poor gross and fine motor skills or in- leading preventable causes of non-genetic birth defects and inability to grasp abstract concepts such as numbers (Drug Education tellectual disabilities around the world (O’Leary, 2002). The most Network Inc., 2011). common official recommendation to pregnant women about FASD ranges in diversity from the full presentation of fetal alcohol is that of abstinence to reduce risk of fetal alcohol spectrum alcohol syndrome (FAS), involving a characteristic set of facial disorders (FASD) (Carson et al., 2010). FASD is a non-diagnostic term features combined with growth and neurocognitive deficits, to a for the range of disabilities that result from alcohol exposure in- range of conditions (namely partial fetal alcohol syndrome, alco- utero (Barr and Streissguth, 2001). Primary disabilities resulting hol-related neurodevelopmental disorder and alcohol-related from FASD are correlated to underlying brain damage and include birth defects) affecting the neurobehavioural presentations of the condition without all these physical features (Mukherjee et al., 2006; Nguyen et al., 2011). However, children affected by alcohol n Corresponding author. E-mail address: [email protected] (B. Scholz). who do not have distinctive characteristics are often more 1 These authors contributed equally to the preparation of this manuscript. vulnerable to secondary disabilities, given they are unlikely to be http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2016.06.002 0266-6138/& 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 50 I. Eguiagaray et al. / Midwifery 40 (2016) 49–54 diagnosed and will be subject to standard social and academic of alcohol consumption (Muggli et al., 2015). It seems that more expectations they cannot manage (House of Representatives information could be provided, for instance, in school, public Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, 2012). health campaigns, or traditional media. Some of the problems faced by these individuals include school Particularly important is the role of the media in commu- absenteeism, alcohol and drug problems and interaction with the nicating such information. From a public health perspective, media criminal justice system, to name a few (HRSCSPLA, 2012). As a reporting is important to study because of the ways the media result, the majority of adults with FASD are unable to live in- reflects and interacts with the public's understanding of a health dependently and/or have productive lives (Streissguth et al., 2004). issue, playing a key role in setting public agendas and shaping The burden of FASD impacts not just those living with it, but attitudes and behaviours (Lyons, 2000; McCombs and Shaw, 1993). also families, local communities and the wider society. It is difficult There is also a concern that media reporting can be problematic to make a reasonable assessment of the economic impact of FASD. because it could be inaccurate, or even harmful to the health of the The economic burden of each individual with FASD has been said public (International Doctors for Healthy Drug Policies, 2013). to be between US$1 and US$5 million for health problems, special Inaccuracies in media portrayals of health matters include education, psychotherapy and counselling, welfare, crime, and the skewing coverage towards diseases that affect large numbers of criminal justice system (Substance Abuse and Mental Health Ad- people (Klaidman, 1990), a superficial reporting of health issues ministration, 2003, 2013). This is potentially a substantial under- (Meyer, 1990), misunderstanding scientific findings of studies estimate given that, for example, some studies include the cost of (Moyer et al., 1995) and stimulating unrealistic fears of illness or fetal alcohol syndrome only, and others do not include costs such health problems (Meyer, 1990). Such problems have considerable as time lost from work, the burden on families, and costs resulting implications, including questions, which have yet to be answered, from poor quality of life of those with FASD. about how such biases might affect public perception of health There are no reliable global figures for the prevalence of FASD. issues such as alcohol consumption during pregnancy and FASD. A recent study suggests that prevalence rates of FAS may be as Given that little is known about the depiction of FASD in the high as 12% in remote Australian communities with high rates of media, this study will focus on the dominant messages of media alcohol exposure in utero (Fitzpatrick et al., 2015), with most in- portrayals of FASD. ternational studies agreeing on a rough estimate of 1–2% of the There are two reasons why this study focuses specifically on general population being affected (Olson et al., 2009; Carpenter, Australian media portrayals of FASD. First, Australia currently lags 2011). However, despite the considerable prevalence of FASD, behind several other countries in recognising the prevalence, and many countries (both most and least developed) lack a FASD the social and economic impacts of FASD (Farke, 2011; HRSCSPLA, management framework - clinical (e.g. national diagnostic tool) or 2012). Australia lacks clear and consistent messaging on alcohol otherwise (e.g. public awareness campaigns), and this work is left consumption during pregnancy which has resulted in varied per- largely to non-government organisations (NGOs). Nonetheless, ceptions of the risk associated with alcohol consumption during some governments do run targeted prevention programmes, pregnancy (HRSCSPLA, 2012). Despite the National Health and especially the USA and Canada who have led the world not only on Medical Research Council (2009) recommending that not drinking efforts to prevent new cases of FASD, but also in understanding its alcohol is the safest option, most women report consuming alco- effects and to provide support and assistance to those affected hol during pregnancy, including 26% of women who report that (Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE), 2012). they continued to consume alcohol even after they had become In response to a lack of understanding and acknowledgement aware of their pregnancy (Australian Institute of Health and of the importance of services and support for individuals with Welfare, 2011). The second reason for a focus on Australian media FASD, advocacy efforts have increased over the last decades with portrayals of FASD is the rich data available. During 2012, two NGOs such as NOFASD, NoFAS or FASworld being created (Kyskan parliamentary inquiries into FASD were held at both Federal and and Moore, 2005). Partially due to this improved advocacy, at least State levels driven in part by a rise in binge drinking amongst 18 countries or territories have introduced laws that require the women (Education and Health Standing Committee, 2012; compulsory use of health warning labels on alcohol products HRSCSPLA, 2012). As such, there was an increase in the media (FARE, 2012; Farke, 2011). These countries include France, Brazil, reporting on the issue during the period of the parliamentary in- Ecuador, South Korea and the USA (FARE, 2012). However, only five quires (Farke, 2011). countries have mandated specific pregnancy labels, either pictorial Our analysis aims to explore the extent and type of media or text indicating that alcohol should not be consumed during coverage on alcohol use during pregnancy and FASD in Australia. pregnancy (Wilkinson et al., 2009). With a specific focus on 2012 print media, which generated a lot of Although pregnancy-related recommendation labels on alcohol debate about the topic, we seek to analyse the dominant frames may work to raise awareness of the risks of consuming alcohol within articles about FASD and explore the meanings of these during pregnancy, there is much public misinformation about the frames. topic. For example, there are mixed messages concerning what constitutes ‘safe’ levels of alcohol consumption for women who are pregnant, what the real lifelong effects of alcohol exposure in- Method utero are on the unborn child, and how to recognise the condition (Mackinnon et al., 1995; Nanson et al., 1995). This misinformation Data collection is further perpetuated by the stigma associated with women and alcohol, whereby women who are found to consume or have The current study uses an exploratory design, with news media consumed alcohol at some point in their pregnancy are likely to be data as the site of analysis. The broad research question was ‘How negatively judged and labelled as irresponsible and even evil, reis FASD framed by media reports?’ As such, a broad selection of 21 gardless of the circumstances (Nguyen et al., 2011). All of this national and metropolitan newspapers was searched for articles translates into an unwillingness, coming from both the pregnant related to FASD for the period of 1st January 2012 to 31st women and the caregiver treating her, to start up conversations December 2012. The newspapers were selected based on circula- about alcohol (Blume, 1991). Recent research suggests that talking tion (choosing those with the highest readership) and geographic about alcohol consumption during pregnancy can lead to guilt and location (we ensured that at least one newspaper was chosen for fear of judgement, which in turn can lead to inaccurate reporting each Australian state or territory). I. Eguiagaray et al. / Midwifery 40 (2016) 49–54 51

Media articles were obtained electronically from the Factiva health messages, and government. We discuss each of these as- database. The primary keyword search terms (i.e. all present in the pects in turn, with particular attention to how they were deployed article) were ‘alcohol’ and ‘pregnancy’ and the secondary search in the news media data, and explore the practical and theoretical strings (i.e. at least one present in the article) included ‘FASD’, meanings of each aspect. ‘binge drinking’, ‘abuse’ or ‘fetus’. The search yielded 181 articles containing two or more of these search terms during the time period specified above. The first author read each article and ex- Sympathy cluded those that did not actually report on FASD or alcohol consumption during pregnancy. Furthermore, where articles were The first group which media articles constructed as deserving replicas (exact same article as another already included in sample), sympathy was mothers who consume alcohol during pregnancy. they were excluded from further analysis. A final sample of 80 This was particularly the case in articles discussing mothers who articles comprised the data for further analysis. are surrounded by 'chaos’. Such mothers are referred to as vulnerable (e.g. O’Brien, 2012b) and depicted as defenceless, thus fostering a sense of empathy towards these mothers. Data analysis Articles in which children were portrayed as deserving sympathy were more prevalent than articles in which mothers were. A framing analysis was conducted following the framework by Particular constructions of FASD worked to position children with Entman (Entman, 1993). Entman defines a frame as a conceptual FASD as deserving sympathy. Previous research has looked at some lens that brings certain aspects of reality into sharper focus (em- implications of media portrayals of the child as a victim (Best, phasising a particular way to understand an issue) while relegat- 1990). Such positioning of children as victims of deviants – and ing others to the background (Entman, 1993). While framing may therefore deserving of sympathy – has served to produce parti- occur in several different communication contexts (Entman, 1993), cular public opinions about a range of social issues. Many articles media scholars have mainly been concerned with frames as evoking sympathy did so through explicitly and unambiguously manifested in the text (Gamson and Modigliani, 1989), and their depicting the mothers of the children as responsible for abuse or specific effects on audiences (Iyengar, 1990). Journalists may neglect, who make ‘babies pay for bad habits’ (Dunlevy, 2012a). choose to use framing to focus a debate, highlight certain aspects Some articles emphasise the lifetime of devastating impacts of of issues, and even select the vocabulary used to describe the FASD that ‘frail’ (Lamperd, 2012) and ‘tiny little babies’ (O’Brien, principal ideas (Tankard, 2008). Ultimately, news frames ‘en- 2012b) suffer from, often referred to as ‘the curse of booze babies’ courage target audiences to think, feel, and decide in a particular (Bita, 2012b). By using such language the article constructs these way’ (Entman, 2007). children as fragile, suggesting that they have no freedom of choice The first step of analysis was to read the articles and code for and cannot escape their circumstances. While this may be the patterns in the data. Identification of codes was data-driven so as case, we note that such language communicates a sense of in- to ensure minimisation of researcher bias. Initially, seven coders justice, despair and desolation. independently coded a subset of the data (following the guidelines One way in which sympathy for individuals with FASD was of Wimmer and Dominick, 2006). Krippendorff's alpha was used to evoked in media articles was to tell the story of such an individual. assess reliability on all variables and overall intercoder reliability For example, one article refers to a 12-year-old with FASD (Prior, was established as α¼.81, an acceptable reliability score 2012). Explicit portrayal of a child (rather than discussion of FASD (Krippendorff, 2011). After preliminary coding was discussed, a as an abstract idea) works to foster empathy with the feelings of coding schedule was constructed so that a rigorous procedure could individuals with FASD. In this way, a discourse of vilifying those be followed for each article. This included coding for article focus, responsible for FASD (mothers who consume alcohol, presumably) article approach, topics, language, recommendations of appropriate emerges. consumption, and discourses of and about people with FASD, Not only did media articles draw on discussion of individuals, women who consume alcohol during pregnancy, and government portrayal of the many people with FASD also worked to generate involvement. Following coding of the whole data set, key frames sympathy. Phrases like ‘humanitarian crisis’ (Prior, 2012), ‘almost relating to responsibility for FASD were identified. Our results dis- untreatable holocaust’ (Rothwell, 2012)or‘the heartbreak of cuss how these frames construct responsibility for FASD. raising FASD sufferers’ (Prior, 2012) focus on the many people affected by FASD and emphasise the seriousness and extent of the condition. The language used in such articles reflects tremendous Findings pain and agony. Those born with FASD are referred to as ‘sufferers’ (e.g. Perpitch, 2012), or are positioned as suffering through the use The overwhelming majority of articles were news articles about of language such as ‘[they have] the odds against them for life’ FASD, but there were also editorials and opinion pieces in the data (Williams, 2012). Referring to FASD as ‘cruel (and) insidious’ (Jean, set. Many of the articles were generated following parliamentary 2012), a ‘scourge’ (Tillett, 2012), a ‘tragedy’ (Hockley, 2012)oras inquiries at both state and federal levels, with research findings the ‘invisible/hidden disability’ (e.g. Perpitch, 2012) implies that about FASD being released, and an action plan released by FARE this suffering is endured in silence and away from society. (2012) also leading to several articles being published. Media articles also reflected that FASD does not impact only Through the process of framing analysis, two particular aspects young children, but also continues to be a problem for adults with of FASD discourses were found to be prevalent in media reports. FASD. Part of the on-going debate in the Australian Parliamentary These were a) the way that discourses of victimhood constructed a Inquiry was whether or not FASD should be recognised as a life- frame of sympathy, and b) the way that discourses of blame and time disability. As FASD is not currently officially acknowledged as wrongdoing constructed a frame of shame. In terms of sympathy, a disability within the Australian context, such articles work to our analysis focused on how sympathy shaped messages in the portray unfairness. For example, some articles achieved a sympa- media in relation to mothers, individual children, all children with thetic view towards individuals with FASD by noting that those FASD, and adult individuals with FASD. The second part of our with FASD are often, ‘unfairly punished’ (Moulton, 2012) by the analysis focused on ways in which shame shaped the discourses in criminal justice system by being labelled as criminals even in some the media in relation to mothers, health professionals, public cases where they are not in control of their behaviours, due to 52 I. Eguiagaray et al. / Midwifery 40 (2016) 49–54 their disability. This argument serves to dissociate people with Such discourse constructs women as responsible for being aware FASD from perceptions of danger or threat to society, further en- of the risks of antenatal alcohol consumption. Such a discourse forcing the need for sympathy for those affected. ignores the role health professionals, public health messages, or Discourses of victimhood – whether evoking sympathy for health policy may have in responsibility for increasing awareness mothers of children with FASD, individual children, children with of risks of consumption of alcohol. FASD in general, or those who have lived with FASD throughout The second group of individuals suggested to be deserving of their lives – work to produce a frame of sympathy. This concept of blame for FASD were health professionals. Some articles suggested victimhood relates to the second aspect of our analysis – the idea that medical practitioners are not sufficiently trained when raising of shame for FASD. If mothers or individuals with FASD are victims, the issue of alcohol consumption during pregnancy and FASD. ‘ ’ there is an implicit (or explicit) villain, and the shame aspect of Some articles claim that professionals should hold their judgment our analysis explores the role of responsibility for FASD. about mothers who consume alcohol during pregnancy because getting advice should not be ‘a guilt trip’ (Hunter, 2012), especially given that at least a third of pregnancies are reported to be un- Shame planned. Some articles portrayed doctors as preferring not to raise the disorder with pregnant women for fear of alarming them, and Our analysis suggests that news media portrays several differ- others indicated that some medical professionals say that it is safe ent parties as villains of FASD in different articles. These parties to enjoy an occasional drink. In this way, media articles may include mothers, health professionals, and government. In this confuse readers with conflicting recommendations. section we explore potential implications of different construc- Similarly, certain articles pointed to private hospitals ‘offering tions of shaming particular individuals or groups for their role in booze to pregnant women’ by having alcohol on the menu in FASD. The first group constructed as deserving of blame for FASD maternity wards (Bita, 2012a). This took the blame off mothers ’ were mothers who consume alcohol during pregnancy. Blame for and placed it on hospitals inappropriate practices, whereby ma- women was worked up through constructing them as ‘drunks’ ternity wards were sending the message that alcohol consumption (Giles, 2012), ‘alcoholics’ (Heasley, 2012)or‘binge drinkers’ during pregnancy was acceptable. Within these articles, women (Hockley, 2012), creating an image of mothers who live for un- are no longer seen as irresponsible. Moreover, these articles frame restrained gratification and, in the process, ‘ruin’ (Williams, 2012) risks as involuntary, therefore exculpating women and positively the life of the not yet born child. The most controversial argu- influencing public opinion towards them. ments and language within this frame came from letters of opi- The last group that were held to account by some articles in the nion, which used terms such as ‘appalling mothers’, ‘losers’, ‘idiots’ data was the government. Discourse critical of government was and ‘selfish’ and asked not only for legal punishment but also even evident in articles that called the lack of governmental action a sterilisation (Dunlevy, 2012a). These discourses worked in tandem ‘cone of silence’ (Van Den Berg and Crane, 2012), and that em- with the discourses of sympathy for children with FASD, as dis- phasised the view that policies are ‘sorely needed’ (Hockley, 2012). cussed above, to construct mothers as individually responsible for Several articles refer to the ‘urgent’ (e.g. Perpitch, 2012) need the children born with the condition, as evil people who do not for government to get more involved and develop culturally ap- care about their baby, and as perpetrators who hand kids a ‘life- propriate strategies for particular population groups such as long sentence’ (Dunlevy, 2012a). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples (Rothwell, 2012) and The discourse of blaming mothers was common throughout the others point out the fact that FASD is ‘still’ not recognised as a data corpus, appearing in more than a fifth of the articles. In fact, disability (potentially because FASD is not a diagnostic term) one article from the data was published on the first page of a (Jones, 2012). This language implies that government needs to be newspaper during September 2012 (a key month of the Western persistently persuaded and refuses to make FASD a priority and is ‘ Australian Parliamentary Inquiry) and carried the headline Preg- even resisting addressing the problem. This frame suggests inac- ’ nant women defy drink warnings (Dunlevy, 2012b). This headline tion, confusion and lack of direction from the federal government is an example of the way that some articles claimed that women and expresses doubts about its commitment to introduce man- fl are aware of the dangers, and decide to out risks. Previous re- datory pregnancy health warnings for alcohol. search has suggested that public opinion on health issues is most The government was also constructed as neglecting to take likely to change when they have been framed as involuntary risks, responsibility for punishment of women who consume alcohol universal risks, environmental risks, or knowingly created risks during pregnancy. Such articles suggest that the government's (Lawrence, 2004). Therefore the framing of the issue as a know- hands-off approach was a problem, claiming that the government ingly created risk negatively influences public opinion by depicting should make alcohol consumption during pregnancy ‘an offence women who consume alcohol during pregnancy as immoral punishable by law’ (Giles, 2012). through their ‘voluntary and astoundingly irresponsible’ (Giles, Discourse critical of the government was present throughout 2012) behaviour. This type of discourse often appeared with a call the data corpus, but was particularly prevalent following to remove any kind of support from these women. We suggest that the Western Australian and Federal Parliamentary Inquiries. We such framing of mothers as shameful might not only encourage discrimination, prejudice and hatred towards those mothers who acknowledge that it may be useful to be critical of a government consume alcohol during pregnancy, but also isolate and stigmatise that fails to address the issue of FASD, but suggest that such singly them. Such stigma and isolation may prevent and discourage them critical discourse may be problematic. The reason for this is that if from seeking help. blame is thought to be the government's alone, other factors that Although some articles used arguments sympathetic towards drive behaviour of expectant mothers may be overlooked. For women who consume alcohol during pregnancy, there were pro- example, social and cultural norms, the alcohol industry, and blematic ways in which women were portrayed in these articles. advertising also shape alcohol consumption behaviours. Thus For example, there were several mentions throughout the data of discourse that is critical of the government may be critical (par- women as ‘incredibly/alarmingly ignorant’ (Skelton, 2012), or as ticularly in areas where there are no policies or public supports to individuals who ‘just don’t get it’ (Van Den Berg and Crane, 2012) protect those involved, or where legislation and investment in or who ‘need [to be protected] from themselves’ (O’Brien, 2012a). healthcare are necessary), but may ignore other important issues. I. Eguiagaray et al. / Midwifery 40 (2016) 49–54 53

Discussion The findings of this study have some important implications for practice. First, for clinicians, it is important to note that news This analysis has highlighted that stigmatising discourses of media portrays conflicting advice about the consumption of alco- mothers who consume alcohol during pregnancy are reproduced hol during pregnancy and there may be significant feelings of within news media sources. Two sometimes contradictory frames shame and confusion regarding such behaviour. It might be ben- within media articles involving sympathy and shame. These in- eficial for clinicians to understand the complexity of these mes- terrelated frames may confuse readers, as they inconsistently hold sages and the way that they are reproduced by common dis- different parties responsible for the impact of FASD. Discourses courses. Second, for public health campaigns, these findings pre- that sympathise with individuals with FASD may help to raise sent some of the problematic discourses to avoid. Rather than awareness of the condition, but could be problematic if they reproducing discourses of shame and overly sympathetic lan- shame mothers (without fully realising the numerous factors im- guage, it might be useful for campaigns to consider messages that pacting on these mothers’ circumstances), or if they unfairly por- do not infantilise women, that avoid blaming individuals, and that tray people with FASD as lacking agency. Discourses that sym- provide accurate information. This is in line with recommenda- pathise with mothers who consume alcohol during pregnancy tions that stigma-inducing approaches to cessation of smoking may start to reduce stigma associated with these women seeking during pregnancy is likely to be ineffective or counterproductive help, but commentators also need to consider the role that gov- (Wigginton and Lee, 2013) and alcohol campaigns should similarly ernment, social change, and industry could play in improving consider other ways to promote non-drinking in expectant mo- conditions for these women. thers. Third, for policy, particularly in but not limited to jurisdic- The discourses of sympathy and shame were potentially pro- tions like Australia that currently have no specific policy in place, blematic. Although some articles in the data were critical of the the findings of the current study suggest an immediate need to government for a lack of policy support, other factors contributing provide accurate information to individuals. One particular policy to FASD risk were not visible in the data. The first source of FASD goal might be to encourage news media agencies to adopt risk that was not present in the data is the role that alcohol cor- guidelines in relation to reporting about FASD and the consump- porations and advertising could play in taking responsibility for tion of alcohol during pregnancy. Guidelines might be developed the consumption of alcohol during pregnancy. Given the alcohol in partnership with individuals with FASD or their families or industry's emphasis on marketing to women (Ross et al., 2015), the carers so that as not to treat individuals as objects (Scholz and power of the alcohol industry in shaping alcohol research and Riggs., 2013) or as diagnoses. Limiting the spread of inaccurate and policy (Li et al., 2014), and the current rights that alcohol com- overly emotional language would be a constructive way to pro- panies enjoy which limit the production of effective health mote better knowledge about these issues. warning systems (Hirono et al., 2015), it might be meaningful for This study has discussed the reproduction of stigma and shame media to call the industry to account for its role in FASD risk re- around FASD in news media articles. Future research might con- duction through the implementation of warning systems. The sider further analyses on different types of media such as social second source of FASD risk that was not present in the data is the media, particularly as the use of social media in disseminating role that partners, family, or friends might play in expecting mo- information about drinking practices grows (Niland et al., 2014). thers’ consumption of alcohol. Some women who drink while Although potentially challenging because of stigma, it might also pregnant may do so partly because of the values of and pressure be beneficial to ask pregnant women who want to drink alcohol from people around them. Previous research has recommended (and perhaps their family members) about what kinds of messages that during the perinatal period, expectant fathers might change they would find useful to deter them from drinking. their smoking practices in relation to the social pressure that occurs during this time (Bottorff et al., 2006). Similar motivations may exist for reduction in alcohol intake in expectant fathers that Acknowledgements might then go on to have similar effects for pregnant women, and this might be evaluated by future research. Recent research sug- We would like to express our gratitude to Dr Vinh N. Lu for gests that if midwives engage pregnant women's partners in al- bringing the team together and for contributing to early discus- cohol consumption advice, they may develop a positive view of sions about the project. We also thank our colleagues with whom abstinence (van der Wulp et al., 2013). The current study extends we discussed our data coding and for contributing their ideas and this to media portrayals and suggests that if such portrayals begin time. to report on partners’ influence on alcohol consumption during pregnancy, awareness and satisfaction with abstinence might follow. References One of the limitations of the approach of the current study is that only data from news media was considered for analysis. News Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2011. 2010 National Drug Strategy media is one site in which understandings of health issues are Household Survey report. 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Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Business Research

Fear, guilt, and shame appeals in social marketing☆

Linda Brennan a,⁎, Wayne Binney b a Faculty of Business and Enterprise, Swinburne University of Technology, John Street, Hawthorn Vic, Australia b Faculty of Business & Law, Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia article info abstract

Article history: This paper presents the results from a qualitative study of income support recipients with regard to how they Received 1 January 2009 feel about advertising which overtly appeals to their sense of fear, guilt and shame. The motivation of the Received in revised form 1 January 2009 study was to provide formative research for a social marketing campaign designed to increase compliance Accepted 1 February 2009 with income reporting requirements. This study shows that negative appeals with this group of people are more likely to invoke self-protection and inaction rather than an active response such as volunteering to Keywords: comply. Social marketers need to consider the use of fear, guilt and shame to gain voluntary compliance as Compliance Fear the study suggests an overuse of these negative appeals. While more formative research is required, the Guilt future research direction aim would be to develop an instrument to measure the impact of shame on pro- Shame advertising message appeals social decision-making; particularly in the context of close social networks rather than the wider society. Social marketing © 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1. Background behavior(s) over time. The purpose was to ascertain if some emotional responses were more memorable or enduring than others and if Social marketing is used by many nonprofit and government people could associate self-reported memories of emotional response organizations to encourage behaviors which, while socially important, with subsequent ‘compliant’ outcomes (behavioral or otherwise). As a might not be germane to the personal motivations of the individual. consequence, a qualitative study was conducted; primarily because Encouraging people to voluntarily comply with standards, norms or the experimental designs usually associated with fear research (cf legal requirements, as individuals, is a necessary step in ensuring the Witte and Allen's (2000) meta-analysis of fear appeals in advertising) wellbeing of the many. Individuals can be relied on to behave in their do not allow for a retrospective consideration of people's responses. own best interests but not necessarily in the interests of others. This Specific campaigns and their effectiveness or evaluation of the success study was undertaken to assess the potential value of three common of any particular campaign falls outside the scope of this research. social marketing appeals — fear, guilt, and shame — in terms of their capacity to induce compliant behaviors. The context of the study was 2. Overview income support recipients who often need to comply with reporting of extra income. The research took place prior to the development of The use of social marketing is growing although the concept has campaign material relating to compliance and was used to inform been around for some time beginning with Kotler and Zaltman (1971). campaign strategy. Tables 1 and 2 outline the profile of participants Some doubt amongst practitioners as to the efficacy of using and the types of income support they receive. commercial marketing principles in the promotion of public sector, The purpose of this study was to ascertain which of the appeals government and social issues still exists (Rothschild, 2005). Notwith- might have the greater propensity to motivate such people to behave standing these concerns, the trend in the use of social marketing in a particular way; in this case, to adopt compliant behavior. Whilst techniques is continuing apace especially for governments seeking to accepting that emotional situations are often imperfectly recalled, the more efficiently deploy taxpayers' resources. The need to encourage research was designed to elicit people's recollections of campaigns the public to voluntarily comply with requirements such as seat that they believed were influential in motivating their personal belts, drunk driving, bushfire prevention, and so on, is an important component of public safety strategy development and the contain- ment of subsequent costs such as health care. Studies of compliance ☆ The authors acknowledge the contribution of Sophie Alexiades and Zulekya motivations show that compliance requires regulation, a sense of duty Zevallos to the formative research stages and the assistance of the anonymous and a concern for the thoughts of others (Tyler, 2000; May, 2004, reviewers who provided advice and support in earlier versions of this paper. 2005). Brennan and Snitow (2005) demonstrated that engendering ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (L. Brennan), [email protected] compliance with social marketing calls-to-action was a multifaceted (W. Binney). problem, comprising of an integrated system of legal and regulatory

Table 1 research which has studied the effectiveness of negative in compar- Interview participants and location.⁎ ison to positive emotional appeals can be found in the literature DSP AUS NSA AGE PPS PPP (Wheatley and Oshikawa, 1970; Gardner and Wilheim, 1987; Homer ACT 2 and Yoon, 1992; Block and Keller, 1995; Frazer et al., 2002). Dillard and NSW 2 6 9 3 2 2 Peck (2000) showed that public service advertising effectiveness was Queensland 2 10 3 7 3 3 inﬂuenced by ﬂuctuating attitudes, changes in affective responses, Victoria 10 8 18 9 11 7 and cognitive reactions for both positive and negative appeals. Total 14 24 30 21 16 12 Rural 5 6 28 16 12 9 Metropolitan 9 18 2 5 4 3 2.3. The use of negative appeals in social marketing and advertising

DSP = disability support pension, AUS = Austudy (studying), NSA = newstart allowance (unemployed) AGE = aged pension, PPS = sole parents pension, PPP = Negative appeals are used to create an emotional imbalance which partnered parenting pension. Not all income support recipients are wholly supported by can be rectified by engaging in the featured (desired) behavior, in this government allowances. Many work at least part time and in the case of some families case regarded as compliant behavior. The instigators hope that by even full time workers can fall below the minimum wage and therefore be entitled to creating discomfort people will be motivated to act (or not) to government support. decrease the feeling of discomfort. Negative emotions are known to cause psychic discomfort and are therefore a safe place to start when processes, enforcement, and public education (usually in the form of attempting to create appeals. advertising). Fear appeals have been used for many years in advertising with varying degrees of success (Ray and Wilkie, 1970; Wheatley and 2.1. Selling compliance to the unwilling requires some innovative Oshikawa, 1970; Rotfeld, 1988; Burnett and Lunsford, 1994; Latour and packaging Rotfeld, 1997; Witte and Allen, 2000; Chandy et al., 2001; Laroche et al., 2001; Hastings et al., 2004; Mowen et al., 2004; Rossiter and Compliant behavior is associated with conformity to institutional Thornton, 2004). However, Huhmann and Brotherton (1997) found rules, and so, when people choose not to comply they stand differences in outcomes between fear, guilt, and shame. answerable to consequences, which in an institutional or legal Much research focuses on fear or threat appeals in advertising framework, could result in penalties such as fines, community service campaigns, and how coping responses may affect changes in attitude or legal action (cf. Harvey and McCrohan, 1988; May, 2005). Thus, the and, subsequently, behavioral changes (Kohn et al., 1982; Maddux and word voluntary must be used with some caution in the context of Rogers, 1983; Tanner et al., 1991; Henthorne et al., 1993; Schoenbach- social marketing frameworks — is the action truly voluntary if you ler and Whittler, 1996; Dillard and Peck, 2000; Witte and Allen, 2000; must do it ‘or else?’ Nevertheless, social marketers encourage Arthur and Quester, 2004; Dillard and Anderson, 2004). The intensity compliance by using message appeals (in this context not simply of the appeal is also a consideration (Moore and Harris, 1996). Fear message framing) to link the socially desired behavior to something appeals can be subcategorized into physical and social fear appeals; that is of value to the individual. These appeals must be packaged or physical fear appeals relate to threats which may afflict the body, and presented in a way that enables the individual to see the direct benefit social fear appeals relate to threats connected with social acceptance (value) of their action. This value could be something which avoids (Schoenbachler and Whittler, 1996; Laroche et al., 2001). Lazarus negative consequences or which are positive incentives to behave in a (1991), while not assessing the impact of advertising per se, theorized certain way (Staub, 1997; Atkin, 2001). An individual could also be that people react to threats by assessing the harm or benefit before motivated by empathy rather than a personal motivation (Taute and developing an emotional response and subsequent physiological McQuitty, 2004; Sturmer et al., 2005). Message appeals can be either action. He posited that fear (generated as an outcome of a threat) positive or negative in nature, and they can additionally be divided was most likely to result in avoidance or escape. Others have found into informational (or rational) appeals versus emotional appeals. that empathy, as an outcome of negative emotions such as fear, increases the likelihood of helping others (Bagozzi and Moore, 1994; 2.2. Emotional appeals and social marketing Vitaglione and Barnett, 2003). Such coping behaviors can be emotion- focused or problem-focused (Tamres et al., 2002); and are dependent Much recent research has been conducted into the influence of on self-efficacy, perceived severity of threat, and perceived probability emotions in framing messages although not all of this is in the social of occurrence (Tanner et al., 1991). marketing domain (Dillard and Peck, 2000; Frazer et al., 2002; Huhmann and Brotherton (1997) found that guilt appeals are as Marchand and Filiatrault, 2002; James et al., 2003; Arthur and Quester, pervasive as fear appeals in the field of advertising. Others have found 2004; Berridge, 2004; Hastings et al., 2004; Maciejewski, 2004; that guilt appeals are very effective under certain (but different) Rossiter and Thornton, 2004; Chebat and Slusarczyk, 2005; Cotte et al., circumstances (Coulter et al., 1999; Cotte et al., 2005). Many studies 2005). Some authors distinguish between affect and emotions have explored guilt and its self-persuasive effects (Burnett and (Holbrook and Batra, 1987) and emotions and emotional feelings Lunsford, 1994; Coulter and Pinto, 1995; Huhmann and Brotherton, (Lazarus, 1991). Batra and Holbrook (1990) developed a typology of affective response categories with which to profile advertising. This typology incorporated fear and guilt but did not include shame. Table 2 The link between emotional arousal, attitude formation and Gender and age of respondents.⁎ behavioral compliance is still theoretically problematic with only Age range Male Female Total tentative links drawn between attitudes and intent, and some still 15 to 24 9 7 16 ambiguous findings relating to intent and eventual behavior (Chan- 25 to 34 20 13 33 don et al., 2004). Notwithstanding these difficulties, social marketing 35 to 44 7 16 23 campaigns often use emotional appeals in an attempt to encourage 45 to 54 6 10 16 55 to 64 5 8 13 compliant behavior from the public (cf. the many facets of road safety, 65 to 74 6 5 11 cancer screening and HIV/AIDS campaigns). Negative emotional Over 75 2 2 4 appeals are also regularly applied in consumer marketing to sell Total 55 61 116 products which appeal to consumers' needs to conform to social ⁎ Note these figures represent data where provided by the participants (there are 120 norms (Bearden and Rose, 1990). Additionally, a significant amount of responses but not all people willingly answered type of support or age category). 142 L. Brennan, W. Binney / Journal of Business Research 63 (2010) 140–146

1997; Bennett, 1998; Abe, 2004). However, the relationship between study by telephone, and 120 people agreed to be interviewed. The guilt and fear may be studied at the expense of other negative profile of those who agreed to participate is representative of the emotions such as shame. Abe's (2004) research does connect guilt and population of income support recipients (Australian Government, shame although not in relation to advertising appeals. Abe's findings 2006). also showed that shame was more likely to elicit negative behaviors The researchers were sensitive to the possibility that in asking than guilt. In a further study of guilt, Bennett (1998) found that certain participants to describe emotional reactions to advertising, they might communications that are intended to invoke guilt might produce inadvertently cue participants into providing socially acceptable or shameful responses among its target audience, and this ultimately desirable responses (Strauss and Corbin, 1992). Thus, a proportion of results in negative consequences. Bennett found that guilt appeals are the interview time was spent triangulating their answers (Denzin, generally more likely to result in positive responses to advertisements 1970). The semi-structured interviews varied in length from half an and empathy. Conversely, shame appeals are unlikely to result in hour to one and a half hours, depending on the communication needs empathy and instead, they are more likely to result in negative of the participant and their willingness and ability to recall emotions. attitudes. In order for a guilt appeal to be effective, Bennett advocates Questions were asked of participants regarding advertising (which that potential shame-inducing properties need to be eliminated. could be any type of message format), that had evoked negative Bennett's study did not find a correlation between guilt-intensive feelings. People were asked to describe the message and their communications and psychological resistance, but other studies find response. that the degree of guilt evoked by an advertisement campaign could A research team of seven people conducted the interviews and lead to anger and negative attitudes towards the corporate sponsor analysis, including the two principal authors, one community worker (Coulter and Pinto, 1995; Cotte et al., 2005). and four postgraduate research students. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a hermeneutic 2.4. Negative appeals and compliance method (Smith and Fletcher, 2004). This method of analysis requires that the analyst(s) reads the whole data set and develops a holistic Shame has been studied in relation to tax compliance. For example, picture of the data. The analyst then seeks to identify detailed themes incorrect income reporting leads to significant financial loss for and categories that emerge from the data. Subsequently, a search for taxpayers (Braithwaite, 2002). Harvey and McCrohan's (1988) report any overarching themes or patterns, based on an understanding of the on voluntary compliance of tax laws found that “appeals to conscience details of the text, is undertaken. At this stage of analysis, the analyst's compared to sanction threats were more likely to result in increased views of the whole may change (Spiggle, 1994; Laverty, 2003). Finally, reported income on tax returns” (p140). They argue that guilt appeals — as the analysis identified areas of interest that were not evident in the that is, appeals to an individual's conscience — may be more effective beginning (as is often the case with qualitative research), a further than punitive threats and fear appeals. Additionally they argue that for literature review was undertaken to elucidate the themes identified voluntary compliance to occur, an action must be deemed important in (Wiklund et al., 2002). At each stage of analysis, multiple researchers wider society. In order for an advertisement to successfully commu- were involved. nicate its message, the campaign should be promoted within a community framework, so that “the desired behavior should result in 4. Findings and discussion peer approval rather than scorn” (p147). Tyler's (2000) research illustrates the difficulties involved with implementing laws without Participants were asked how they felt about negative appeals in willing and voluntary compliance and points out that threats and advertising, whether or not they recognized such appeals and if they punishments do not work effectively. felt they had responded behaviorally to any appeals which had been Braithwaite's (2002) review of several tax compliance studies led to made. Participants were not prompted to discuss particular campaigns a conclusion that shame occurs as a result of feeling guilty. Consequently, and independently nominated what they wanted to discuss. Most Braithwaite argues that a name and shame approach to tax compliance responses described were to public service or social advertising such can successfully generate voluntary compliance among taxpayers. as environmental awareness and charities. However, this would seem to be in contradiction to the findings of others who argue that guilt and shame are experienced differently and 4.1. How people felt about the use of fear in advertising that these emotions can lead to different behaviors (Bennett, 1998; Chandy et al., 2001; Abe, 2004). Not enough is known about how shame Of the negative emotions discussed, the participants were more influences behavior or how the emotion is felt. likely to accurately recall advertisements that used fear as a major How income support recipients react to the use of negative appeal, especially a fear of personal consequences, fear for others and emotions such as fear, guilt, and shame in socially focused commu- fear of loss. As the participants described their reaction, fear appeals in nications is presented below. social marketing campaigns encouraged people to comply with rules and acceptable behavior by scaring them about the potential legal, 3. Methodology health and social risks associated with illegal, unhealthy or antisocial behavior. However, fear was a strong word that the participants were Data for this study were collected from 120 participants through a hesitant about using. They frequently used words such as ‘worry’, series of semi-structured in-depth interviews regarding their atti- ‘concern’ or ‘anxiety’, but certain advertising aroused a fearful tudes towards appeals in advertising and their self-reported emo- response in the participants. Fear was seen as an unhealthy reaction tional responses to these appeals. The latest Australian Census to advertising and something to be avoided. Of those that admitted to reported that 2.6-million Australians were receiving welfare support being fearful, the general response was to be afraid of dying or having from the government. This figure corresponds to over 21% of the a loved one die, and they were fearful of losing someone they loved workforce-age population in Australia (Australian Bureau of Statistics, through unsuccessful relationships. They were also afraid of not 2001). When income support recipients first sign up with the succeeding in life, although their definitions of success were some- government body, they can nominate on their application forms that times different. they are willing to participate in research. In 2006, almost three million Australians received welfare assistance, and 1.2-million of I am afraid of, in not too many years time, being unemployable, these people agreed to be researched. From this pool of potential being destitute and being on the scrap heap of life, being regarded research participants, 270 people were initially contacted about the by my friends as a failure, becoming an outcast in society, having L. Brennan, W. Binney / Journal of Business Research 63 (2010) 140–146 143

less self-esteem, being rejected by my family and becoming guilty. Without personalization of the message, people did not feel basically worthless. (Male, unemployed 45–54) guilty although they could sense that the campaign was attempting to make them feel that way. Surprisingly, participants were more comfortable describing their However, the participants felt that social marketing campaigns responses in terms of shock or horror, as if these were more socially that appealed to guilt were increasingly pervasive: guilt appeals were acceptable responses; potentially because these were seen to be everywhere they looked. Some participants felt guilt for not reflexes rather than choices about an emotional response. The conforming to social norms and ideals, such as body image, participants reported that for horror and shock to be influential the consumerism and the pursuit of wealth. This guilt was exacerbated scenario had to be realistic. That is, depictions of situations involving by their financial circumstances. Many felt guilt for being on the dole. horror or shock were rejected if the scenario was not seen to be a Parents, in particular felt guilty that they could not afford to provide realistic representation. Thus, the Grim Reaper campaigns, while their children with more than the basics in life. Many parents felt successful in terms of generating recall and arousal, were not guilty about not being good providers for their children. influential in terms of behavior —‘that person was not ‘me’ and therefore I could safely ignore the message.’ The more confronting When the kids go back to school every year, I have to borrow messages seemed to need a greater appeal to realism so that the money to get them new shoes and uniforms. You can't send them participants were convinced of the idea that ‘it could happen to me’. to school looking like second-class citizens; they get teased by the – Realism in representation was crucial for messages to be taken other kids. (Female, single parent, 25 34 years) seriously. As one participant said: ‘People do respond [to fear appeals] as long as the message is pretty clear’ (Male, unemployed, 25– The only group who did not feel guilty about income support were 34 years). In order for the messages of fear campaigns to be clear, real the students who felt that their income support was an investment situations and images had to be depicted in such a way that the viewer made by the government. Many participants suggested that they often would see the depiction as ‘necessarily ugly.’ However, consistent with felt guilty when watching global charity advertisements for World other studies, some highly graphic and emotionally charged advertis- Vision and Oxfam because they felt fortunate in comparison to the poor ing resulted in emotional trauma leading to ‘escape’ from the message in other countries whose governments are unable to offer social welfare. rather than engagement with, and intention to act as a result of, the As the following statement shows, some participants felt that the media message. Self-protection was most likely to be evoked in situations encourage people to feel guilty about every aspect of their lives: with the most empathy and close relationship with the issue at hand. Going to the gym and not eating healthy. Most people feel guilty As a consequence, the people most required to respond with action in the same way because society says you should be home at night were those most likely to be attempting escape from the message. with your children and at the gym and that you should be a size 8 and not a 12. It's what the media tell you should do. (Female, I think over a certain amount of time they lose their effect to have partnered parent, 25–34 years) a real emotional impact on you because you see so many of them, there are only so many times you can see a fictional [event], even Many reported that they were learning to resist feeling guilty if is based on truth before you just go — yeah, whatever. (Male, because of the sheer volume of messages designed to create a sense of unemployed 25–34) guilt. Overall, the participants felt negatively towards marketing Fear appeals that generated the most intense aversion were those campaigns that used guilt appeals, even when they recognized that ‘ ’ that involved empathic responses (children, old people, similar these campaigns were for a good cause . Due to the multitude of fi others). When these appeals were coupled with horror or shock (as worthy causes and their own nancial position as welfare recipients, much pro-social advertising contains), and high levels of repetition, the participants felt a sense of helplessness to help others. participants were likely to respond with anger towards the issue Guilt messages usually ask for money and most people don't have rather than fear, guilt or shame. the money to donate and those that do that kind of thing make me feel guilty about it but I don't really know what I can do about it 4.2. Participants' responses to advertising which uses guilt right now. (Female, unemployed, 25–34 years)

The participants' discussion of marketing campaigns which Participants would accept a level of guilt before they invoked a appealed to feelings of guilt included advertisements that encouraged self-protection mechanism to help them ignore messages appealing to them to feel a sense of empathy, worry, angst or sorrow, and their sense of guilt. ultimately, they saw guilt appeals as encouraging voluntary compliance in regards to helping people who are less fortunate than 4.3. Feeling guilty is a personal choice themselves. The participants saw an important difference between fear and guilt appeals in social marketing campaigns. Whereas fear Feeling guilty was associated with a clearly understood moral appeals are threatening, guilt appeals are aimed to encourage the obligation towards others, but because guilt was experienced public to consider their moral obligations towards other people. As privately and subjectively, guilt appeals could be ignored: one participant succinctly stated: “…Guilt messages will have a better effect [than fear appeals] because it plays with your mind and your Guilt is a very personal thing. I think people feel guilty about many conscience” (Female, unemployed, 45–54 years). The participants different things. Something that makes me feel guilty would not strongly associated guilt appeals with feelings of empathy, because necessarily make you feel guilty and vice versa. (Male, unemployed, they saw that guilt campaigns were designed to arouse sympathy for 25–34 years) other people or a sense of affinity with a situation, such as campaigns about the environment, social justice and foreign aid agencies. The Because the participants saw guilt as ‘a very personal thing’ they participants generally understood guilt appeals as those campaigns could opt out of complying with a call to action in social marketing that encouraged them to think: ‘I should do something to fix this campaigns because they could alleviate their sense of guilt or justify problem’. The personalization of the appeal was an important factor in their non-compliance in different ways. For example, one person may the development of these feelings. The participants accepted personal feel guilty about the environment and not recycling, but they may not responsibility for the issue contained in the message before feeling feel guilty about world poverty. In another example, one participant 144 L. Brennan, W. Binney / Journal of Business Research 63 (2010) 140–146 recognized the guilt appeal in a recent campaign about water When you're ashamed of something it's a totally different feeling, shortages in his local area, but he continued to hose down his you feel totally different. When you feel guilty about something driveway because he lived on his own and he ‘didn't use much water’ usually you rectify the situation. If you do something you felt (Male, 45–54, unemployed). guilty about not doing or confess you usually feel better, but when Ultimately, the participants did not feel that guilt appeals had you're ashamed of something even if you do try and rectify the positive outcomes: “I think that guilt is a destructive emotion, so from situation — you still feel really bad about it. (Female, unemployed, a personal point of view that would not work [to motivate me]” 15–24 years) (Female, partnered parent, 25–34). The participants suggested that guilt messages which helped them understand how their small and Shame was related to embarrassment, foolishness and humiliation individual efforts could assist in solving large social problems would more than guilt, which would suggest that shame has deeper effects be more useful than guilt messages on their own. than guilt due to the likelihood of social exposure. This was because the participants felt that shame was more likely to arise in situations Everyone can make a difference. You need to provide avenues to wherein people became aware that you had done something wrong. show that you can help. Cause and effect style ads could work. As a participant said: “Guilt is something you have for a day or two and There are pathways, it’s not all hopeless. (Male unemployed 35– then you forget about it; but if you're truly ashamed about something 44 years) it's there longer” (Female, student, 35–44 years). Many participants suggested that shame was more ‘debilitating’ than guilt. This sense came about because of the social consequences attached to shame. 4.4. Shaming results in an emotional backlash The effects of being shamed would last longer and take more effort to alleviate. The participants defined shame as an emotion that individuals Shame appeals were generally thought of in a negative light and as experience when other people who are significant to them become an ineffective method for motivating people to do the right thing. They aware of their socially unacceptable behavior. From their perspective, did not believe that shame appeals evoke the same ‘escape’ reaction as individuals do not feel ashamed unless they care what others think marketing messages that use fear appeals, but the consequences of about them. The closer you are to the people who see your shame, the public shaming were seen to be unacceptable. The participants more likely you are to feel shame if you do something against the typically said things like: ‘everyone has a right to keep things to reference groups' principles. This participant explains: themselves; especially if they made a mistake’. Several participants suggested the approach of trying to make someone proud for doing something, rather than make them feel ashamed for not doing I am sensitive to what people think but it all depends on who is something properly. They felt that shame would lead to depression thinking what. Some of them I couldn't care. Only if I admired and contribute to a sense of hopelessness and therefore would not be their opinions and if it was somebody I have a high regard for, I an appeal that should be used — even if the appeal could be used would care. (Female, aged, 75+) effectively. Drinking and driving is very irresponsible and dangerous and I Messages that shame people seem a bit sort of totalitarian, a bit guess it is supposed to shame you into not doing it really, I mean Big Brotherish. Messages that show you what you might do that that's the message behind it really isn't it, the shame factor, if you might be foolish and show you how to do it better I think they're drink and drive all your friends will shun you (Female, partnered fine. (Male, Unemployed, 25–34 years) parent, 35–44)

I think there's better ways to persuade people to do things than According to participants, guilt and shame appeals both carried making them feel foolish or ashamed. (Female, unemployed, 15– messages about the moral consequences of one's action and ‘doing the 24 years) right thing’, such as avoiding killing another human being through not drink driving. The participants saw a connection between the two emotions: shame is related to guilt in the way that a person must first In order to protect themselves from feeling shamed about their feel guilty in order to feel ashamed. That is, in order to feel guilt and illegal or inappropriate behavior depicted in social marketing shame, you have to feel as if you have done something wrong (or that campaigns, the participants would justify their behavior in terms of ‘ ’ you are not doing enough to do the right thing), or you have to acceptability. For example, speeding is acceptable if you do it safely ; recognise that you are not doing enough to help other people. This getting paid untaxed cash amounts for working while receiving ‘ guilt must be publicly demonstrated to others to be considered unemployment welfare support is acceptable because everyone does ’ shaming. The participants saw that feeling guilty was associated with it . Acceptability was seen within a relatively narrow social context a clearly understood call to action, but was subjectively felt. For this and not in terms of the wider society. reason, guilt was more self-referencing than shame. Conversely, shame carried a clear set of social consequences that were defined as 4.5. People reach a point of emotional saturation with negative appeals public. As this participant said: “Guilt is a personal feeling; shame is something you feel because you are not as good as the person next to The participants described feeling saturated by negative emotional you” (Female, partnered parent and disabled, 35–44 years). appeals. Many felt that even when they take notice of marketing ‘ ’ Someone can feel guilty and not feel as if they need to do campaigns, they would switch off from the message because of the something as a response to the guilt; however, the participants were negativity depicted within the message and any subsequent call to motivated to alleviate their shame by engaging in a positive or action. Advertising that was designed to generate voluntary com- reparative action. Participants were unlikely to feel shamed unless the pliance, therefore, had great obstacles in reaching their target people aware of their action were their close personal friends or family audience, especially in regards to overcoming apathy. As one “ members. participant said, We're in a society where anything goes, [and] there are so many [ads] out there that we couldn't care less about Guilt means that you have done something wrong, where shame them” (Female, aged, 65–74 years). This study found that positive means that you didn't do anything to prevent it. (Male, aged, 75+ emotion appeals in social marketing campaigns had a greater years) potential to not only ‘get people talking’ about an advertisement (as L. Brennan, W. Binney / Journal of Business Research 63 (2010) 140–146 145 was the case with the fear appeals), but also in motivating people to this sample, the emotional energy required to feel fearful or guilty is act upon the call for voluntary compliance. For example, humour was already attenuated. While a focus on television advertising in these often used as an example of marketing communication which responses exists, the most enduring campaigns in this study are those motivated people to act. that have been integrated across a variety of media. Negative campaigns aimed at generating enduring behavioral change need to The ‘slip, slop slap’ ads [anti- skin cancer campaign] were good. consider that people develop very sophisticated (but maladaptive) They were light hearted; showed people playing up in cartoons coping strategies to ensure that their core emotional and psycholo- and let us know what we should be doing. They didn't make me gical well being is not influenced. As a consequence, advertisers could feel bad about being out in the sun but they did let me know I embed suggested coping strategies within the advertising that linked should take care of myself and the kids. I certainly started thinking the desired behavioral outcome to socially positive consequences. about even though they weren't very ‘real.’ I know I started to Encouraging voluntary compliance with socially valuable (but not wear hats about then (Male, unemployed, 55–64 years) always individually valued) ideals requires a consideration of how people can be motivated to act (or not). However, this study shows Note that compliance, as a word, was problematic in this study. that, for income support recipients at least, overt use of compliance Participants universally suggested that on becoming aware that they strategies is likely to have the opposite effect from that intended. Fear, were being asked to ‘comply’ with something would consider such an guilt, and shame have been shown to be differentially motivating; appeal as force or coercion (and therefore not voluntary). However, with an overuse of fear messages resulting in fight more often than some calls to action were influential. This was especially the case for not, and shame resulting in flight from the message. Guilt can be campaigns that demonstrated how one individual ‘can make a motivating but only when accompanied by some hope that individual difference’ and those campaigns which demonstrated the personal action is both needed and capable of making the requisite social rewards — rather than punishments — of voluntary compliance. change. The participants in this study were overwhelmed by guilt, and messages invoking guilt were likely to invoke self-protection rather 5. Conclusion than encourage action. This study shows that for social marketing to be successful, the size and scope of the problem people are being This study shows that people are responding to emotional appeals called upon to resolve with their actions must also be within the in pro-social advertising and that this response mirrors the process capacity of individual achievement. Much advertising, in delineating defined by Lazarus (1991) of ThreatNAppraisalNCoping behavior. the international or global scope of the problem(s), decreases the self- However, the method of coping adopted is not problem-oriented and efficacy of the individual and therefore decreases the likelihood of this results in anger, retreat and despondency as the felt emotional action. Furthermore, the indiscriminate use of negative appeals by responses. These emotions are demonstrated (by others) to be the many marketers in the social and consumer domains is resulting in antithesis of useful when attempting to motivate compliance (cf. emotional burn-out and therefore a decreased likelihood of accep- Bagozzi and Moore, 1994); although empathetic anger is an important tance of any messages — even the important ones. element in eliciting helping behaviors (Vitaglione and Barnett, 2003). Indeed, many of the seemingly maladaptive responses may be References associated with Staub's (1997) concept of ‘altruism born of suffering.’

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IIMB Management Review (2014) 26,17e27

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Deconstructing symbolic ideology in contemporary communication strategy in advertising: The case of Nirma and Wheel

Pragyan Rath*, Apoorva Bharadwaj

Business Ethics and Communication Group, Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, Kolkata, West Bengal 700104, India

KEYWORDS Abstract The paper reviews the conceptual applications of the use of semioethicsdrespon- Communication; sible use of symbolsdin advertising messages. We adopt an interdisciplinary approach to Persuasion; derive multiple meanings invested in seemingly simple persuasive strategies adopted in adver- Marketing; tisements, which in turn can act as complex potent forces shaping the psychological contours Semioethics; of a gendered society. We attempt a discourse analysis of two speciﬁc television advertise- Imagery; ments, Wheel and Nirma, as prototypes of contemporary advertising communication. We Narrative; deconstruct the paradox embedded in their symbolic representations that repudiate the Setting; explicit social agenda valorised by these commercials to promote their product ideologies. Gender ª 2014 Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. All rights reserved.

Introduction vZ4eLTBJnlnkc), both aiming to enhance their consumer volume in the same demographic segment, Indian middle 1 This research aims at deconstructing the use of symbols in class housewives (see box for description of the two particular advertisements, one from Nirma, broadcast advertisements). on Indian television channels (available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?vZ3kFRr06pa8o), and The objective of the research, apart from presenting the the other from Wheel, also broadcast on similar channels marketing discourse situated in these two popular television (available on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch? commercials in their roles as cultural referent systems, is also to demystify the layers of meanings that underlie the exterior of the advertised messages which not just broadcast their products but also sell ideologies that are capable of making an impact on the shaping of contemporary society. * Corresponding author. Tel.: þ91 33 2467 8300. E-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected] (P. Rath), [email protected] (A. Bharadwaj). Peer-review under responsibility of Indian Institute of Management 1 The phrase “middle class”, as popularised by theoreticians in Bangalore several Marxist discourses, has been used in the context of the paper to demarcate Indian consumers with identiﬁable cultural parameters such as consumption patterns (say, a group of consumers, who would exercise prudence when selecting products/ services that give them suitable return on investment). 0970-3896 ª 2014 Indian Institute of Management Bangalore. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.iimb.2013.12.001 18 P. Rath, A. Bharadwaj

Research methodology The Nirma advertisement starts with four women driving a car and stopping at a point where they wit- Theresearchisanexploratory,speculativeandinterdisci- ness an ambulance stuck in a puddle with people plinary conceptual review of two specific television adver- (including men in corporate suits) looking on curiously. tisements. The review focuses on four representational The men remain mute spectators without participating dimensions, each deconstructing revolutionary social concerns in the crisis situation as saviour-actors. It is at this and ideologies, to provide a broader context for recognising stage that the women alight and applying their might, and understanding polemical issues in marketing communica- push the vehicle out of the puddle, with an expression tion representations.2 The four dimensions are as follows: of triumph defining their countenance, shaming the men standing around. The advertisement ends with two competing consumer commodities, Nirma and the conventional Nirma refrain. On the other hand, Wheel washing powders; the Wheel advertisement begins with a homemaker the consumer symbols (visual and auditory) used in the (well-known television actress, Prachi Desai) surprised washing powder commercials; to see that her old washing powder has been discarded the persuasive techniques used to sell the product; and by her husband (the reigning superstar of Hindi the representations of and representations available to cinema, Salman Khan), who introduces a new washing the contemporary middle class woman as a consumer of powder (Wheel ). The husband persuades his wife to washing powder. accept the change of the product by delineating the qualities of Wheel as a washing powder with the power The researchers’ review of marketing communication of lemon and the enticing fragrance of flowers. The strategies that attempt to persuade the consumer on the advertisement ends with husband and wife playing grounds of emancipation from the stereotype is informed around in the courtyard of their home, amidst clothes by Schroeder et al.’s (2010) qualitative analysis of visual hanging out to dry, in a mood of romance, fun and imageries used in advertisements (2010) and Petrilli’s frolic, celebrating marital felicity. (2010) understanding of semioethics and responsibility. We attempt to show that the notion of emancipation is an equal participant in the tradition of the stereotype and it unwittingly ends up establishing a totalitarian ideology in a According to Douglas B. Holt, in his work How Brands become market that already succumbs to a “means end rationality” . Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding:“ brands (Burger,€ 1984, p. 9). In other words, the “end” (whether it . compete in myth markets, not product markets [and] be the intended profit to be accumulated by the sales of compete with other cultural products to perform myths that the product/service or the intended behavioural change resolve cultural contradictions” (Holt, 2004, p. 39; that the product/service is expected to establish, and Schroeder, Buchanan-Oliver, & Cruz et al., 2010, p. 636). The thereby enhance its profit margin) is predetermined; and researchers attempt to show the complex processes of the campaigns and methods of persuasion are initiated and resolving cultural contradictions through mythicisation, played out to achieve the expected end. Emphasising the where myths themselves might be continuations of those primacy of representation, Schroeder and Borgerson (2005) very cultural contradictions that they are expected to draw attention to the fact that “representation enters into demolish in their utopian depiction of cultures. the very constitution of things and categories” since the Over the past few years, there has been substantial way we think of ideas and objects is often shaped by their research on different strategies adopted for marketing representations. Further, the act of representation involves communications and their impact on consumer percep- the production of meaning through language systems, and tion. But little research is available on the application of this includes visual representation. They conclude that symbol deconstruction in the imagery used in advertise- “using representation as an analytic tool, researchers have . ments. According to Schroeder and Borgerson, “ outside emphasized how cultural practices, such as laws, rituals, of university courses in communication or cultural studies, norms, art, and advertising, contribute to meaning pro- there is relatively little education about marketing com- duction within marketing” (2005, p. 584e585). munication’s social, cultural, and pedagogical roles, nor about the production, history, and theory of visual representation” (Schroeder & Borgerson, 2005,p.581).Our research probes into the implications of the use of symbols 2 The four representational dimensions are significant thematic as vehicles of social discourse. The intention is to examine concerns that we derive from the analysis of the chosen advertise- the promotional vehicles of two popular products, Nirma ments. The first dimension is a natural parameter of analysis, since and Wheel, found on the work shelf of Indian middle class the research is about two competing brands for the same product women and demonstrate how the symbolic portrayal of a category; the second dimension is about the strategic use of symbols commercial can problematise its probable intended phi- in communicating the message of the commercials (symbols play a significant role in visual communication); the third dimension is losophy. Such studies can trigger new ways of critical about the techniques of persuasion used by the concerned com- thinking when planning communication strategies so that mercials (essentially all promotions are acts of persuasions); and the the aesthetic act of picking suitable symbols and imagery fourth dimension is relevant for analysis since both the commercials can be seen as an exercise in what Susan Petrilli calls involve female characters as crucial representational models semioethics or the responsible use of symbols (Petrilli, instrumental in unravelling the values of the concerned products to a 2010). target audience that comprises Indian middle class women. Symbolic deconstruction: branding Nirma and Wheel 19

Figure 1 Yardsticks for observation and comparison.

Given the potency of the representational currency of Imagery symbols, imageries, settings, and characterisations involved in scripting marketing messages, in this paper, the Opining on the high intrinsic value of imagery in the researchers have compared the advertisements of Nirma marketing communication discourse, Schroeder and and Wheel on the bases of certain parameters that they Borgerson (2005) say: “Visual images exist within a consider crucial to the analysis of social construction of distinctive socio-legal environment .[and] consumers meaning in marketing communications. knowingly interpret visual or text-based advertising messages, selectively choose meanings, and resist rhetorical Yardsticks for observation and comparison persuasion” (p. 580). In line with Schroeder and Borgerson we submit that the imagery deployed in Nirma evokes For significant comparison of the advertisements con- emotions of challenge, struggle and triumph to deliver the cerned, the researchers have considered critical categories intended message of action, whereas in Wheel, the im- of analysis such as imagery, characterisation, packaging of agery is more family oriented, evokes fun and frolic and a the product, use of Aristotelian logos/pathos/ethos as tools relaxed mood; in comparison it could be described as of persuasion,3 attributes of the product described, prod- “homely”. uct integration, use of narrative, punch line, music, and The contrast between the gendered perception of action setting and objects that establish the dimensions of mar- and homeliness further echoes Schroeder’s (2006) remarks: keting communications, and also give symbolic strength to “Constructing a visual genealogy of contemporary images any promotional message (see Figure 1). helps illuminate how marketing acts as a representational system that produces meaning beyond the realm of the advertised product, service or brand, connecting images to broader cultural codes that help create meaning” (p. 320). Taking into consideration the “socio-legal environment” 3 The critical categories chosen for analysis are the standard pa- suggested in the advertisement, along with the possible rameters of interpretation collated from narrative studies, visual “visual genealogy” of the images used, the researchers textual analysis, discourse analysis, and literary analysis. Such attempt a deconstruction of the same. parameters are essential in marketing communications when the In Nirma, an ambulance is pulled out of mud by a group attempt is made to study visual and textual attributes of advertisements. Moreover, the age-old Aristotelian logos/pathos/ethos of women, amidst a crowd of men who look embarrassed have been contemporised by their prolific use in modern narrative (visually represented by the lowering of the man’s eyes studies as well as in the study of rhetoric: these are academic fields when contrasted with the “mock” visible on the face of the that no qualitative analysis of advertisements can afford to miss heroic woman). The play between the expressions of even in marketing communications discourses. “mockery” and “embarrassment”, as well as the strategic 20 P. Rath, A. Bharadwaj choice of gendered manifestations of these expressions Marcuse (1996) argues that in an advanced industrial (man is embarrassed and the woman mocks) defines the society, the higher the job profile, the more is the instinc- perennial conflict between notions of progression and no- tual liberty: to put it in simple terms, we can say that the tions of regression. By progressive societies, we mean so- rich can enjoy certain leisure which the poor cannot. Thus cieties that are more comfortable with the release of the nature of instinct allowed is directly proportional to the instinctual drives as against regressive societies where so- economic segment one belongs to. If more people “prog- cial censure is practised. Our analysis here is informed by ress,” there has to be “surplus repression,” or what Marcuse Herbert Marcuse’s (1996) understanding of social re- defines as “the restrictions necessitated by social domina- pressions of human instincts. In his seminal work, Eros and tion” (1996, p. 35). So, when women release their instinc- Civilization, Marcuse has used both Marx and Freud to tual energy to adventure and prove their worth, it becomes explain the intricacies of the human struggle against the important for surplus repression of similar instincts in the social norms that prevent the release of instinctual desires; otherwise stereotyped practitioners of such worth (this is norms that are made to systematise the smooth functioning strictly pertaining to the particular advertisement under of societies in the interests of dominant social forces, but in introspection). Thus, worth is established through a product the name of discipline and civilisation. It was originally that legalises social progress, namely, women as front- Freud (1989), who analysed the conflict between natural runners, but at the cost or repression of the stereotyped instincts (Id ) and societal norms and mores (the super ego) frontrunners now represented as muted spectators of in his work, Civilization and Its Discontents. Taking off from progress. Marcuse further interprets Freud: “The constraint Freud, Marcuse contends that in advanced industrial civi- on the gratification of instinctual needs imposed by the fa- lisations, the instincts get repressed all the more. The ther, the suppression of pleasure,. not only was the result instinctual energy is then channelised into disciplined and of domination but also created the mental preconditions for progressive work that, at the end, helps institutionalise the the continued functioning of domination” (1996, p. 61). In disciplined instinct as productive for a structured society. the light of Marcuse’s treatise, the advertisement can be However, Marcuse also argues that progress is a conceptual seen as an unwitting vehicle of propagation of a new system disguise initiated by a highly developed civilisation that of domination camouflaged as social progress and liberation. helps to cement the progress of civilisation as a valid The Wheel commercial also depicts characters from the excuse or reason for that progress to happen. The more middle class. There are only two characters in this com- alienated the labour, the more the worker enters the mercial, husband and wife, representing an Indian middle industrialised and managerial sectors (the researchers limit class couple. While the commercial does not escape the the alienated labour concept to white collar jobs stereo- context of “selective enjoyment of instincts” provided by typed as non-mechanical labour). In such a framework of the economic stratum of society to which the characters in human tension, we submit that the modern condition of the advertisement belong, it signals an enjoyment of progressive women reverberates with Marcuse’s concept of feminine instincts by a man within the same economic progress as camouflage and this is corroborated by the structure. The male character has been shown using the following analyses. symbol of fragrance, to persuade his wife to change her The Nirma advertisement implies that the modern choice of washing powder. The man is shown histrionically woman, who at one time was limited to washing clothes, enjoying the sensation of fragrance himself. If we look at now can perform a “manly” task such as pulling out an the Hindi translation of the word “fragrance” (“sugandh”), ambulance which is stuck in the mud. We submit that the the word is traditionally used as a feminine nomenclature. paradox here is not instinctual liberation for women, but The concerned advertisement uses the word “khushboo”, instinctual repression for men. The liberated modern which is an Urdu usage and is grammatically feminine as woman is able to move ahead and get a blocked system well. Moreover, when the husband is shown in the act of (ambulance and the environment) to progress. The throwing out the “yellow” powder and introducing the new advertisement shows the woman tucking part of her Wheel, the act has the potential to make a strong impact on garment round her waist in a business-like manner as she the minds of the viewers who can see how the husband gets ready to perform the task on hand. The genealogical demonstrates sensitivity towards the woman by “liber- relevance of this gesture (which she would have made ating” her from the “problems” of the old powder and helps ideally when preparing to wash clothes) pertains to the her by giving her a new “solution” that will make her life woman getting ready to work, but the work in this instance easier. The husband successfully deposes the age-old is pulling an ambulance out and not a household chore such chauvinist patriarch, who is so busy in combating the as washing clothes. The advertisement implies that Nirma challenges of the outside world of action that he does not has the capacity to clean dirt that stains clothes when an spend time and perhaps even derides spending time in act such as pulling an ambulance out of the mud is per- understanding the so-called mundane, “feminine” life that formed. The major players who stage the socio-legal scene women lead within the domestic portals of his home. Yet, come from the heterogeneous middle class segment of the husband, while celebrating feminine attributes, is society. There is a surplus liberation of the age-old soci- consciously presented in a strong and masculine look. Thus, etal and legal restriction of the masculine instinct of the the level of repressive competition is rested for the woman: the age-old desire in the woman to be adventurous moment in favour of a harmonious coexistence. like the man. Victory is witnessed through the contrasting expressions of the mock (woman) and embarrassment (men). Such portrayals of emotions clearly establish a Proposition 1. Imagery plays a pivotal role in instituting competitive field. new gendered meanings into the text of advertising Symbolic deconstruction: branding Nirma and Wheel 21

visually represented as embarrassed; and they make quick Table 1 Attributes of gender representation from the and sound judgment that translates into physical action. Nirma advertisement. But again, if there is an inter-change in the gender headings Men Women (see Table 1), the dominant or appraised attributes of the male character remain dominant or appraised anyway. In Do not take Take action other words, the male qualifications are now projected in action the characterisation of liberated, modern, and indepen- Reticent Aggressive dent women. This is the same irony exposed by Schroeder (look down (mock at others when he invokes the visual representations enshrined in the with guilt) post action) marketing campaigns of Benetton and CK One opining that Feel through Think through “.Benetton claims to be promoting racial harmony and the situation the situation world peace,.[when] it ends up reinforcing racial preju- (evident in (evident in action) dice. Perhaps the CK One images are not quite as alarming the expressions) as the Benetton campaigns, but it may be that, by including images of marginalized segments of society, some of the same stereotyping processes are at work” (2006, p. 315). In messages which, in turn, is likely to condition socio- other words, the projection of masculine women as against psychological mindsets. effeminate men in the 1994 CK One perfume commercial with the model Kate Moss, while establishing the ethics of gender role reversal, also committed the logical fallacy of Characterisation celebrating masculine attributes but in women as over feminine attributes but in men, which Schroeder charac- Many times, commercials become household names terises as “same stereotyping processes at work”. because of the use of iconic characters, and these char- In contrast, the Wheel advertisement uses perhaps the acters in turn become symbols for those products. The most prominently publicised alpha male celebrity, the characters become iconic because of projected features, current box office draw in the Hindi film industry, Salman mannerisms, style, or content which can be grouped as a Khan, but in a diametrically opposite setting. Salman Khan, dominant identity. Thus the product almost becomes syn- as a character in the advertisement, retains his machismo onymous with the identity of the character who propagates in his looks, but initiates a new movement in household the use of that product. In an attempt to understand the matters, interestingly not on the streets but within the characterisations of personalities in the Nirma commercial, domestic setting. He introduces the new washing powder for instance, the researchers prepare a binary chart that (throwing the “yellow” away); attracts the woman with its contains the attributes that they derive from their obser- appealing floral fragrance; and accentuates the cleansing vation of the depiction of both the genders in the capability of the powder by citing lemon as its key ingre- commercial. dient; and both, the value of the lemon (as cleansing The outcome is even more interesting when the binaries power) and the floral fragrance (as a sensuous experience) listed in Table 1 are further contextualised within the larger are equally emphasised. Along with the typical narration of problematisation of “identity characterisation” as elabo- the cleansing power of a washing powder, the effort the rated by Schroeder and Borgerson (2005). Let us first un- husband takes to win the wife’s approval of the product by derstand what Schroeder and Borgerson have to say about emphasising fragrance as one of its hallmark attractions the “abuse” of “identity characterisation”: “Semiotic clearly demonstrates his understanding of feminine sensi- meaning draws upon dualistic notions of being, identity, bility. This feminine sensibility exhibited signals the advent and differencedsuch as self/other, male/female, white/ of a metro-sexual man. His glamorous image as the alpha black, rational/emotional, culture/nature, and normal/ man is retained, but his actions add a feminine texture to exoticdthe opposed elements of which stabilize various his visual alphahood. Here is a representation of harmo- positive and negative cultural associations and values.”. nious co-operation rather than gender competition. Thus, they emphasise the dangers of the abuse of these “meaning systems” that “may reinforce and reproduce Proposition 2. Symbolic attributes with which characters damaging images of identity” (“meaning systems” that are are invested in persuasive messages provide the product heavily used in and by marketing communication dis- promoted an ideological value: the attributes of the courses). They further assert that “privileged elements” character become the attributes of the product itself. like “the male, the rational, and the normal” occupy a superlative position marginalising representations of “the female, the emotional, and the exotic” as peripheral and Packaging of the product/attributes of the product/ therefore weaker (2005, p. 583). product integration Against the background of the abuse of “identity characterisation”, the researchers notice an exchange of John Berger’s (2008) Ways of Seeing has pioneered a pop- gendered stereotypes in the chosen commercials. In the ular trend in visual analysis of advertisements by his critical Nirma advertisement, women are represented as extro- evaluation of the politics that underlies the language of verted; they revel in sensation (revelling in masculine advertisements. He discusses the psychology of consumer strength and victory over the other gender); they think mentality through the cultural process of “publicity” in through the conflict situation unlike the man, who is marketing and advertisements. The world of advertisement 22 P. Rath, A. Bharadwaj

Table 2 Packaging of product through “envy”, “virtue”, and “conﬂict”/“competition”. Envy Virtue Conﬂict/competition Nirma Man unable to do what he was The masculine power of physical Mock in the woman’s face expected to do; woman does it. action; saving somebody in trouble versus embarrassment in Female audience would envy the through physical action. the man’s face utopian screen woman to be able The above virtues depicted in women. to make a man feel that. Wheel Man entering the woman’s world and The feminine, the fragrance, feminine None, since the man helping her out. Hence unable to establish work of washing clothes. does not look pained envy between gender roles. The above feminine virtues or embarrassed. But female audience would envy the screen depicted in man. woman in the commercial for having such a sensitive and helpful husband.

presents an alternative way of life; a way of life which Thus, imagery and characterisation are metaphoric is apparently the future and not the present or the past; projections of all that the product intends to stand for. The a way of life that is “better” than the present or the researchers’ concern is in the process of manufacturing of past. The researchers use the word “virtues” in the light glamour and its proclaimed change of life into a better of Berger’s assertion of a “better way of life” as the future: while Nirma glamorises the modern woman only at working hypothesis for advertisements and their the expense of the man, Wheel integrates the man into the ideologies. Here, by “virtues,” the researchers do not woman’s world at no one’s expense, since the man is mean morals. Say, a liquor product displaying qualities enjoying the work, thus establishing more “envy” for the of “hotness” and “promiscuousness” would still stimulate “woman’s virtue interestingly in a man” amidst its con- a consumer society with its “virtues” of “heat” and sumers, thus further propelling “competition” amidst its “seduction.” ”Virtues” become essential attributes of rival brands, without taking recourse to “competition” products and services for the consumer market. The only within the narrative of the advertisement as in the case of way a commercial can persuade consumers to buy a Nirma. The Wheel packaging is perhaps more intelligently product is through this reliance on “changing life for the pitched, the researchers would assert, since “envy,” “vir- better,” and through communication of those very “virtue” and “competition” are subtly played out in their tues” that enable the product to change your life, once you marketing strategy, beyond their persuasive message buy it, use it, and accept it. Berger calls this form of narration structure. communication “publicity”. He also proposes that we “envy” those who seem to have made life better through Proposition 3. Packaging of the product entails selling of the use of the product advertised, thus glamorising the futuristic ideologies: persuasive messages with sociological enviable change. Along the lines of Berger, the researchers agenda (of selling the idea of futuristic virtuous societies) contend that the “virtuous change” that the product in- may ironically create paradoxes that reinforce instead of tends to bring into our lives becomes the point of exchange reinventing new social orders. between the product and the consumer. Thus, the persuasive message is aimed at advertising the probable change, and the character of the change is what the researchers call Use of Aristotelian persuasion tools: logos/pathos/ the “virtue”. ethos4 Nirma powder is thus integrated into a narrative that glamorises the liberation of the Indian woman. The “envy” In Nirma, no logic is given as to what chemical properties factor is thus prominent in the contrast between “mock” make the powder ideal for washing dirt as strong as puddle- and “embarrassment” between the two genders, as mud. Yet, logic does operate, but in an implied manner. referred to earlier. Thus, the product is packaged with The clothes get dirty; Nirma is there to clean the dirt. But, “virtues” of change publicised in the way women would cleaning the dirt is only a small part of a larger motif: Nirma want men to look at them (“mock” versus “embarrass- is not just a chemical product that eases the cleaning act. ment”). In contrast, the Wheel advertisement packages The persuasive discourse is not about the newness of fragrance, flowers, and goodness of lemon in a frolicking Nirma, it is already a cult product; it is more about the chemistry between the man and the woman; there is no changing role of the woman using the cult product. Ethos change in the woman’s representation, but it is the man (universal principle) is then at the level of social change: who is made to actively participate along with the woman the new modern women who can “mock” the “embar- in her chore. The “virtue” of the woman is celebrated in rassed” men. Would that be an ethical choice to make is the the man, while the patriarchal “virtue” of the man is thematic question the researchers continue to ask. On the celebrated in women in the Nirma commercial. Thus, the stereotype is maintained in both, but the packaging of the “envy,” the “virtue” and the “conflict” or “competition” of the stereotypes is different in both (refer Table 2) 4 Refer to footnote 3. Symbolic deconstruction: branding Nirma and Wheel 23 contrary, logos has been used to show that Wheel has there is a damsel or a weakling in distress; then a knight certain content for fragrance and some chemicals like gallantly solves the problem (usually saves the damsel) with lemon as a cleansing agent; so there are multiple benefits physical strength and intellectual agility, thus advertising in the task of washing itself. Thus, washing as an activity virtues like courage, loyalty and honour (Abrams & that must be made enjoyable (fragrance) and effective Harpham, 2012). The same plot is played out in Nirma but (power of cleansing agent) has been considered. with a reversed motif: reversed chivalry. The problem is an The Wheel advertisement also uses pathos (emotions) ambulance, driven by a man, stuck in a puddle; the chal- extensively in the depiction of the role of the husband, who lenge is who will get into the puddle to push the ambulance is projected as a concerned companion of his wife. He not out. The surprise climax is that women instead of men only wants his wife to use a powder that has fragrance and come to the rescue, flaunting female gallantry in a flam- better cleansing agents (logos) to make her job of washing boyant fashion. Thus this narrative scripts a mini-story with enjoyable and effective, but also joins the wife in her ac- which consumers (predominantly female) are expected to tivity of washing clothes. Thus, the role of washing clothes identify themselves and celebrate the elation of its exalted is ambiguously gendered, or the stereotypic gendered role eulogy of the feminine gender. In contrast, the romance in of washing clothes at home is problematised. Pathos also the Wheel commercial is more domestic, or a “reversed” works well in the simple monosyllabic and non-verbal conform of “milk narratives”. “Milk narratives” are forms of versations between the husband and the wife. The narratives that trace the fluid connections of women’s ex- communication of “hi and bye” is brief but again has strong periences from mothers to daughters (Daemmrich, 2003). feminine overtones. When the husband proposes that from Here, the commercial traces the fluid connections of today the wife must say hello to this new powder and bid women’s experiences from the husband to the wife. goodbye to the old one (through the act of throwing away The researchers conclude in line with Daemmrich (2003) the “yellow powder”), the paralanguage witnessed is soft that human endeavours like storytelling and reading are and resonates with affection for the spouse. Thus, the also gendered activities. The narrative in Nirma is centered husband’s use of language as well as meta-communication on the loss, search, discovery, and creation of paradise. is not masculine in the conventional sensedexpressions of There is loss of movement for ambulance, search for competition, aggressiveness, and autocracydinstead the rescue, discovery of the problem by both men and women, communication implies love, affection, and affability. and finally through the motif of chivalric romances, crea- Moreover, when the husband and wife play around the field tion of paradise (ambulance restored) but by women. Using while drying out clothes (meta-communication, non- the masculine narrative plot, which Daemmrich describes verbal), there is a subtle message that domestic work is as “blood narratives of adventure and quest” (2003, p. not the exclusive responsibility of the wife. The pathos 213), Nirma writes the modern woman’s tale. As observed looms into the larger ethical concern of gender represen- earlier, the gender-power structure is changed, but the tation through domestic work by showing a “glamorous” significance of the plot as masculine is retained, since such husband (macho) surprisingly and endearingly feminine in significance is used to lend credibility to the tale of verbal and non-verbal communication. This representation adventure of the new woman. has a strong subtext of social change, since the change is In Wheel as well, there is a narrative, but a family drama ethical, yet glamorous and envious. The researchers offer that unfolds in a woman’s space, like in the “milk narra- that this advertisement has the potential to act as a model tives.” Traditionally, the stock plot of milk narratives for changing strategic communication which could work comprised characters like grandmothers passing the mantle towards challenging the insular patriarchal society of India. of their hoary wisdom to their granddaughters, and the Paradoxically, a seemingly “feminist” commercial re- folklore of domestic felicity continued through generations inforces the parochial mindset of male superiority, through by means of dialogues. But, here, the husband becomes the the logic (logos) of celebration of male action, while a modern counterpart of the “grandmother” sharing an “macho Salman Khan” advertisement endorses the triumph experience with his wife in the traditionally defined wom- of womanhood by logically (logos) bringing “on the common an’s space, and what the husband shares is the washing ground” a superstar in the guise of a “male homemaker”. powder experience, which is typified as a household and feminine concern. Though the husband endorses the pow- Proposition 4. By employing the medium of logos (logic), der, he has to persuade his wife to use the powder. Thus, the advertisers try to manufacture a revolutionary ethos the advertisement recreates the story of female concerns (ethics) by programming the target audience’s pathos through the dexterous employment of feminine symbols by (emotions). a man in a feminine narrative enacted in a woman’s inner space. If Daemmrich discussed the connection between Use of narrative gender and narratives, Berger and Schroeder (2005) have established the connection between representational The researchers contend that the narrative approach in structures in narratives (particularly in visual arts) and in both the commercials is predominantly that of a romance. advertisements. In Schroeder’s (2005) words: “The visual The Nirma commercial utilises a specific form of a romantic arts [narrative arts] are an impressive cultural referent narrative, which the researchers term as “reversed system that brand managers, art directors, and adver- chivalric romance”. “Chivalric romance” was the popular tising agencies draw upon for their strategic representa- style of prose or verse orated in aristocratic circles of tional power” (2005, p. 1301). The interconnection medieval Europe. The plot was woven around a problem: between brands, art and culture is also reflected in our 24 P. Rath, A. Bharadwaj chosen advertisements, where narrative styles become Proposition 6. The inanimate settings used within adver- synonymous with the representational values of the tisements can lead to re-designing psychological settings brand. that the product tries to propagate.

Proposition 5. The narrative structure used by advertisers is as ideologically invested as is the product itself: incon- Music/punch line gruous choice of narrative may lead to destruction of product ideologies. The music in Wheel is a happy tune celebrating the conjugal bonding, in which the husband and wife appear in a playful mood, partaking of the day-to-day joys. The music is soft Setting/objects used and like a merry jingle. But in Nirma the iconic jingle is rendered anew and in our opinion, comes across as a paean The setting in Wheel is the courtyard of a home with of triumph over challenges rather than a jingle of a happy strings of clothes hanging out to dry. The objects used are homemaker. But the triumph over challenge appears to be strings and clothes and a bucket of water conjuring up the exhibitionist; what is an announcement of female emanci- image of domesticity. The setting in Nirma is of the out- pation also becomes a precondition to male repression. door world with a puddle in the street. The object used is In Nirma the famous punch line “doodh si safedi Nirma se an ambulance, a “male” vehicle. A woman is shown aayee .” (“milky whiteness comes from Nirma”) has been alighting from a car, which again stands as the symbol of curtailed and only the names of the women are retained and masculine power maneuvered by a woman who is the ending of the celebrated jingle is played “sabki pasand demonstrated as driving it thereby employing the physical Nirma”(“Nirma is the choice of all”). Again, “sabki” (“all”) vehicle as the metaphor for the social vehicle of change. includes the names of the women but no male name is Thus, setting and objects can lead to identity construction included. The stereotype is further maintained: only women as well. The gender role is redefined in Nirma,inan wash. In Wheel, it is the man who introduces the washing outdoor, extrovert persona and a man’s world. What was powder, so that the woman enjoys the fragrance and lets the earlier the man’s domain, now is invaded by the woman lemon do the cleansing part. The tag line “Is main hain and a powerful one at that: in Schroeder’s words: “.if nimboo ki shakti aur hazaroan phoolon ki khusboo” which sexual roles are constructed in representation, they can translates to “Wheel has power of lemon and fragrance of also be revised and restructured in discourse” (2005, p. thousands of flowers” gets repeated often. The gender 1297). But with this role reversal, what is the message discourse equally emphasises the feminine flowers (“flower” being given out through the seemingly feminist branding in Hindi “phool” is grammatically a feminine noun) and the of a product? In Schroeder’s words again: “If consumers masculine lemon (“lemon” in Hindi “nimboo” is grammati- create themselves via brands, what kinds of identities are cally a male noun) and is articulated by the male character of available to them?” (2005, p. 1297). the commercial accentuating the unisex appeal of not only In Wheel, the inner space of the house, traditionally the product but also of the practice of washing which is designed for the woman, evokes Elaine Showalter’s (1981) emblematic of household responsibility. reference to the wilderness that characterises a certain aspect of a man’s life, as contrasted with a woman’s life. Proposition 7. The lyrical treatment of persuasive mes- What men do outside the home space, their adventures, sages can also lead to consolidating certain socio-political their wilderness, which women do not have access to, tendencies owing to its degree of connect with the target develops into a form of legend talked about by women in audience. their personal space. But the women in their most private experiences also have a wilderness, which Showalter describes as “no-man’s land, a place forbidden to men” Theoretical implications of the study (1981, p. 200) or the y zone, and this corresponds to the male zone x, which is “off limits to women” (1981, p. The researchers compare the two chosen commercials 200). She adds that women as per cultural anthropology critically to establish how just the use of symbols alone know the male crescent or x (or the no-woman’s land), does not give meaning to a product’s ideology; it is the which they refer to as the legend of the wilderness, a contextual placement of these symbols that changes their legend that the Nirma ad actually makes a utopian semantic connotations. Thus, in one commercial, the conquest of through female invasion. However, in Wheel, symbols may be modern but the ideology is old; while in the themanisshownwillinglyand enthusiastically partici- other, even symbolic stereotypes may be deciphered to pating in what Showalter calls the woman’s wilderness, offer new meanings to the message. The research aims to which men hitherto have not been paying heed to. Thus, expostulate the inevitable irony in the usage of symbolic even if Wheel isasutopianinitsstructureasNirma,what communication strategy espoused in marketing communi- is interesting is the effort made by a man to enter the cations through the chosen commercials. zone y, an otherwise insipid world not having the glamour Ethical use of symbols is not about moral propaganda or of a legend. Unlike in Nirma, where there is conquest of social revolution alone; it is about what kind of future we zone x by the denizens of zone y, here, as role reversal, are looking for, and what definition of emancipation we we find a zone x representative, not conquering in a intend to give in the proposed scope. In the process, what competitive spirit, but inhabiting with the inmate of zone emerges is the need to legitimise the engagement with yinzoneyitself. plurality of possible meanings at the level of what Fredric Symbolic deconstruction: branding Nirma and Wheel 25

Jameson calls the “political unconscious” (Jameson, 1981) symbols that create a more democratic future. One even- of the consumer and his/her demography, and also at tually, even though not initially, is dependent on the thought the level of “visual display” of those pluralities. Such of a community of inquirers; inquirers that Petrilli catego- legitimisation is a crucial part of the answer to the rises as “semiotic animals” or “cosmically responsible question regarding the future of persuasive marketing agents” (2010). In other words, the researchers propose the communication. need for persuasive marketing strategies as a critique of all Since plurality is inevitable now, how can a non- claims to the status of totalities, and ethics here would entail hierarchical system exist, if at all? To quote Jameson: what Schroeder addresses as celebration of differences rather than consuming them (2006, p. 303e321). Pluralism means one thing when it stands for the coexistence of methods and interpretations in the intellectual and academic marketplace, but quite another when Action plan for marketers it is taken as a proposition about the infinity of possible meanings and methods and their ultimate equivalence Though advertising is a creative art which has its own artistic with and substitutability for one another..[M]ind is not license, yet the marketing giants (“semiotic animals”) content until it puts some order in these findings and cannot afford to turn a blind eye towards their social obli- invents a hierarchical relationship among its various in- gation (“cosmically responsible agents”); though it may not terpretations. (1981, p. 16) be a major variable on their explicit agenda. Since advertisements which are televised reach a very wide segment of The researchers are not primarily studying the product audience and due to their iterations can exercise a potent or the advertisement as the text for persuasion; they are reinforcement of perceptions they are marketing, one scrutinising the “interpretive frameworks” that construct should try to scrutinise not just their apparent import but the text. In their attempt at re-packaging a product or also the subtle messages which are embedded in the symbols service for a “better social future”, the creative advertisers they use. This subliminal advertising, which entails intend to break the contextual “hierarchical relationship” conveying subtle messages, can act as conditioning forces (here the focus is on the gendered structure of society). impacting behavioural patterns of the viewers. Hence, if by But, they should also be aware that their intention (how- watching the Nirma ad, the subliminal symbolism translates ever legitimate it might be in its positive assertion) cannot into the message that if one wants to get social supremacy be de-coupled from interpretive frameworks that may one should act macho, it can be counterproductive. While culminate into construction of the hierarchical relation- the Wheel ad presenting a superstar, who is widely consid- ships which they intend to destroy. This continual dilemma ered the dream model for Indian men’s aspiration, in an between hierarchical relationships and interpretive angle that seems supportive of the work that women do, can frameworks is also our “historical,” “moral,” “interpretive” sell the idea of understanding that being macho does not and “literal” (Jameson, 1981, p. 16) points of burden as mean trivialising women for the work they do (in the adver- well as potential possibilities of transformations. tisement it is the domestic chore of washing) but, also The researchers contend that persuasive communication empathising with them so that society can stand healthy on in advertisements replays the complex dilemma between the ground of gender egalitarianism. hierarchical relationships and interpretive frameworks: a Since the advertisements are produced on a grand dilemma which has been the subject of concern so long. The canvas and celebrity endorsers are brought in to add a dash concern is all the more significant since advertisement of glamour to the advertisement, we can assume that the communication plays to a market with concrete outcomes. marketers are fully aware of the phenomenon of viewer’s We say “concrete” because persuasion as a communication psychology that prompts the action of not only the con- tool is used to bring about a marked change in human sumption of the product advertised, but also of the ideol- behaviour (Munter, 2011), and hence, advertisements have ogy associated with it. As tantalising glamour is associated the potential to change consumer mindset which in turn has with the scintillating product advertised, the advertise- enormous impact on their lifestyles. At this juncture, we ments act as agents of aspiration fulfilment for the audi- refer to Berger (2008) again: he looks at advertisement as a ence receiving them. The creative heads designing the publicity tool that offers a better and alternative way of life advertisements should understand the concept of sublimi- through the possession of the product advertised. Hence, for nal advertising, which entails transmitting messages which any persuasive act, the value of the “future” becomes the are below the threshold of normal perception, and are not focal point of persuasion, ironically played out to the consumed consciously. However, these messages still get intended audience in the present. Yet the inevitable paradox mentally registered and can have a detrimental impact on in the valorisation of the future lies in the fact that its value is the attitude of the viewers if the symbols tend to engender determined by the past. Thus, the future is seen as changing negative notions. With the right screening and auditing by the present but the present is a hermeneutic outcome of the experts on audio-visual media, marketers can sell their past. “Marketing representations have the power to make us products aggressively [which is in their salient business believe that we know something we have no experience of agenda], while being aware and conscious of the fact that and to influence the experiences we have in the future” they are selling packaged in their products attitudes, per- (Schroeder & Borgerson, 2005, p. 584). Thus, if persuasion is ceptions, and prejudices that can condition social behav- addressing a better future, and advertising is the employ- iour. Being conscious of this fact will make them ment of sign processes, then persuasive advertising must responsible agents instrumenting the purchase of not only involve in pluralistic interaction of visual and auditory the right product but also responsible ideology. Though 26 P. Rath, A. Bharadwaj

Table 3 Research propositions Propositions P1: Imagery plays a pivotal role in instituting new gendered meanings into the text of advertising messages which, in turn, is likely to condition socio-psychological mindsets. P2: Symbolic attributes with which the characters are invested in persuasive messages provide the product promoted an ideological value; the attributes of the character become the attributes of the product itself. P3: Packaging of the product entails selling of futuristic ideologies: persuasive messages with sociological agenda (of selling the idea of futuristic virtuous societies) may ironically create paradoxes that reinforce instead of reinventing new social orders. P4: By employing the medium of logos (logic), the advertisers try to manufacture a revolutionary ethos (ethics) by programming the target audience’s pathos (emotions). P5: The narrative structure used by advertisers is as ideologically invested as is the product itself: incongruous choice of narrative may lead to destruction of product ideologies. P6: The inanimate settings used within the advertisements can lead to re-designing psychological settings that the product tries to propagate. P7: The lyrical treatment of persuasive messages can also lead to consolidating certain socio-political tendencies owing to its degree of connect with the target audience.

there is no legal binding on them to act so, if they can larger philosophical canvas to marketing media in broad- become ethically responsible for what they portray, it can casting revolutionary mutation in the social fabric. Since not only trigger right social change but can also lead to a advertisements do not just sell products but also, at times, robust brand reputation for the products and services they have been instrumental in the social launch of new ideol- promote in the long run. ogies that trigger new thinking patterns, this medium of See Table 3 for research propositions. communication should be studied employing multiplicity of perspectives. “Future marketing research on visual issues Conclusions must acknowledge images’ representational and rhetorical power both as cultural artefacts and as engaging and deceptive bearers of meaning, reflecting broad societal, The methodology of this review rests on unearthing para- cultural, and ideological codes” (Schroeder, Cruz, & doxes or conflicting binaries that problematise the final Buchanan-Oliver, 2010, p. 647). Thus, marketers should revolutionary claim of the advertisements. The researchers strive to fathom the socio-cultural semantics that con- willingly and humbly accept the limitation of choosing ad- sumers construct in the framework of advertisements so as vertisements strategically that complement their review. to become evangelists of a new world order. These advertising messages have been culled to elucidate Moreover, future research must be conducted in quali- the content focus of the paper. There is no claim made tative and quantitative analyses of the real-time response over the epitome value of these commercial advertise- of the target audience to two such contrasting advertisements. Advertisements should not be treated as merely ments, such that the role of the Indian woman (housewife representational marketing campaigns but also as promo- and otherwise) and her response is documented and used tional vehicles that prod marketing communications re- for analysis and development of a research process for the searchers to focus on critical dimensions of marketing evaluation of such communications. (The authors have strategy that need thoughtful analysis; in other words, they initiated a sequel research work on the same, where they are representational social campaigns as well. On a broader compare the response of the target audience to cosmetics level, these marketing discourses can hint at inas a process of external image building on the one hand, terpretations of images and symbols embedded in adver- and washing powder advertisements as a process of do- tisements and their social and cultural import. “The claim mestic image building on the other, to contrast and is not that some advertising, as well as other forms of compare the representations of Indian women in their marketing communications, might offend the concerned public and domestic capacities.) group and its members, but that certain forms of representation may limit their opportunities for the future by undermining or sabotaging their reputation” (Schroeder & References Borgerson, 2005, p. 585). Abrams, M. H., & Harpham, G. G. (2012). A glossary of literary Future directions for research terms. Wadsworth. Berger, J. (2008). Ways of seeing. Penguin. Burger,€ P. (1984). Theory of the Avant-Garde (Michael Shaw, This area can become a fertile ground for future research Trans.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press (Originally in since the contextual loci of symbol and imagery are central German as Theorie der Avantgarde in 1974). to any marketing communication. If strategically Daemmrich, I. (2003). Paradise and storytelling: interconnecting employed, the symbolic and visual richness can be insti- gender, motif, and narrative structure. Narrative, 11(2), tuted in promotional vehicles of various products to impart 213e233. Symbolic deconstruction: branding Nirma and Wheel 27

Freud, S. (1989). Civilization and its discontents. New York: Schroeder, J. E. (2005). The artist and the brand. European Journal Norton. of Marketing, 39(11/12), 1291e1305. Holt, D.. B. (2004). How brands become icons: The principles of Schroeder, J. E. (2006). Critical visual analysis. In Russell W. Belk cultural branding. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. (Ed.), Handbook of qualitative research methods in marketing Jameson, F. (1981). The political Unconscious: Narrative as a (303e332). Cheltenham: Edward. Socially symbolic act. Cornell University Press. Schroeder, J. E., & Borgerson, J. L. (2005). An ethics of represen- Marcuse, H. (1996). Eros and civilization: a philosophical inquiry tation for international marketing communication. Interna- into Freud. Oxos: Routledge. tional Marketing Review, 22(5), 578e600. Munter, M. (2011). Guide to managerial communication: effective Schroeder, J.,E., Cruz, A., & Buchanan-Oliver, M. (2010). Shaping business writing and speaking. Delhi: Pearson. the body and technology: discursive implications for the stra- Petrilli, S. (2010). Semioethics and responsibility: beyond spe- tegic communication of technological brands. European Journal cialisms, universalisms, and humanisms. In John Deely (Ed.), of Marketing, 44(5), 635e652. Sign crossroads in global perspective: semiotics and re- Showalter, E. (1981). Feminist criticism in the wilderness. Critical sponsibility (3e48). New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. Inquiry, 8(2), 179e205. This article was downloaded by: [Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette] On: 23 December 2014, At: 00:15 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK

Journal of Advertising Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ujoa20 A Content Analysis of Guilt Appeals in Popular Magazine Advertisements Bruce A. Huhmann & Timothy P. Brotherton Published online: 31 May 2013.

To cite this article: Bruce A. Huhmann & Timothy P. Brotherton (1997) A Content Analysis of Guilt Appeals in Popular Magazine Advertisements, Journal of Advertising, 26:2, 35-45, DOI: 10.1080/00913367.1997.10673521 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00913367.1997.10673521

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Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing, systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http:// www.tandfonline.com/page/terms-and-conditions A Content Analysis of Guilt Appeals in Popular MagazineAdvertisements Bruce A. Huhmann and Timothy P. Brotherton The authors document advertisers' application ofguilt appeals as a method ofinfluence. A content analysis of guilt advertisements in 24 magazines reveals that (1) guilt appeals appear in advertising at a level compa rable to that ofother appeals (e.g., humor, sexual, and comparisons}, (2) guilt appeals appear in every maga zine type, but are most common in news and general editorial magazines, (3) the majority ofguilt ads have anticipatory guilt appeals, (4) the single most common guilt statement is the statement offact, (5) guilt is typically employed in the ad copy or in both the copy and visual images, and (6) guilt appeals appear most often in ads for charities and health-related products. 1mplicationB ofthe content analysis are considered. and research directionB outlined.

Bruce A. HuIuaann (MA, Univer· Negative appeals have long been recognized as an important method of aity ol Alabama) it a doctoral atuclent in the Department ol Manapment persuasion, and advertisers have used such appeals for decades (e.g., Higbee and Marketiqat the Univenity ol 1969). However, most academic research on the application of negative Alabama. appeals in advertising has focused on fear. Forexample, a search ofJournal Timothy P. Brotherton (MSM, of Advertising issues from 1972 to 1995 uncovered three articles on fear Purdue Univenity) it a doctoral atudent in the Department ol appeals, but none on guilt appeals. Other negative appeals-anger, insecu Manapment and Marketiqat the rity, envy, regret, and shame-also have been largely ignored. Univenity ol Alabama. Guilt appeals have begun to receive some attention from researchers of The authon thank Sharon Beatty, emotional appeals in advertising. Coulter and Pinto (1995) measured the Sean Dwyer, 0801'18Franke, Wendy Martin, Yorro Puact-, and Phil effect of guilt appeals on ad and brand attitudes. Burnett and Lunsford Trocchia lor their helpful commenta. (1994) conceptualized the role of guilt in consumerpurchase decisions. Ruth In addition, they are II'lltelul to the and Faber (1988) demonstrated that consumers exposed to guilt appeals in editor, LeaCarlaon, and the anony· moua reviewen lor their contribu· ads have a higher intention to comply with suggested behaviors than other tiona. The authon made equal consumers. Those studies have confirmed that guilt is an identifiable con contributiona to the work. Order ol authonhip wu determined ran struct that can be manipulated by advertisers, but they have not addressed domly. the broader issues of how or how often advertisers are using that type of emotional appeal. To understand advertisers' application of guilt appeals, researchers need to know how those appeals are executed and the frequency with which they appear in currentadvertising. The value of further research on the effects of guilt appeals is questionable without empirical documentation of their ac tual use in advertising. Moreover, specific knowledge of the application of Downloaded by [Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette] 00:15 23 December 2014 guilt appeals can aid researchers in recognizing the guilt phenomenon, designing realistic experiments, selecting suitable variables and factor lev els, and producing externally valid findings. We therefore conducted a study to investigate the extent to which guilt appeals appear in popular magazine advertising, as well as their mode of presentation. Magazine advertising was chosen because it reaches a na tional audience, has verbal and visual components, and can present ex tended copy in which a variety of appeals may appear. After reviewing relevant literature, we report the results of a content analysis of the guilt advertisements in 24 popular magazines. We enumerate the kinds of guilt and the verbal and visual components or the guilt appeals round. We then 'I'M JoumtU ofAdwrti.in& consider the implications ol our findings and propose an agenda lor future Volunw XXVI, Hum'-,. 2 Sumnw,.1997 research. 36 The Journal ofAdvertising

Literature Review Guilt and Other Negative Appeals Guilt is one of the most common negative emotions Guilt is related to the negative emotions of shame, across cultures (Izard 1977). Consumer guilt has been fear, and regret. Those negative emotions have often defined as an emotional state involving penitence, been confused in the literature, because all involve a remorse, self-blame, and self-punishment experienced negative outcome that has occurred or may occur as a after committing a violation or contemplating a fu result of an individual's action or inaction. Careful ture violation of internalized standards of proper be analysis requires that guilt be distinguished from the havior (Lascu 1991; Mosher 1965). Izard (1977, p. other three negative emotions. 423) states: "Usually people feel guilty when they Guilt and shame, for instance, both involve the per become aware that they have broken a rule and vio ception that the selfis at fault for a negative outcome. lated their own standards or beliefs. They may also Guilt appeals focus on one's behavior as a past or feel guilty for failing to accept or carry out their re future transgression or as a failure to care for others. sponsibility." The guilt-inducing transgression may In contrast, shame appeals center on other people's result from a decision to purchase an unapproved possible evaluations of the self should some goal not product or to not purchase a product "prescribed by be attained (Niedenthal, Tangney, and Gavanski 1994; moral, societal, or ethical principles" (Lascu 1991, p. Wicker, Payne, and Morgan 1983). The shame aris 290). For example, a recent television ad told par ing from others' evaluations is associated with feel ents, "Saturdaymornings-you can spendthem catch ings of helplessness, self-consciousness, and inferior ing up on your sleep or catching up with your kids ity (Gilbert, Pehl, and Allan 1994). In an advertising over some Bisquik pancakes." A violation of the value context, shame appeals can be used to imply that of spending quality time with or properly caring for others will negatively evaluate a person who does not one's children would occur ifa parent decided to sleep buy the advertised product. For example, Cascade rather than make Bisquik pancakes for the family. dishwasher detergent commercials depict a scenario The contemplation of that decision may cause guilt in which a party host is ashamed because another and lead the parent to adopt the behavior proposed detergent left spots on the glasses. Such an appeal by the advertiser. uses social embarrassment as a source of shame. Guilt appeals can be influential in modifying con Guilt differs from fear in that guilt is an internal sumer behavior, because guilt is the primary motiva emotional response following the violation of a stan tional factor in a mature conscience (Izard 1977). When dard or the contemplation of violating a standard, feeling guilty, one is preoccupied with a violation or a whereas fear is an a priori anticipation of an external potential violation, and wants to reduce the level of punishment or threat (Ghingold 1981; Rawlings 1970). guilt by making retribution (Ghingold 1981; Izard Guilt and fear also differ in terms of the individual's 1977). Ifthe advertiser shows that retribution can be level of control. Guilt is likely when one has some made through the use of some good or service, the control over a situation, whereas fear occurs when consumermay be persuaded to adopt that behavior to one has little, ifany, control over a situation (Burnett reduce the guilt induced through advertising appeals. and Lunsford 1994). In addition, guilt and fear have However, the types of goods and services that con different outcomes. Guilt compels one to make retri sumers might be persuaded to purchase by a guilt bution for a transgression, whereas fear compels one Downloaded by [Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette] 00:15 23 December 2014 appeal is not known, because experimental research to avoid an unwanted outcome (Ghingold 1981). on guilt in advertisinghas typically pertained to char Regret can be distinguished from guilt in that re ity andvolunteer services. The experiments measured gret does not involve knowingly violating a standard the effect of guilt appeals on willingness to volunteer of behavior. Instead, one experiences regret when for community projects (McMillen 1971; Yinon et al. dissatisfied with a choice, because a better choice 1976) or to donate to charities (Bozinoff and Ghingold may have been made if more information or other 1983; Eayrs and Ellis 1990; Regan 1971). A couple of alternatives had been available (Simonson 1992). For experiments have also investigated the effect of guilt example, "I could have had a V-8!" evokes regret that appeals in hypothetical food and toiletry ads (Coulter something other than a V-8 was consumed, but not and Pinto 1995; Pinto and Priest 1991). To determine guilt. However, regret appeals occasionally are used which product classes are most often advertised with in conjunction with guilt appeals. For example, "I guilt appeals, an investigation of ads for a variety wish I had started saving for my children's college different goods and services is needed. education when they were young" evokes guilt for not Summer 1997 37

having provided adequately for one's children and ten emphasize the reader's responsibility to alleviate regret that action was not taken while there was still the suffering of victims of poverty, famine, or natural time. disasters. Existential guilt appeals may also appear Thus, the negative appeals might affect the audi in conjunction with some social responsibility themes ence in different ways. A shame appeal might lead a (Lill, Gross, and Peterson 1986). consumer to purchase the advertised product to at Unfortunately, most research on guilt appeals in tain a goal or to avoid disgrace. A fear appeal might advertising, marketing, and psychology has not dis result in a purchase that increases control over a cerned which kind of guilt is being examined. For situation or prevents an unwanted outcome. A regret example, Unger and Stearns (1983) counted the num appeal might foster dissatisfaction with previous ber of fear and guilt ads in a sample of television choices and lead to a purchase of the advertised prod commercials in July 1982. Their main focus was fear uct. A guilt appeal might result in a purchase either appeals, but they stated that guilt appeals appeared to make retribution for or to refrain from committing in 2.2% of their sample of ads. However, their opera a transgression. tional definition of a guilt ad was an ad "attempting Previous research has not clearly differentiated the to elicit an a posteriori emotional response" (p. 18). negative emotional appeals. A careful definition of Hence, they focused on reactive guilt appeals, but not each appeal is necessary to ensure precision and ac anticipatory or existential guilt appeals. An advan curacy in research on guilt appeals. tage of our study is that it provides a more thorough examination of guilt appeals in advertising by ana Kinds ofGuilt lyzing all three kinds of guilt. Three kinds of guilt have been identified in the Verbal and Visual Components ofGuilt literature: reactive guilt, anticipatory guilt, and exis Appeals tential guilt. They differ in the antecedents that lead to the experience of guilt. Reactive guilt is a response Techniques for verbally arousing guilt have been to an overt act of violating one's internalized stan identified in the interpersonal communication litera dards of acceptable behavior (Rawlings 1970). For ture. Vangelisti, Daly, and Rudnick (1991) uncovered example, an ad might point out that the reader had 17 communication techniques used to arouse guilt in previously forgotten his wedding anniversary and his face-to-face conversations. From those techniques, we wife had cried. A reader who had violated that per identified four guilt statements that may have wide sonal standard might attempt to assuage the guilt by applicability in print advertisements. The statement buying the product suggested by the ad. offact reports circumstances or information that may Anticipatory guilt is experienced as one contem produce guilt in some members of the audience. An plates a potential violation of internalized standards example might be: "Last night, two million children (Rawlings 1970). Anticipatory guilt appeals offer con in the U.S. went to bed hungry." The statement of sumers an opportunity to avoid a transgression, such action reports personal behavior that should or should as disappointing their children. Anticipatory guilt not occur. It tells the readers that they violated or appeals may add that if the opportunity is neglected, will violate a standard through an act of either omis an unwanted outcome will occur that the consumer sion or commission. The hungry children example Downloaded by [Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette] 00:15 23 December 2014 could have prevented. Ads that arouse anticipatory can be rewritten as a statement ofaction: "Last night, guilt often pose future scenarios in which the reader you let a child go to bed hungry again." A suggestion will violate a standard of behavior if a certain action recommends future action or proposes that one en is not performed. For example, investment firms have gage in a particular behavior. Rewritten as a sugges tried to arouse guilt in parents by depicting negative tion, the example becomes: "You should donate money outcomes that can be prevented by starting to save to help end hunger among our children." A question immediately for their newborn's college education. asks about one's thoughts, feelings, orbehavior. Modi Existential guilt is experienced as a result of the fied as a question, the example becomes: "What have awareness of a discrepancy between one's well-being you -done this year to help end hunger among our and the well-being of others (Izard 1977; Ruth and children?" Faber 1988). Such a discrepancy occurs when one Visual techniques designed to elicit guilt in print feels more fortunate than others and experiences an ads have not been identified in the literature. In gen empathetic response to their plight. Charity ads of- eral, visual elements in magazine ads are known to 38 The Journal ofAdverti8ing

attract attention, create associations, or increase the because it is the best at providing "a scientific, quan impact of an ad (Moriarty 1987). Visual elements in titative, and generalizable description of communica guilt ads may direct attention to a guilt appeal. An tions content" (Kassarjian 1977, p. 10). The sample illustration of a crying baby, for instance, tends to for the content analysis was drawn from the popula attract attention. Visual elements can also create a tion of advertisements more than one third of a page link between the reader and a guilt appeal. For ex in size found in popular magazines published during ample, an ad could show an overworked mother, like 1992 and 1993. The sampling frame was constructed the reader, who feels guilty if she does not give her from a list of magazines by type in the Folio: Source children a good breakfast. Finally, the combination of Book 1991 for magazine publishers. For each of the visual with verbal elements may heighten the impact 12 types, we selected the magazine with the largest of a guilt ad. For instance, a picture of a sad puppy circulation and another magazine judged representa could elicit the reader's sympathy, which might in tive because of its broad appeal among readers in the crease the reader's susceptibility to a verbal guilt category and high ad volume (see Table 1). appeal to donate to local animal shelters. McQuarrie The total sample analyzed consisted of 48 maga and Mick (1992) found that verbal-visual combina zine issues. The 24 magazines used were assigned tions are common in print advertising, but research randomly without replacement and distributed evenly ers have not investigated whether those combina (i.e., two magazines each month) across the 12 months tions are associated with emotional appeals, such as of each year studied (1992 and 1993). We thus cre guilt. ated two "constructed years" to account for system atic variations in the type and number of ads due to Research Questions seasonality. The primary benefit of a constructed sample is its close approximation of the true popula Our study was designed to measure the extent and tion mean (Riffe, Aust, and Lacy 1993). the mode of presentation of guilt appeals in popular We analyzed 2769 ads from the 48 magazine is magazine advertising. On the basis of our literature sues, from which 153 guilt ads and 131 fear ads were review, we also examined the kinds of guilt, the guilt identified. As our focus was primarily on guilt ap statements, and the visual component of guilt ap peals, four independent judges, after appropriate peals used. We addressed the following research ques training, coded ads from the set of 153 guilt ads plus tions. 29 other ads. Duplicate guilt ads (n =11) remained in Q1 How often do guilt appeals appear in a sample the sample to represent accurately how often the au of magazine ads? dience was exposed to guilt ads. The other ads con Q2 Which types of magazines are most likely to tained a variety of appeals (e.g., shame, regret, etc.) contain guilt-eliciting ads? and served as a check on the judges' training in dis Q3 Which product classes are most likely to be tinguishing guilt from other appeals. Intercoder agree advertised with guilt appeals? ment was .99 for the guilt/not guilt decision (n =182 Q4 In ads with guilt appeals, what kind of guilt ads). appeal (reactive, anticipatory, or existen Training began with an explanation of the content tial) is most often used? analysis method. Then guilt, fear, shame, and regret were defined and ads containing each appeal were Downloaded by [Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette] 00:15 23 December 2014 Q5 In ads with guilt appeals, which type of guilt statement (statement of fact, statement of presented to help the judges distinguish between the action, suggestion, or question) appears negative appeals they might encounter. Next, the spe most often? cific coding process was explained, each category was Q6 In ads with guilt appeals, how often are the defined as in the literature review, and examples guilt appeals contained in the text, the vi were given. Special care was taken to instruct the sual elements, or both? judges in verbal and visual analysis. For the verbal analysis, the judges were trained to examine the text of the ad for guilt statements-statements of fact, Method statements of action, suggestions, and questions. To determine whether a visual appeal was present, the We needed a method for enumerating how often judges were instructed to look for body language and guilt appeals appear in the content of popular maga facial expression cues. They also examined the ads zine advertisements. Content analysis was chosen for pictures of someone requiring nurturing or sym- Summer 1997 39

Table 1 Advertisements with Guilt Appeals by Magazine Type

Guilt Ads Magazine Type Magazine No. % Total Ads

Business/financial Money- 17 7.1 241 Business Week" 5 5.2 97

General editorial Reader's Digest 11 11.6 95 Life 4 6.5 62

Home and gardening Country Uving 6 4.7 128 Architectural Digest 6 3.4 119

News and opinion Time- 10 13.5 74 Newsweek" 10 14.9 67

Male-oriented Popular Science- 3 3.3 92 Penthouseb 0 0.0 94

Female-oriented Cosmopolitanb 7 3.3 215 Working Woman 9 10.8 83

Personality/entertainment People WeekI,/, 4 3.3 120 Rolling Stone b 3 1.9 157

Sports Sports lIIustratecfb 2 3.8 53 Field & Stream 3 3.8 78

Teen-oriented Seventeen b 4 3.5 115 YM 3 5.B 52

Social/literary Psychology Today- 5 7.5 66 The New Yorker 1 1.2 B4

African-American Ebony 7 5.5 12B

Downloaded by [Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette] 00:15 23 December 2014 Essence 5 3.6 137

Family-oriented Good Housekeeping 14 6.B 206 Better Homes & Gardens 16 7.B 206

Note: Informative (a) and entertainment (b) editorial missions were determined by an independent panel. Those designations were used in the between-group analysis of magazine types.

pathy for whom the reader would be responsible or Disagreements in pretest codings were discussed un for illustrations of guilt-producing situations. til a consensus was reached. Afterthe training, the judges coded a practice set of To ensure objectivity, the judges separately coded ads, and we answered their questions about the cod the advertisements, but could refer to printed defini ing process. Then a pretest was conducted with 43 tions that we supplied. All ads in the sample were ads from magazine issues not included in the sample. coded by at least two judges. Rust and Cooil's (1994) 40 The Journal ofAdverti8ing

proportional reduction in loss (pRL) approach was proportions of guilt ads appeared to have an informa used to calculate reliability. The PRL reliability lev tional editorial mission, whereas those with the small els for the category decisions across all guilt ads were est proportions of guilt ads appeared to have an en .98 for product class, .97 for type of guilt statement, tertainment editorial mission. To test that finding, a .96 for verbal or visual component, and .92 for kind of panel of 23 independent judges (consisting of nine guilt. faculty members, 11 graduate students, and three other individuals) indicated the six magazines with Results and Discussion the strongest editorial mission to inform their read ers and the six magazines with the strongest edito Of the 2769 magazine ads examined, 153 contained rial mission to entertain their readers (see Table 1). guilt appeals and 131 contained fear appeals. Nine The six most informational magazines contained 50 contained both fear and guilt appeals. The incidence of the 153 guilt ads, significantly more than the 22 of fear ads in the sample was obtained to provide a guilt ads found in the six most entertaining maga point of comparison for the relative frequency of guilt zines (x2 =10.89, d.f. =1, p =.(01). appeals. Given the greater attention to fear in aca A possible explanation for the disparity may be demic research, it was interesting to find that guilt magazine executives' decisions to include or exclude appeals were as prevalent as fear appeals. certain types of ads as an extension of their editorial Examination of the data relating to the first re mission (Ninivaggi 1992). The entertainment edito search question, which asked how often guilt appeals rial mission involves hedonic pursuits: entertainment, appear in a sample of magazine ads, uncovered (1) sports, performing arts, leisure activities, and recre the number of ads with guilt appeals and (2) the total ation (Hirschman and Holbrook 1982). Magazines number of guilt appeals in those ads. Of the sample such as Penthouse and People Weekly appear to be magazine ads, 5.8% contained at least one guilt ap designed for an audience that escapes into hedonic peal, about the same proportion as ads with fear ap pursuits to avoid tension-producing stimuli. Previous peals (4.8%) in the sample. Comparison with past research has shown that negative appeals are not research findinga on advertising appeals inU.S. maga very effective with such readers (Ghingold 1981; zines showed that guilt and fear ads appeared less Goldstein 1959). Hence, entertainment magazines often than ads with testimonials (11.0%), humor may not be as effective in delivering guilt appeals as (10.8%), comparisons (10.0%), or sexual appeals less hedonic vehicles, such as informational maga (8.6%), but more often than ads with aesthetic (4.1%) zines. or before and after appeals (4.0%) (Biswas, Olsen, Addressing research question 3, we found that cer and Carlet 1992; Cutler, Javalgi, and Erramilli 1992; tain product classes were more likely than others to Pollay 1985). Because its usage was comparable with be advertised with guilt appeals (x2 =22.4, d.f. =7, p = that of other recognized appeals, guilt appears to be .(02). Of the 153 guilt ads found, 21.6% were for another important type of advertising appeal. charities or public service announcements (PSAs) and A total of 218 guilt appeals appeared in the 153 17.6% were for health care goods and services. For guilt ads analyzed, an average of 1.4 guilt appeals per further analysis, many of the other guilt ads were guilt ad. That number is consistent with the average collapsed into the category of consumer nondurable number of emotional appeals per print ad in U.S. goods (41.2%), which included food and cleaning prod

Downloaded by [Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette] 00:15 23 December 2014 magazines found by Biswas, Olsen, and Carlet (1992) ucts (11.1%), cosmetics (8.5%), and pet care products and Hong, Muderrisoglu, and Zinkhan (1987), who (6.5%). found means of 1.3 and 1.7 emotional appeals per ad, The kind of guilt used was associated with the prod respectively. uct class advertised, as shown in Table 3. Many of the Although all types of magazines contained guilt ads using reactive and anticipatory guilt were for ads, some contained a higher percentage than others. consumer nondurable goods. The reactive guilt ads Addressing research question 2, we found. that the often tried to convince buyers to switch brands by magazine types differed in the proportion of guilt ads. fostering dissatisfaction with their currentbrand. The The proportion ranged from 14.2% of all ads in news ads using anticipatory guilt typically offered a prod and opinion magazines to 1.6% in male-oriented maga uct to prevent a problem from affecting someone for zines. The proportion of fear ads did not differ signifi whom the consumer is responsible. Most existential cantly across magazine types (see Table 2). guilt ads were for charities or PSAs, as is consistent Interestingly, the magazine types with the largest with the notion of existential guilt as concern about Summer 1997 41

Table 2 Guilt and Fear Advertisements by Magazine Type

Ads with Ads with Guilt Appeals Fear Appeals Total Number Magazine Type No. % No. % of Ads

News and opinion 20 14.2 10 7.1 141 General editorial 15 9.6 11 7.0 157 Family-oriented 30 7.3 19 4.6 412 BusinesS/financial 22 6.5 17 5.0 338 Female-oriented 16 5.4 14 4.7 298 African-American 12 4.5 15 5.7 265 Teen-oriented 7 4.2 9 5.4 167 Home and gardening 10 4.0 10 4.0 247 Social/literary 6 4.0 6 4.0 150 Sports 5 3.8 5 3.8 131 Personality/entertainment 7 2.5 6 2.2 277 Male-oriented 3 1.6 9 4.8 186

Number 01guilts ads in each magazine type: '1.2 - 39.15, d.l. - 11, P < .001. Number 01lear ads in each magazine type: '1.2 - 8.921, d.f. - 11, p> .5.

helping the less fortunate. ries were less than 1% of the sample. The fourth research question asked what kind of The statement of fact was common across all three guilt appeal is most common. Of the three kinds of kinds of guilt, but the other guilt statements were guilt appeals, anticipatory guilt appeals appeared more often associated with specific kinds of guilt (see most often. As Table 4 shows, 61.9% of guilt appeals Table 4). Many reactive guilt appeals were questions were anticipatory, 29.4% were reactive, and 8.7% were about current circumstances (e.g., satisfaction with existential. It is not surprising that anticipatory guilt the current brand), whereas anticipatory guilt ap was the most often used because advertising appeals peals often were suggestions of goods and services are typically future-oriented (Berger 1972). The an that could prevent negative circumstances. Existen ticipatory guilt appeals studied tended to offer goods tial guilt appeals frequently were suggestions to help or services that could prevent negative outcomes from the less fortunate, but did not use statements of ac occurring sometime in the future, whether tonight at tion that might assign personal responsibility for the dinner or when the baby is old enough to attend col misfortune. lege. For research question 6 about the degree to which Downloaded by [Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette] 00:15 23 December 2014 In examining research question 5 about the fre guilt appeals contain visual and verbal components, quency of the four guilt statements in the sample ads, we found that of the 92% of guilt ads containing some we found that the most commonly used guilt state visual element, only half used the visual element as ment was the statement of fact (48.2%). One state part of a guilt appeal. About 3% of all guilt ads had ment of fact found in the sample was Instant Quaker guilt appeals that were entirely visual, whereas 43% Oatmeal's assertion that it was "For moms who have contained guilt appeals incorporating both visual im a lot of love, but rwt a lot oftime." The suggestion was ages and text. When visual elements were used in the second most commonly used guilt statement guilt ads, they often presented images designed to (29.8%), such as Save the Children's "Help stop a trigger a nurturing or sympathetic reaction from the different kind of child abuse: The question repre reader (e.g., a baby or a lost puppy). The guilt appeals sented 16.5% of the guilt statements and the state frequently combined a verbal description of negative ment of action represented 5.0%. Other guilt-eliciting but preventable circumstances with a visual depic statements that did not fit into one of the four catego- tion of the object of sympathy. 42 The Journal ofAdvertising

Table 3 Product Class by Predominant Kind of Guilt

Kind of Guilt Reactive Anticipatory Existential Total Ads Product Class No. % No. % No. % No. %

Consumer durable goods 8 17.8 7 7.4 a 0.0 15 9.8 Consumer nondurable goods· 19 42.2 43 45.7 1 7.1 63 41.2 Health care 9 20.0 18 19.1 a 0.0 27 17.6 Financial services 3 6.7 11 11.7 1 7.1 15 9.8 PSAs I charities 6 13.3 15 16.0 12 85.7 33 21.6

2 Kind of guilt by product class: "1.. - 42.4, d.f. - 8, P < .001; N - 153 ads.

• For consumer nondurable goods, anticipatory guilt was used in 11 food/cleaning, 9 cosmetics, 6 pet care, and 17 ·other" ads; reactive guilt was used in 6 food/cleaning, 4 cosmetics, 4 pet care, and 5 "other" ads; and existential guill was used in one "other" ad.

Table 4 Guilt Statement by Kind of Guilt

Kind of Guilt Reactive Anticipatory Existential Guilt Statement No. % No. % No. %

Statement of fact 35 54.7 62 45.9 9 47.4 Statement of action 3 4.7 8 5.9 a 0.0 Suggestion 8 12.5 49 36.3 8 42.1 Question 18 28.1 16 11.9 2 10.5

Overall 64 29.4 135 61.9 19 8.7

Guilt statement by kinds of guilt: X2 - 18.6, d.f. - 6, P < .01; N - 218 appeals.

Almost all guilt ads had a verbal component in specific guilt statements used did not vary across their guilt appeals. Although some had a combina product classes (x2 =9.9, d.f. =12, P =.62) or maga tion of text and visual elements, 54% of all guilt ads zine types (x2 = 26.6, d.f. 33, p .78). Hence, similar

Downloaded by [Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette] 00:15 23 December 2014 = = contained purely verbal guilt appeals. When guilt executions of guilt appeals seemed to be used regard appeals appeared only in the headline or the text, the less of the product class advertised or the type of ad either contained no visual element (9.8%), used magazine. the visual element to display the product (42.6%), or related the visual element to a different type of ap Implications peal (47.5%). The use of verbal components or image-text combi Our findings have some profound implications for nations in guilt appeals did not vary across product researchers of negative appeals in advertising. Al classes (x2 =4.2, d.f. =4, p =.38) or magazine types (x2 though previous research had begun to investigate =16.3, d.f. =11, p =.13). The few purely visual guilt the effectiveness of guilt appeals in print ads, the appeals were concentrated in ads for consumer non frequency with which guilt appeals actually appear durable goods in women's magazines. Likewise, the in print ads was not known. Our content analysis of Summer 1997 43

advertising in 24 popular magazines covering a two Future Research year period found that guilt appeals appear about as often in print advertisements as many other adver We believe the ultimate goal of research on guilt tising appeals. As one of every 20 ads contains a guilt appeals should be to develop a model of consumer appeal, the continued exploration of the effectiveness reactions to those appeals in advertising, similar to of such appeals seems justified. the fear appeal models (e.g., Henthorne, LaTour, and The effectiveness of a guilt appeal may depend on Nataraajan 1993; Tanner, Hunt, and Eppright 1991). the kind of guilt used. Three kinds of guilt have been As a starting point for building such a model, we identified in the literature, but most reports of ex document the kinds of guilt used, the presence of periments on guilt appeals in advertising, market verbal and visual components, and the differences ing, and psychology have not indicated which kind of across product class and magazine type. guilt was being manipulated. Our content analysis Additional research is needed, however, as a basis showed that guilt ads predominantly employed an for developing the model. First, researchers should ticipatory guilt. Researchers need to be aware of the determine which kind of guilt is most effective. An kind of guilt manipulated in their experiments, be ticipatory guilt appeared more often in our content cause (1) results for the effectiveness of one kind of analysis than existential or reactive guilt. Does that guilt may not be applicable to other kinds and (2) a finding indicate that anticipatory guilt appeals are confounding effect could occur if an experimenter does more effective than the other kinds in a print ad not control for the kind of guilt manipulated. context? The effectiveness of a guilt appeal may also depend Second, researchers should investigate which type on the context in which the appeal appears. For ex of verbal guilt statement is most effective in eliciting ample, although we found some guilt-eliciting ads in guilt. The statement of fact was most common in our almost all magazines examined, they appeared more magazine ads, whereas more personally accusatory often in informational magazines, such as Time and statements (e.g., statements of action) are most com Newsweek, than in entertainment magazines, such mon in interpersonal communication (Vangelisti, as Rolling Stone. The implication is that some maga Daly, and Rudnick 1991). Perhaps more personal zines' audiences may be unreceptive to ads with guilt statements are not as suitable in magazine ads be appeals, and those magazines may reject guilt ads to cause ofthe greater interpersonal distance of the print avoid upsetting their readers. Moreover, some adver medium. tisers may believe that certain magazines are more A third issue is how do visual elements, either alone appropriate vehicles for their guilt ads than others. or in conjunction with ad copy, arouse guilt. The vi Our findings also have implications for the execu sual elements found in our study included depictions tion of guilt appeals in print ads. Guilt appeals were of another person feeling guilty with whom the reader found most often in ad copy alone or in a combination might identify, another person blaming the reader of verbal and visual components, rather than solely for some transgression, and situations in which some in an ad's visual images. We found that 54% of all one was going to suffer because of the reader's action guilt ads contained purely verbal guilt appeals, but or inaction. We found no studies that examined the only 3% of all guilt ads contained purely visual guilt role of a visual element in the execution of negative appeals. Executing a guilt appeal solely through vi appeals.

Downloaded by [Univ of Louisiana at Lafayette] 00:15 23 December 2014 sual cues may be difficult, perhaps because of the A fourth issue is whether guilt appeals are more challenge of visually assigning responsibility for a effective in ads for certain product classes or within transgression. certain types of magazines. Our study documented The four types of guilt statements accounted for significant differences in usage across both factors. A 99% of the verbal guilt appeals in the popular maga limitation of most previous research is that it exam zine ads analyzed. Hence, the four guilt statements ined guilt appeals in ads for a single product class, may be useful in (1) content analyses of guilt in other such as charities. media, cultures, or time periods and (2) designing Finally, researchers should explore how guilt is used authentic experimental guilt ad stimuli that reflect in other cultures, media, and time periods. Our con subjects' previous experience with advertising. tent analysis documents the use of guilt appeals in 44 The Journal ofAdvertising

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doi: 10.1093/scan/nsw001 Advance Access Publication Date: 8 January 2016 Original article

‘Imagined guilt’ vs ‘recollected guilt’: implications for fMRI Neil Mclatchie1, Roger Giner-Sorolla2, and Stuart W. G. Derbyshire3*

1School of Psychology, Lancaster University, Lancester, UK, 2School of Psychology, University of Kent, Kent, UK, and 3Department of Psychology and A*STAR-NUS Clinical Imaging Research Centre, National University of Singapore, Singapore

Correspondence should be addressed to Stuart W.G. Derbyshire, Department of Psychology, Block AS4, Level 2, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117570. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract Guilt is thought to maintain social harmony by motivating reparation. This study compared two methodologies commonly used to identify the neural correlates of guilt. The first, imagined guilt, requires participants to read hypothetical scenarios and then imagine themselves as the protagonist. The second, recollected guilt, requires participants to reflect on times they personally experienced guilt. In the fMRI scanner, participants were presented with guilt/neutral memories and guilt/ neutral hypothetical scenarios. Contrasts confirmed a priori predictions that guilt memories, relative to guilt scenarios, were associated with significantly greater activity in regions associated with affect [anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), Caudate, Insula, orbital frontal cortex (OFC)] and social cognition [temporal pole (TP), precuneus). Similarly, results indicated that guilt memories, relative to neutral memories, were also associated with greater activity in affective (ACC, amygdala, Insula, OFC) and social cognition (mPFC, TP, precuneus, temporo-parietal junction) regions. There were no significant differences between guilt hypothetical scenarios and neutral hypothetical scenarios in either affective or social cognition regions. The importance of distinguishing between different guilt inductions inside the scanner is discussed. We offer explanations of our results and discuss ideas for future research.

Key words: guilt; memories; hypothetical scenarios

Introduction distinction, agency, counterfactual thinking, regret and future A considerable body of research has demonstrated that guilt is planning. It is this interaction of emotion with cognition that is elicited following a transgression against another individual or believed to deliver the powerful motivation to act. group and will influence subsequent moral decisions and moral Findings from neuroimaging support the understanding of behaviour (Trivers, 1971; Haidt, 2003). Guilt can, motivate indi- guilt as involving a complex interaction of affect and cognition viduals to act in a reparative (Tangney and Dearing, 2002; (see Ke´dia et al., 2008 for review). Multiple studies have shown Ketelaar and Au, 2003; Nelissen, 2011) or generally prosocial that feelings of guilt activate affect-related regions including manner (Regan et al., 1972). the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC; Shin et al., 2000; Ke´dia et al., The motivational component of guilt is generally considered 2008), the orbital frontal cortex (OFC; Moll and de Oliveira- to be part of the complex emotional experience that constitutes Souza, 2007; Zahn et al., 2009; Morey et al., 2012), the insula (Shin guilt (Baumeister et al., 2007; Izard, 2007). Guilt can be et al., 2000; Wagner et al., 2011; Michl et al., 2014), the amygdala understood as an ‘emotion schema’ (Izard, 2007), involving (Berthoz et al., 2006; Ke´dia et al., 2008) and the basal ganglia interactions of self-directed negative affect with self/other (Ke´dia et al., 2008).

Received: 8 June 2015; Revised: 17 November 2015; Accepted: 4 January 2016

VC The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

703 704 | Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2016, Vol. 11, No. 5

One or more of these regions have been activated during ex- were presented to the participants during scanning to capture periments involving: the perception of emotional stimuli, includ- the neural correlates of guilty feelings. These two studies demon- ing facial expressions (e.g. amygdala, Hariri et al., 2002; Hare et al., strated common activation in the insula and TP cortices. 2005) and speech (e.g. basal ganglia, Pell and Leonard, 2003; Studies involving the hypothetical scenario task typically Paulmann et al., 2008); changes in, and awareness of, physio- ask participants to imagine they are the main protagonist in a logical arousal (e.g. insula, Critchley et al., 2004; amygdala, hypothetical scenario describing a guilt-inducing event. Unlike Gla¨scher and Adolphs, 2003); motivation, including updating mo- recollection, hypothetical scenarios are not directly about the tivational states (e.g. ACC, Wager and Feldman-Barrett, 2004) and participant’s personal behaviour, and there is less evidence that connecting motivational goals with visual information (e.g. basal hypothetical scenarios induce feelings of guilt. A central compo- ganglia, Kawagoe et al., 1998); reinforcing behaviours (e.g. the nent of guilt is the awareness of one’s own responsibility for OFC, Bechara et al., 2000; O’Doherty et al., 2001; ACC, Bush et al., having committed a transgression against another person or 2002; Etkin et al., 2011) and memory encoding (e.g. amygdala, group. When asked to consider hypothetical scenarios, the par- Canli et al., 2000; Buchanan, 2007) and subsequent retrieval of ticipant is not truly responsible for any transgression or harm. emotional events (e.g. OFC, amygdala, (Maratos et al., 2001). Consequently, the response to a hypothetical scenario is likely Social cognition networks include the medial prefrontal cor- to involve anticipatory thoughts about guilt or the concept of tex (mPFC; Takahashi et al., 2004; Finger et al., 2006;Ke´dia et al., guilt (‘guilt thoughts’) rather than a feeling of guilt (‘guilt feel- 2008; Basile et al., 2011; Morey et al., 2012), dorsolateral prefrontal ings’), which might be expected to generate considerably differ- cortex (Stone et al., 1998), temporo-parietal junction (TPJ; Finger ent neural activation. Only one study of guilt using hypothetical et al., 2006; Ke´dia et al., 2008), the temporal poles (TPs; Shin et al., scenarios demonstrated activation of the insular cortex (Michl 2000; Finger et al., 2006; Wagner et al., 2011) and the precuneus et al., 2014) and only one activated the TP cortex (Finger et al., (Takahashi et al., 2004; Moll and de Oliveira-Souza, 2007; Ke´dia 2006). Michl et al. (2014) used hypothetical scenarios to elicit et al., 2008). Social cognition networks are broadly associated feelings of guilt and shame but noted as a limitation of their with processing social information, including: perception study that they could not guarantee the ‘success of imagination (e.g. mPFC, Harris and Fiske, 2007; TPJ, Pelphrey and Carter, and generation of moral feelings’ (p. 155). 2008), attention (e.g. TPJ, Nummenmaa and Calder, 2009) and Importantly, guilt thoughts lack the painful, self-directed storage and retrieval (e.g. precuneus, Cavanna and Trimble, negative affect that is central to guilt feelings. This difference 2006; TP, Olson et al., 2012). Social cognition networks, such as may also impact their motivational consequences. Although the TP (Olson et al., 2007), the mPFC (Gallagher et al., 2000; guilt feelings predict reparative or prosocial behaviours Dodell-Feder et al., 2011) and the TPJ (Saxe, 2010), are activated (Ketelaar and Au, 2003; Nelissen, 2012), guilt feelings can also during experiments where participants imagined what others motivate dysfunctional behaviour including self-punishment might be thinking or feeling or where participants generally (Bastian et al., 2011) and anti-social behaviours (de Hooge et al., take the perspective of another. Specific regions in social cogni- 2011). The self-directed negative affect of guilt feelings may mo- tion networks activated during episodes of guilt include the tivate negative-state relief that conflicts with the motivation for mPFC (Takahashi et al., 2004; Finger et al., 2006; Ke´dia et al., 2008; prosocial behaviours (Miller, 2010 for a review). Basile et al., 2011; Morey et al., 2012), the temporal poles (Shin In contrast, guilt thoughts have been shown consistently to et al., 2000; Finger et al., 2006; Wagner et al., 2011), the precuneus motivate prosocial behaviours. Anticipating guilt has been asso- (Takahashi et al., 2004; Moll and de Oliveira-Souza, 2007; Ke´dia ciated with increased charity donations (Lindsey, 2005) and a et al., 2008) and the TPJ (Finger et al., 2006; Ke´dia et al., 2008). decreased likelihood of cheating in exams (Malinowski and Thus, the neuroimaging literature is often interpreted as dem- Smith, 1985). Other studies have shown that subtly making the onstrating guilt to involve negative affect combined with other- concept of guilt accessible can promote reparative and prosocial directed cognitions, or other variation of the ‘emotion schema’ behaviours (Zemack-Rugar et al., 2007; Giner-Sorolla, 2001). The described by Izard (2007). This interpretation, however, cannot be cognitive reflection associated with guilt thoughts may motiv- fully justified because the limitations of neuroimaging have so ate actions to prevent guilt in the future and thus motivate pro- far prevented direct assessment of guilt as an emotion schema. social behaviours (Baumeister et al., 2007). A major limitation of neuroimaging research is the necessity It seems likely, therefore, that neuroimaging studies of guilt for participants to remain stationary. Even small movements or feelings vs guilt thoughts will produce different activations as rotations of the head render the images unusable. Consequently, suggested by the summary in Supplementary Table S1.Todate, the elaborate set-ups and manipulation tasks commonly em- no study has directly tested for differences between guilt feelings ployed by social psychologists to induce feelings of guilt (Regan as induced by memory recollection and guilt thoughts as induced et al., 1972; Nelissen and Zeelenberg, 2009)arenottransferablefor by hypothetical scenarios. Instead, studies have focused on dif- use with neuroimaging. To accommodate the limitations of neu- ferent components of guilt, e.g. deontological vs altruistic (Basile roimaging, two methods of inducing guilt within the scanner et al., 2011), presence vs absence of an audience (Finger et al., have primarily been used: the ‘memory recollection task’ and the 2006), target of agency (Ke´dia et al., 2008) and whether the out- ‘hypothetical scenario task’. Supplementary Table S1 summa- comes are self- or other-oriented (Morey et al., 2012). rises the different results when using these two methods to A direct comparison of memory recollection and hypothet- examine the neural correlates of guilt. ical scenarios will be obviously more definitive than the com- Studies involving the memory recollection task typically ask parison in Supplementary Table S1 because a direct comparison participants to recall a time that they transgressed against an- will eliminate confounds such as differences in sample sizes other individual. The memory recollection task is commonly and thresholding across studies. The average sample size of the used in behavioural experiments to induce feelings of guilt eight studies in Table 1 equals 15.1, but only three of the studies (Ketelaar and Au, 2003; Zhong and Liljenquist, 2006; Bastian et al., in Table 1 had a sample size greater than this. There are also 2011) but has been used much less frequently inside the scanner considerable differences in methods of analysis. Seven studies (e.g. see Shin et al., 2000; Wagner et al., 2011). Participants recalled employed whole brain analysis with thresholds ranging from personal events that induced feelings of guilt and these events P < 0.05 (Michl et al., 2004; Finger et al., 2006; Zahn et al., 2009; N. Mclatchie, R. Giner-Sorolla, and S. W. G. Derbyshire | 705

Morey et al., 2012)toP < 0.005 (Takahashi et al., 2004)toP < 0.001 Participants were then presented with 28 hypothetical scen- (Wagner et al., 2011). Two studies used small volume corrections arios (see Supplemental Materials 2; S2). The scenarios were (SVCs) with a corrected P-value threshold < 0.001 (Shin et al., carefully matched so that all scenarios described a social event 2000;Ke´dia et al., 2008) and one study combined whole brain involving the protagonist and at least one other. This ensured analysis (P < 0.001) and small volume analysis (P < 0.05) (Berthoz that differences in neural activity were not the product of differ- et al., 2006). ences in the social content of guilt and neutral hypothetical Given these differences, it is probably not surprising that scenarios (Finger et al., 2006). Sixteen of the scenarios described Supplementary Table S1 does not indicate any single structure a situation in which the self violates a moral or social value (A), as significantly active across all studies. Nevertheless, it is not- and 12 described an emotionally neutral event (B). For example: able that the two studies that used memory recollection re- A. Getting on to a packed train, you decide to sit in the prior- ported significant activity in both affect-related and social ity seats, even though they are supposed to be given to more cognition structures. This is precisely what would be predicted needy people than you, and there are elderly people standing if guilt feelings induced by memory recollection involve struc- up. After a few stops, you hear a bump. An elderly lady has fallen over. You realise you should have given your seat to her. tures associated with affect and social cognition. Of the studies B. In order to get to university, you walk to your nearest bus that employed the hypothetical scenario, two studies support stop. On the way, you bump in to a class mate who is also going the hypothesis that guilt thoughts should not result in to the bus stop. You have a conversation about the planned les- increased activity of affect-related structures. sons and she tells you that she is going to town in the evening. An additional issue is that studies comparing guilt with con- After the bus journey, you both go to your lesson. trol scenarios have not taken care to ensure that control scen- These hypothetical scenarios were presented to participants arios are equal in social content to guilt scenarios. This is an one at a time in a pseudo-random order, and participants were important confound. The times when the literature does show asked to rate the extent that the hypothetical protagonists the activation of, in particular, social cognition structures could described in each scenario had broken a moral or social code thus merely be a function of the incidental social background using the same scale they had used for their own memories. involved in imagining someone else, not a key component of Participants also rated the extent that they could identify with guilt as opposed to neutral but equally social situations. We the hypothetical scenario’s main protagonist on a scale (1—not therefore thought it was important to eliminate this confound at all, 5—completely), and were told that being unable to iden- by using neutral social situations as our control group to com- tify with the protagonist could be the result of themselves not pare with guilt. having committed the same act or one similar to it. Once com- Our study assessed the distinction between guilt thoughts pleted, participants were debriefed, compensated and informed and guilt feelings within the same design by drawing on re- that they would be contacted regarding their participation in called or anticipated guilt-evoking situations, using fMRI. In the fMRI stage of the experiment. addition to the improvement of including a social thought con- Each participant memory was matched with a hypothetical trol condition, we took care to ensure that anticipated guilt scenario according to their ratings of moral or social code viola- thoughts were not incidentally drawing on actual memories of tion. Exact matchings and 6 1 matchings were considered ac- guilt feelings, by having the anticipated situations be intention- ceptable. When there was more than one hypothetical scenario ally chosen as dissimilar to existing experiences. that matched with the memory, the hypothetical scenario with which the participant could least identify with was selected. Methods The decision to measure the extent that participants could identify with the hypothetical memory is novel to the current Participants research. Atleast past research could have benefitted from including a measure of identification, it was essential for this Twenty-five right-handed students from the University of study so as to control and minimize overlap between memories Birmingham (mean age ¼ 25.7, four males) took part in the study and scenarios. in exchange for £28 compensation. All participants provided Of the 25 participants who attended the first session, 20 written consent and were fully debriefed at the conclusion of were invited back for the scanning session based on successful the experiment. No participant had a history of neurological, memory-hypothetical pairings. That is, their ratings of the ex- psychiatric or other chronic clinical disorder. tent that their memories violated a social or moral code matched their ratings for the extent that a hypothetical scen- Pre-scanning session ario described a violation of a social or moral code. This resulted Participants were asked to provide a written description of 10 in five guilt memories and five hypothetical scenarios that par- specific memories: 5 instances of a time that they had caused ticipants believed involved an act that violated a moral or social code to the same extent, and five neutral memories and five harm or distress to another person, and 5 instances of an emo- neutral hypothetical scenarios, which participants did not feel tionally neutral event. Participants typed their memories dir- described an event in which a moral or social code had been ectly in to a Word document. They were asked to use 50–70 violated. words for each description. The memories were then serially presented to participants on a computer screen with their ten descriptions in a pseudo- fMRI paradigm random order (E-Prime). Participants rated the memories on a In the second session, participants were placed in an fMRI scan- scale of how guilty each made them feel (0 not at all, 6 extremely ner. The study incorporated an epoch-based design with partici- guilty). Participants also rated the extent they felt that the behav- pants viewing and reflecting upon their memories for extended iour in each memory had violated a moral or social code (1 - not periods of time (>10 s). While in the scanner, memories (five at all, 5 - completely broke a social or moral code). guilty, five neutral) and hypothetical scenarios (five guilty, five 706 | Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2016, Vol. 11, No. 5

Fig. 1. Demonstrates the functional imaging block design. Presentations lasted 14 s. Participants then reﬂected on the memory/scenario for 10s before being presented with a crosshair during which they were asked to clear their minds. neutral) were presented on a screen positioned directly in front subtracting BOLD activation of: (i) neutral memories from brain of the participant and viewed in a mirror placed above the par- activation during reflection of guilt memories, (ii) neutral hypo- ticipant. The experiment was comprised of three runs. In a sin- thetical scenarios from brain activation during reflection of guilt gle run, participants would view all 20 presentations (10 hypothetical scenarios (iii) guilt hypothetical scenarios from memories, 10 hypotheticals) in a pseudo-randomised order. brain activation of guilt memories. Each of the subtractions was Each presentation consisted of three stages: ‘reading’ (14s) dur- also reversed, subtracting BOLD activity during (iv) guilt memo- ing which they were asked to read what was presented to them, ries from neutral memories, (v) guilt hypothetical scenarios ‘reflecting’ (10s) during which they were asked to reflect on the from neutral hypothetical scenarios, (vi) and guilt memories presentation that they had just read and then ‘control’ (10s), from guilt hypothetical scenarios. These individual contrasts during which they were presented with a crosshair and in- were then entered into a second level model to provide a group structed to empty their mind (see Figure 1). At the completion of level significance map. the first two runs, participants were given a chance to get com- SVC was conducted across all contrasts for 10 pre-defined af- fortable and relax before the next run started. Over the course fective and social cognition regions. Specifically, a one-sample t- of three runs, each memory was presented three times, for a test was performed to assess group level bold activation using total of 60 presentations. The experiment terminated following the contrast images generated at the individual level. Small vol- the third run. Participants were debriefed and received £25 umes were predefined using the MRIcro atlas (www.mricro.com). compensation. The Talairach and Tournoux (1988) atlas and the Talairach Daemon software (http://www.talairach.org/applet.html) were Data acquisition used to infer from the coordinates the region of activity. The co- Functional data was acquired using a Philips 3 T Achieva system ordinates were adjusted to allow for differences between the to acquire BOLD contrast weighted echoplanar images for the MNI and Talairach templates as outlined elsewhere (http://imag functional scans (repetition time TR ¼ 3000 ms, echo time ing.mrc-cbu.cam.ac.uk/imaging/ MniTalairach). TE ¼ 2000 ms, 48 sequentially acquired axial slices, 3-mm thick with a 3 3 mm in-plane resolution, FoV ¼ 220 mm). High-reso- Thresholding. Whole brain images were thresholded at lution structural images were acquired using the T1TFE technique. puncorr < 0.001, with an extent threshold of 23 contiguous voxels consistent with previous studies (Shin et al., 2000; Berthoz et al., Preprocessing. Preprocessing and analysis of the data was con- 2006;Ke´dia et al., 2008; Wagner et al., 2011). In addition, a series ducted using SPM8 (Wellcome Department of Imaging of mask images were created for each of the five affective re- Neuroscience, London). The preprocessing followed the same gions (OFC, amygdala, insula, basal ganglia, ACC) and each of methodology outlined elsewhere (Derbyshire and Osborn, 2009). the four social cognition structures (mPFC, precuneus, TP, TPJ) The first four fMRI volumes were discarded to allow for T1 equi- identified a priori. The multiple comparisons problem was ad- librium effects. Functional images were first corrected for differ- dressed through family-wise error (FWE) corrections for each ences in slice timing by resampling all slices with respect to the mask separately (a SVC). fMRI activations were considered stat- middle slice. Movement between scans was corrected for by istically significant if they exceeded a corrected threshold of spatially realigning each scan with the first, and these were pfwe < 0.05. The coordinates of significant peak voxels and the then reoriented in to the standardised anatomical space pro- size of the cluster were reported for each mask. vided by the MNI template. To complete the preprocessing, each image was smoothed in the X, Y and Z dimensions using a Gaussian filter of 8 mm full width at half maximum (FWHM). Results Matching procedure fMRI statistical analysis. Standard neuroimaging methods based upon the general linear model were used for single participant There was no significant difference between the extent that analysis, which provided contrasts for group analysis at the se- guilt memories (M ¼ 3.47, SD ¼ 0.46) and guilt hypothetical scen- cond level. A box-car model convolved with a hemodynamic arios (M ¼ 3.54, SD ¼ 0.42) were considered to have violated a delay function was fitted to each voxel generating a statistical moral or social code, t(19) ¼ 1.02, P ¼ 0.32. Similarly, there was image corresponding to condition. Specifically, employing an no significant difference between the extent that neutral mem- epoch-based design, individual images were generated by ories (M ¼ 0.80, SD ¼ 0.24) and neutral hypothetical scenarios N. Mclatchie, R. Giner-Sorolla, and S. W. G. Derbyshire | 707

(M ¼ 0.09, SD ¼ 0.26) were considered to have violated a moral or cingulate, the primary motor cortex, and the inferior parietal social code, t(19) ¼ 0.57, P ¼ 0.58. cortex. No regions were significantly more active during the When more than one hypothetical scenario was considered guilt-laden hypothetical scenarios when contrasted with the to have violated a moral or social code to the same degree as a guilt memories. memory, the hypothetical scenario that participants could least identify with was chosen. Results showed that participants Discussion could identify with the neutral hypothetical scenarios (M ¼ 2.59, SD ¼ 1.79) significantly more than they could identify with the All participants provided personal accounts of recalled scen- guilt hypothetical scenarios (M ¼ 1.01, SD ¼ 0.67), t(19) ¼ 3.76, arios that involved neutral or guilt-related events (guilt memo- P ¼ 0.001. ries). The experimenter generated hypothetical scenarios that also involved neutral or guilt-related events (guilt scenario). The Emotional ratings guilt memories and guilt scenarios were successfully matched for the perceived extent to which they violated a moral or social Guilt feelings were significantly higher when participants re- code. flected upon the guilt memories (M ¼ 4.31) than when reflecting fMRI data revealed significant activation of affective (OFC, on the neutral memories (M ¼ 0.13), t(18) ¼ 27.07, P < 0.001. A ACC, insula and amygdala) and social cognition (mPFC, tem- mean rating of 4.31 corresponded to participants feeling ‘quite poral poles, precuneus and TPJ) structures after viewing guilt guilty’ while reflecting on their memories. memories compared with neutral memories. There were no significant differences when comparing guilt scenarios and fMRI data neutral scenarios. Direct comparison of activation following presentation of guilt memories with guilt scenarios confirmed The paradigm allowed for analysis of brain activity during the greater activation of affective and social cognition structures reading of each memory and hypothetical scenario, during after recalling guilt memories. These findings confirm the reflection upon each memory and hypothetical scenario, and prediction that memories of personal events involving a moral whilst observing the crosshair and being asked to empty their violation will generate activity of both affect and social cogni- minds. Patterns of findings were similar for the reading and tion structures. reflection periods of memories and hypothetical scenarios. The In contrast to guilt memories, guilt scenarios did not activate current methodology most closely resembles that of Wagner either affect or social cognition structures significantly. et al. (2011). In line with their research, here we present the Previous studies using hypothetical guilt scenarios have re- analyses of the 10 s reflection period during which time partici- ported activation of social cognition structures (Takahashi et al., pants reflected on the memory or hypothetical scenario they 2004; Berthoz et al., 2006; Finger et al., 2006; Ke´dia et al., 2008; had just read. Zahn et al., 2009; Basile et al., 2011; Morey et al., 2012). The absence of any significant activation in our study could be ex- Guilt memories vs neutral memories plained by the care we took to match both the guilt and neutral When contrasted with neutral memories, guilt memories were hypothetical scenarios so that each involved a social inter- associated with increased activity in both affective (OFC, ACC, action. For example, one of our hypothetical guilt scenarios involved kicking a ball away from a group of children playing Insula, Amygdala) and social cognition (mPFC, temporal poles, football while one of the neutral scenarios involved cutting a precuneus, TPJ) structures (see Figure 2, Table 1). Whole brain hedge for grandparents. Both scenarios involve social inter- analysis revealed greater activation in the posterior cingulate action and motor behaviour and so might, therefore, activate and the inferior frontal cortices. There was no significant activ- similar brain regions. In contrast, past studies have offered ity in the neutral memory condition when contrasted with the hypothetical scenarios with varying levels of social content. For guilt memory condition. example, Takahashi et al. (2004) presented participants with both solitary (‘I change in to pajamas at night’) and social (‘I be- Guilt hypothetical vs neutral hypothetical trayed my friend’) hypothetical scenarios. In this study, even When contrasted with the neutral hypothetical scenarios, guilt though the guilt scenario involves a moral violation, the partici- hypothetical scenarios were not associated with significant pant has no personal involvement or responsibility and there- increased activity in any structure of the brain. This was the fore additional areas associated with guilty feelings are not case following whole brain and regional analysis. Furthermore, activated. there was also no significant activity for the reverse contrasts; The lack of activity in response to guilt scenarios does not neutral hypothetical scenarios were not associated with support the suggestion that merely considering guilt-related increased activity when contrasted with hypothetical guilt events generates residual guilty feelings (Baumeister et al., scenarios. 2010). In this study, however, subjective feelings of guilt during scenarios were not recorded concurrently with imaging. It is possible that feelings of guilt were impacted by the guilt- Guilt memories vs guilt hypothetical scenarios scenarios but this impact was insufficient to generate signifi- When neural activity during reflection on guilt memories was cant neural activity. Although future studies may address this contrasted with neural activity during reflection on guilt hypo- possibility by recording guilt feelings in response to all scen- theticals, there was significantly more activity in both affective arios and directly correlating guilt feelings with neural activity, (OFC, ACC, caudate) and social cognition (mPFC, precuneus, su- they would do so only under a sort of Heisenberg uncertainty perior temporal cortex) structures (Figure 3, Table 2). paradox, as engaging in such a repetitive focus on guilt in self- Additionally, other regions that were found to be significantly report may increase its anticipation and accessibility beyond more active during the guilt memories compared with the guilt- what is usual. Collecting guilt measures after the scan might laden hypothetical scenarios were the thalamus, the posterior have provided some information but the large number of 708 | Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2016, Vol. 11, No. 5

Fig. 2. Results of the guilt memory/neutral memory contrast. effects are thresholded at P < 0.001, with a minimum cluster-size of 23 voxels. (A) Left hemispheric activity of the TPJ (8). (B) Right hemispheric activity of the OFC (1) and the Temporal Poles (6) (C) Sagittal view of hemispheric activity of ACC (2), mPFC (5) and precuneus (7). (D) Axial view of hemispheric activity of the amygdala (3) and insula (4).

Table 1. The name, hemisphere, and z-score of regions associated with increased activity following guilt memories/neutral memories contrasts

Guilt memory reflect vs neutral memory reflect

Figure label Brain areas (x,y,z) Hemisphere Z-score Voxels

1 OFCa (36, 24, 16)(BA47) R 3.85 21 2 ACCa (6, 50, 4)(BA32) L 4.44 157 3 Amygdalaa (26, 4, 14) R 3.92 6 4 Insulara (36, 20, 14) (BA47) R 4.40 87 5 Medial prefrontal cortexa (4, 56, 28)(BA9) (8, 54, 24)(BA9) L R 5.24 4.79 1145 1145 6 TPsa (28, 16, 18)(BA13) (50, 10, 28)(BA21) L R 4.00 4.67 130 177 7 Precuneusa (6, 52, 30)(BA31) L 4.22 504 8 Temporo-Parietal Junctiona (50, 60, 28) L 4.17 104

a Indicates ROI, Peak-level threshold pcorr<0.05, >23 contiguous voxels. Coordinates (x, y, z) are in MNI space (Montreal Neurological institute). scenarios led us to not attempt any post-hoc measures. Future resulted in no additional social cognition activation, which sug- studies might consider experimenting with post-hoc measures gests that the guilt thoughts were not markedly different than to at least provide some insight regarding subjective experience thoughts about other social situations. in the scanner. Previous studies using guilt scenarios have demonstrated In contrast to the lack of activation after viewing guilt scen- activation in affective or social cognition regions or both (see arios, viewing guilt memories resulted in activation of both af- Supplementary Table S1). It is possible that these past studies fect and social cognition structures. This finding suggests that inadvertently involved affect or cognitive triggers during the guilt memories successfully resulted in generating both affect- guilt scenarios that were effectively controlled in this study. For ive responses and recall of the events involving other people example, in this study, participants were presented with scen- and is consistent with the understanding of guilt as an emotion arios that they had previously rated very low in personal identi- schema. Merely thinking about guilt when presented with a fication. This was to ensure that the distinction between hypothetical guilt scenario did not generate activity in affect memory and scenario was maintained. Ensuring that partici- related regions, suggesting that guilt thoughts do not involve an pants could not highly identify with the protagonist might also automatic affective component (Winkielman et al., 2005). have avoided activating the affective and social cognition struc- Moreover, in this study, reflecting on guilt scenarios also tures that were reported active in past studies. Indeed, it is N. Mclatchie, R. Giner-Sorolla, and S. W. G. Derbyshire | 709

Fig. 3. Results of the guilt memory/guilt hypothetical contrast. Effects are thresholded at p < 0.001, with a minimum cluster-size of 23 voxels. (A) Left hemisphere showing increased activity of the OFC (4) and the temporal pole (5). (B) Sagittal view showing increased activity of ACC (1) and the precuneus (6). (C) Axial view showing increased activity of the insula (2) and the caudate nucleus (3).

Table 2. The name, hemisphere, and z-score of regions associated with increased activity following guilt memories/guilt hypothetical contrasts

Guilt memory reflect vs guilt hypothetical reflect

Figure label Brain Areas (x,y,z) Hemisphere Z-score Voxels

1 ACCa (8, 46, 6) (8, 30, 22) L R 4.50 3.90 896 896 2 Insulara (44, 18, 2) (32, 18, 16) L R 4.59 4.60 212 250 3 Basal Ganglia, caudatea (14, 18, 6) L 4.68 94 4 OFCa (2, 66, 2)(BA10) (31, 20, 13)(BA13) L R 4.01 3.94 7 7 5 Temporal Polea (40, 18, 16) L 4.66 310 6 Precuneusa (8, 50, 32)(BA31) L 4.19 194

a Indicates ROI, peak-threshold pcorr<0.05, >23 contiguous voxels. Coordinates (x, y, z) are in MNI space. possible that the low identification with the scenario led the simply viewing an upset face; Basile et al., 2011). Moreover, given participants to not engage strongly with the scenario and thus the similarity between the scenarios used in this study and pre- not generate any feelings of guilt at all. Low identity, however, vious research, it is unlikely that low engagement with the does not mean low engagement and it is likely that the partici- scenarios in this study fully explains the differences in activa- pants did engage with the scenarios. Participants were asked to tion. Nevertheless, future studies might include a mix of high imagine they were the protagonist and there is no reason to and low identification scenarios to address this concern. Here expect low identification to have prevented that imagined activ- we chose to restrict our study to personal memories and low ity taking place; our participants did not report any difficulty identification scenarios to ensure that the activation during in imagining what was happening and clearly were able to rate guilt hypotheticals was not due to overlap with personal memo- the scenarios for appropriateness, which indicates active ries and to provide maximal scan data to assess our central engagement. hypothesis. Furthermore, it is unlikely that past research generated A further limitation is that it is not possible to know from greater identification with the protagonists for other hypothet- this study whether the guilt memories generated non-guilt ical scenarios that have been used (e.g. attending dinner at a related emotions such as frustration or despair that drove the Japanese friend’s house, not liking the food and spitting it out affective activation. Similarly it is possible that the neutral on a plate, Berthoz et al., 2006; forgetting to validate a friend’s scenarios also generated guilt-related emotions that negated lottery ticket who had winning number, Kedia et al., 2008; or any activation from the guilt scenarios and/or involved a 710 | Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2016, Vol. 11, No. 5

complexity that was not adequately controlled by the guilt Buchanan, T.W. (2007). Retrieval of emotional memories. scenarios. Future studies might address these points by includ- Psychological Bulletin, 133(5), 761. ing additional controls and recording additional subjective Bush, G., Vogt, B.A., Holmes, J., Dale, A.M., Greve, D., Jenike, M.A., measures. Rosen, B.R. (2002). Dorsal anterior cingulate cortex: a role in Future research could also provide a rigorous quantitative reward-based decision making. Proceedings of the National meta-analysis of previous research. Several methodologies exist Academy of Sciences, 99(1), 523–8. that researchers could employ to provide an overview of neural Canli, T., Zhao, Z., Brewer, J., Gabrieli, J.D., Cahill, L. (2000). Event- activity during episodes of guilt. 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