Margaret C Campbell

Biographic Data

ID135972
NAMEMargaret C Campbell
GIVEN NAMESMargaret C
FAMILY NAMECampbell
SIGNATURECAMPBELL M C
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Colorado Boulder
ORCID0000-0001-5259-1525
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS66
TOTAL CITATIONS426
AUTHOR COUNT13
EDITOR COUNT53
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1995
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2025
H-INDEX12

  • Consumer Moral Decision Making: The Impact of Alignable Versus Nonalignable Differences

    Open AccessSang Kyu Park, Young Joo Cho et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2025References: 50

    Consumer choice decisions often involve a tradeoff between an alignable difference (a difference along a shared attribute) and a nonalignable difference (a difference between unique attributes of each alternative). For example, Café A provides friendly service, while Café B offers unwelcoming service (an alignable difference). However, Café A occasionally makes billing errors, and Café B has comfortable seating (a nonalignable difference). Prior …

  • Painful Prices: The Moral Harm Model of Price Fairness

    Open AccessMargaret C Campbell, Justin Pomerance et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2025References: 61

    Consumers’ responses to seller’s prices, including perceptions of price fairness (PPF) and unfairness, are a crucial aspect of the marketplace. Although past literature has uncovered a variety of factors that influence PPF, the lack of an overarching conceptual framework has constrained understanding of when and why consumers are more likely to perceive prices as fair or unfair. The authors develop a conceptual model of PPF as moral judgments and…

  • The Effect of Pursuing Self-Regulatory Goals on Variety Seeking

    Open AccessHoori Rafieian, Yanliu Huang et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2024References: 52

    Pursuing a self-regulatory goal, such as weight loss, motivates consumers to forego pleasure seeking, typically by selecting virtue over vice. We propose that in the absence of virtuous options, consumers with a self-regulatory goal will instead choose less variety in choice sets of exclusively vice options because the extra pleasure that variety affords seems incompatible with the goal. We find converging evidence for the decrease in variety see…

  • Want” versus “Need”: How Linguistic Framing Influences Responses to Crowdfunding Appeals

    Open AccessLei Su, Jaideep Sengupta et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2024References: 83

    This research uses a crowdfunding context to examine when and why a simple difference in frame—using “want” versus “need” in the request—affects funders’ compliance with an appeal for contributions. Building on the semantic framing and psycholinguistics literature, we propose that using “want” (vs. “need”) signals that the fundraiser is a relatively less (vs. more) dependent person. This perception difference then exerts opposing effects on the t…

  • Dominance versus Prestige Hierarchies: How Social Hierarchy Base Shapes Conspicuous Consumption

    Open AccessPerrine Desmichel, Derek D Rucker et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2024References: 74

    Consumers are known to seek out and display conspicuous goods—items that are exclusive and signal wealth and high social standing. Though many factors can drive such conspicuous consumption, the present work looks at an unexplored element: whether consumers find themselves in a dominance versus prestige-based hierarchy. Dominance-based hierarchies encourage consumers to use threatening, assertive, and manipulative behaviors to navigate the hierar…

  • When Learning Negative Brand Associations Leads to Positive Evaluations of Effectiveness

    Open AccessJulian K Saint Clair, Marcus Cunha et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2024References: 71

    Research on associative learning suggests that marketers can enhance consumer attitudes by repeatedly pairing their brands with pleasant or “positively-valenced” stimuli (e.g., attractive models, babies, cute animals) rather than unpleasant or “negatively-valenced” stimuli (e.g., garbage cans and disgusting insects)—an evaluative conditioning effect also known as affect transfer. In this research, we combine the associative learning and the goal …

  • Unraveling Impact: Exploring Effects of Novelty in Top Consumer Research Journals

    Open AccessXin Wang, Jun Hyun Ryoo et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2024Cited by: 2References: 20

    This research studies the impact of articles appearing in the top four journals for consumer research-JCR, JMR, JM, and JCP-by examining factors that influence scholarly, public, and practical impact. This conceptually distinguishes between 'incongruent novelty' (novelty arising from incongruity between an article and other existing articles) and 'recombinant novelty' (novelty based on drawing from more disparate references). Incongruent novelty …

  • It Looks Like 'Theirs: When and Why Human Presence in the Photo Lowers Viewers' Liking and Preference for an Experience Venue

    Open AccessZoe Y Lu, Suyeon Jung et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2024Cited by: 3References: 82

    Consumers and marketers often post photos of experiential consumption online. While prior research has studied how human presence in social media images impacts viewers' responses, the findings are mixed. The present research advances the current understanding by incorporating viewers' need for self-identity into their response model. Six studies, including an analysis of field data (14,725 Instagram photos by a top travel influencer) and five co…

  • Misperception of Multiple Risks in Medical Decision-Making

    Open AccessMehdi Mourali, Zhiyong Yang et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2023References: 46

    How do consumers combine multiple risk items when forming overall risk judgments? Drawing on the fuzzy trace theory and categorical averaging, this research finds that adding a low-risk item to a high-risk item reduces the overall risk perception because people reason categorically about risk. They impose categorical distinctions on quantitative risk information, and when combining categorical information, they tend to average across categories i…

  • No Bandwidth to Self-Gift: How Feeling Constrained Discourages Self-Gifting

    Open AccessJacqueline R Rifkin, Kelley Gullo Wight et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2023References: 54

    From time, to money, to energy, many consumers are feeling more constrained than ever before. One potential solution to the pervasive feeling of constraint is self-gifting, which is the process of invoking a hedonic consumption experience with the a priori intention of boosting one’s emotional well-being. But despite being a potentially powerful tool for mood repair, are consumers effectively coping with constraint by engaging in self-gifting? An…

  • Distance and Alternative Signals of Status: A Unifying Framework

    Open AccessSilvia Bellezza, Margaret C Campbell et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2023Cited by: 4References: 94

    In the past decades, as traditional luxury goods and conspicuous consumption have become more mainstream and lost some of their signaling value, new alternative signals of status (e.g., vintage, inconspicuous consumption, sustainable luxury) have progressively emerged. This research applies the grounded theory method to establish a novel framework that systematically unifies existing conceptualizations, findings, and observations on alternative s…

  • How Political Ideology Shapes Preferences for Observably Inferior Products

    Open AccessMonika Lisjak, Nailya Ordabayeva et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2023Cited by: 5References: 58

    While existing consumer research on political ideology often focuses on ideological differences in preferences for high-status, typically observably superior products, little is known about how political ideology may shape preferences for observably inferior products in non-status-signaling domains. Observably inferior products are product options that are dominated by alternatives along observable dimensions. We propose that, in non-status-signa…

  • In the Eye of the Beholder: The Interplay of Numeracy and Fluency in Consumer Response to 99-Ending Prices

    Open AccessBrady T Hodges, Brady Hodges et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2022Cited by: 5References: 68

    Across three laboratory studies, a biometric eye tracking and facial recognition experiment, and a secondary data analysis, we reveal the unique interaction of consumer numeracy and numerical processing fluency as a significant determinant of consumer response to 99-ending prices. We argue that less numerate individuals create mental analog representations around 99-ending prices’ left digits, whereas highly numerate individuals encode 99-ending …

  • Why Are Donors More Generous with Time Than Money? The Role of Perceived Control over Donations on Charitable Giving

    Open AccessJohn P Costello, Selin A Malkoc et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2022Cited by: 2References: 50

    Solicitation of time and money donations are central to the success of nonprofit organizations like charities and political groups. Although nonprofits tend to prefer money, experimental and field data demonstrate that donors prefer to donate time, even when doing so does less good for the cause. However, despite the importance of this asymmetry, little is known about its psychological underpinnings. In the current investigation, we identify a pr…

  • Experiential and Analytical Price Evaluations: How Experiential Product Description Affects Prices

    Open AccessArnaud Monnier, Manoj Thomas et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2022Cited by: 2References: 53

    Quantity can be described using perceptual units (e.g., bags, pieces) or standardized units (e.g., ounces, grams). Merely making perceptual units more salient in quantity description can increase perceived economic value. Even when the objective information and numerosity are kept constant, merely presenting the perceptual unit first (e.g., Lay's Chips 14 snack bags, 14 oz. of chips in snack bags of 1 oz. each) increases willingness to pay compar…

  • The Off by 100% Bias: The Effects of Percentage Changes Greater than 100% on Magnitude Judgments and Consumer Choice

    Open AccessMatthew Fisher, Milica Mormann et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2022Cited by: 1References: 40

    Percentage changes greater than 100% are frequently used in consumer contexts; for example, a cordless vacuum cleaner may boast '125% longer runtime' compared to competitors. Via six studies (n = 2,395) and 11 supplementary studies (n = 3,249), the current research shows that consumers systematically underestimate the magnitude of percentage changes greater than 100%. Specifically, many consumers apply the relative size usage (e.g., '125% of,' eq…

  • It's Good to Be Different: How Diversity Impacts Judgments of Moral Behavior

    Open AccessUzma Khan, Ankur Kalra et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2022Cited by: 10References: 55

    Recently, conversation on diversity and inclusion has been at the forefront in the media as well as the workplace. Though research has examined how diversity impacts organizational culture and decision-making, little attention has been given to how corporate diversity impacts consumers' responses to the firm. This article establishes a link between diversity and the perceived morality of market actors. A series of studies demonstrate that greater…

  • Sizes Are Gendered: The Effect of Size Cues in Brand Names on Brand Stereotyping

    Open AccessKuangjie Zhang, Shaobo Li et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2022Cited by: 4References: 54

    Size cues are increasingly common in brand names (e.g., Xiaomi and Mini Cooper), but scant research has investigated whether and how brand name size cues influence consumers' perceptions. This research shows that a brand name size cue can evoke gender associations, which subsequently affect consumers' perceived warmth and competence of the target brand. A series of seven studies provide converging evidence that brands with a size cue of smallness…

  • The Threshold-Crossing Effect: Just-Below Pricing Discourages Consumers to Upgrade

    Open AccessJunha Kim, Selin A Malkoc et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2022Cited by: 2References: 50

    Managers often set prices just-below a round number (e.g., $39)-a strategy that lowers price perceptions and increases sales. The authors question this conventional wisdom in a common consumer context: upgrade decisions (e.g., whether to upgrade a rental car or hotel room). Seven studies-including one field study-provide empirical evidence for a threshold-crossing effect. When a base product is priced at or just-above a threshold, consumers are m…

  • Consumers Value Effort over Ease When Caring for Close Others

    Open AccessXimena Garcia-Rada, Ximena Garcia‐rada et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2022Cited by: 4References: 52

    Many products and services are designed to make caregiving easier, from premade meals for feeding families to robo-cribs that automatically rock babies to sleep. Yet, using these products may come with a cost: consumers may feel they have not exerted enough effort. Nine experiments show that consumers feel like better caregivers when they put more effort into caregiving tasks than when they use effort-reducing products to perform such tasks. The …

  • Consumer Minimalism

    Open AccessAnne V Wilson, Silvia Bellezza et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2022Cited by: 18References: 28

    Minimalism in consumption can be expressed in various forms, such as monochromatic home design, wardrobe capsules, tiny home living, and decluttering. This research offers a unified understanding of the variegated displays of minimalism by establishing a conceptual definition of consumer minimalism and developing the 12-item Minimalist Consumer Scale to measure the construct. Three distinct dimensions of consumer minimalism are identified: number…

  • Hiding in the Crowd: Secrecy Compels Consumer Conformity

    Open AccessDongjin He, Yuwei Jiang et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2022Cited by: 2References: 78

    This research investigates how secrecy (i.e., a state in which people have an active intention to conceal information from others) affects individuals' consumption behavior. Six studies reveal that making consumers' secrets salient increases their tendency to conform in their consumption and show that this effect is driven by the desire to avoid social attention. This effect is moderated by consumers' perceived self-control capacity. This researc…

  • Hoping for the Worst? A Paradoxical Preference for Bad News

    Open AccessKate Barasz, Serena F Hagerty et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2021References: 62

    Nine studies investigate when and why people may paradoxically prefer bad news—for example, hoping for an objectively worse injury or a higher-risk diagnosis over explicitly better alternatives. Using a combination of field surveys and randomized experiments, the research demonstrates that people may hope for relatively worse (vs. better) news in an effort to preemptively avoid subjectively difficult decisions (studies 1 and 2). This is because w…

  • Three Themes for the Future of Brands in a Changing Consumer Marketplace

    Open AccessMargaret C Campbell, Lisa Leimar Price et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2021References: 34

    The purpose of our conceptual introduction is to theorize how brands will continue to be relevant in the future marketplace. We identify three themes that emerge in this special issue that offer intriguing directions for future exploration and managerial action. The first theme is that because of brands' pervasiveness, consumers have developed a meta concept of 'brands' that shapes how consumers think about the market, themselves, and others. Whi…

  • From Mix-and-Match to Head-to-Toe: How Brand Combinations Affect Observer Trust

    Open AccessIsabelle Engeler, Kate Barasz et al.ARTICLEJournal of Consumer Research2021Cited by: 2References: 43

    Consumers use brands in many combinations, from mixing-and-matching multiple brands (e.g., Nike shoes, Puma shirt, and Asics shorts) to using products primarily or solely from one brand (e.g., Nike shoes, shirt, and shorts). This work explores how such combinations affect observers' trust in another consumer's recommendations. Comparing two combination types-mixed-brand combinations (where all/most branded products are from different brands) and …