Andrew D Gershoff
Biographic Data
| ID | 84866 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Andrew D Gershoff |
| GIVEN NAMES | Andrew D |
| FAMILY NAME | Gershoff |
| SIGNATURE | GERSHOFF A D |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Texas at Austin |
| ORCID | 0009-0007-0665-4530 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 10 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 37 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 8 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 2 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2001 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Are Critics More Credible? When Positivity Is Expected, Negative Reviewers Are Perceived to Be Less Credible
When writing a review, influencers market their credibility–a critical antecedent to consumers’ attitudes towards reviewers, reviews, and brands. This research examines how consumer reviews shape source credibility and subsequent word-of-mouth (WOM) of influencers. Nineteen studies (N = 7,330), across several product categories and situations, find that consumers perceive negative reviewers as less credible than positive reviewers due to an expec…
The Final Countdown: Temporal Frames of Environmental Threats
Scientists, NGOs, companies, and the press typically communicate temporal predictions about environmental threats in terms of the calendar date by which the threat is expected to occur (e.g., “Water shortage in the UK by 2040”). However, across eight online studies and a field experiment, we find that referring instead to the amount of time left until the threat (e.g., “Water shortage in the UK within 20 years”) makes the threat feel temporally c…
When Boastful Word of Mouth Helps versus Hurts Social Perceptions and Persuasion
Although self-enhancement has recently been established as a central motive for sharing word-of-mouth information, little is known about the impact of self-enhancing assertions (e.g., boasting) on persuasion. We theorize, and demonstrate in three studies, that although boasting is perceived negatively, such immodest self-presentations can either impede or enhance social perceptions and persuasion. The valence of the persuasion outcome depends hea…
Consumer Response to Versioning: How Brands’ Production Methods Affect Perceptions of Unfairness
Marketers often extend product lines by offering limited-capability models that are created by removing or degrading features in existing models. This production method, called versioning, has been lauded because of its ability to increase both consumer and firm welfare. According to rational utility models, consumers weigh benefits relative to their costs in evaluating a product. So the production method should not be relevant. Anecdotal evidenc…
Knowing Where They Stand: The Role of Inferred Distributions of Others in Misestimates of Relative Standing
People often estimate how they compare to other consumers when they make purchase decisions. Unfortunately, they tend to err in this task, and this can lead to negative consequences in their choices. Previous literature has largely argued that these errors in estimates of relative standing are due to underweighting or ignoring the reference group. Using a novel measure of people’s perception of the reference group, we show that consumers do atten…
Safety First? The Role of Emotion in Safety Product Betrayal Aversion
Consumers often face decisions about whether to purchase products that are intended to protect them from possible harm. However, safety products rarely provide perfect protection and sometimes “betray” consumers by causing the very harm they are intended to prevent. Examples include vaccines that may cause disease and air bags that may explode with such force that they cause death. Expanding research on betrayal aversion, this study examines the …
What's Not to Like? Preference Asymmetry in the False Consensus Effect
Prior research has shown that individuals are often susceptible to a false consensus effect, whereby they overestimate the extent to which others share their opinions. In three studies, we show that the strength of the false consensus effect is moderated by the valence of one's own opinion, such that overestimation of population consensus is greater when an individual likes an alternative as compared to when she or he dislikes it. Further, we sho…
Few Ways to Love, but Many Ways to Hate: Attribute Ambiguity and the Positivity Effect in Agent Evaluation
Recent research has identified a positivity effect in consumers' evaluations of agents, such as friends and professional critics, who provide word-of-mouth evaluations and recommendations. Specifically, agreement with an agent on previously loved alternatives is perceived as more diagnostic of the agent's suitability than agreement on previously hated alternatives. This article argues that the positivity effect arises from greater ambiguity about…
Do You Know Me? Consumer Calibration of Friends' Knowledge
A consumer's decision to rely on a friend to act as an agent depends, in part, on beliefs about the friend's knowledge. Three studies examine the role of motivational and cognitive biases in estimating friends' personalized knowledge (e.g., knowledge of one's movie preferences). Results show that estimates of close friends' knowledge are less accurate than those of less close friends for personalized but not for impersonal knowledge. Specifically…
Recommendation or Evaluation? Task Sensitivity in Information Source Selection
Ironically, when consumers turn to an information source to assist in decision making, they are faced with the added responsibility of having to make a decision about the information source itself. A normative model is presented that shows that consumer assessment of an information source should include both the task for which an information source is sought and the appropriate probability of success for the task. A key distinction between tasks …
Do You Know Me? Consumer Calibration of Friends' Knowledge
A consumer's decision to rely on a friend to act as an agent depends, in part, on beliefs about the friend's knowledge. Three studies examine the role of motivational and cognitive biases in estimating friends' personalized knowledge (e.g., knowledge of one's movie preferences). Results show that estimates of close friends' knowledge are less accurate than those of less close friends for personalized but not for impersonal knowledge. Specifically…
Few Ways to Love, but Many Ways to Hate: Attribute Ambiguity and the Positivity Effect in Agent Evaluation
Recent research has identified a positivity effect in consumers' evaluations of agents, such as friends and professional critics, who provide word-of-mouth evaluations and recommendations. Specifically, agreement with an agent on previously loved alternatives is perceived as more diagnostic of the agent's suitability than agreement on previously hated alternatives. This article argues that the positivity effect arises from greater ambiguity about…
Recommendation or Evaluation? Task Sensitivity in Information Source Selection
Ironically, when consumers turn to an information source to assist in decision making, they are faced with the added responsibility of having to make a decision about the information source itself. A normative model is presented that shows that consumer assessment of an information source should include both the task for which an information source is sought and the appropriate probability of success for the task. A key distinction between tasks …
Consumer Response to Versioning: How Brands’ Production Methods Affect Perceptions of Unfairness
Marketers often extend product lines by offering limited-capability models that are created by removing or degrading features in existing models. This production method, called versioning, has been lauded because of its ability to increase both consumer and firm welfare. According to rational utility models, consumers weigh benefits relative to their costs in evaluating a product. So the production method should not be relevant. Anecdotal evidenc…
When Boastful Word of Mouth Helps versus Hurts Social Perceptions and Persuasion
Although self-enhancement has recently been established as a central motive for sharing word-of-mouth information, little is known about the impact of self-enhancing assertions (e.g., boasting) on persuasion. We theorize, and demonstrate in three studies, that although boasting is perceived negatively, such immodest self-presentations can either impede or enhance social perceptions and persuasion. The valence of the persuasion outcome depends hea…
Knowing Where They Stand: The Role of Inferred Distributions of Others in Misestimates of Relative Standing
People often estimate how they compare to other consumers when they make purchase decisions. Unfortunately, they tend to err in this task, and this can lead to negative consequences in their choices. Previous literature has largely argued that these errors in estimates of relative standing are due to underweighting or ignoring the reference group. Using a novel measure of people’s perception of the reference group, we show that consumers do atten…
Safety First? The Role of Emotion in Safety Product Betrayal Aversion
Consumers often face decisions about whether to purchase products that are intended to protect them from possible harm. However, safety products rarely provide perfect protection and sometimes “betray” consumers by causing the very harm they are intended to prevent. Examples include vaccines that may cause disease and air bags that may explode with such force that they cause death. Expanding research on betrayal aversion, this study examines the …
What's Not to Like? Preference Asymmetry in the False Consensus Effect
Prior research has shown that individuals are often susceptible to a false consensus effect, whereby they overestimate the extent to which others share their opinions. In three studies, we show that the strength of the false consensus effect is moderated by the valence of one's own opinion, such that overestimation of population consensus is greater when an individual likes an alternative as compared to when she or he dislikes it. Further, we sho…
Recommendation or Evaluation? Task Sensitivity in Information Source Selection
Ironically, when consumers turn to an information source to assist in decision making, they are faced with the added responsibility of having to make a decision about the information source itself. A normative model is presented that shows that consumer assessment of an information source should include both the task for which an information source is sought and the appropriate probability of success for the task. A key distinction between tasks …
Do You Know Me? Consumer Calibration of Friends' Knowledge
A consumer's decision to rely on a friend to act as an agent depends, in part, on beliefs about the friend's knowledge. Three studies examine the role of motivational and cognitive biases in estimating friends' personalized knowledge (e.g., knowledge of one's movie preferences). Results show that estimates of close friends' knowledge are less accurate than those of less close friends for personalized but not for impersonal knowledge. Specifically…
Few Ways to Love, but Many Ways to Hate: Attribute Ambiguity and the Positivity Effect in Agent Evaluation
Recent research has identified a positivity effect in consumers' evaluations of agents, such as friends and professional critics, who provide word-of-mouth evaluations and recommendations. Specifically, agreement with an agent on previously loved alternatives is perceived as more diagnostic of the agent's suitability than agreement on previously hated alternatives. This article argues that the positivity effect arises from greater ambiguity about…
What's Not to Like? Preference Asymmetry in the False Consensus Effect
Prior research has shown that individuals are often susceptible to a false consensus effect, whereby they overestimate the extent to which others share their opinions. In three studies, we show that the strength of the false consensus effect is moderated by the valence of one's own opinion, such that overestimation of population consensus is greater when an individual likes an alternative as compared to when she or he dislikes it. Further, we sho…
Knowing Where They Stand: The Role of Inferred Distributions of Others in Misestimates of Relative Standing
People often estimate how they compare to other consumers when they make purchase decisions. Unfortunately, they tend to err in this task, and this can lead to negative consequences in their choices. Previous literature has largely argued that these errors in estimates of relative standing are due to underweighting or ignoring the reference group. Using a novel measure of people’s perception of the reference group, we show that consumers do atten…
Safety First? The Role of Emotion in Safety Product Betrayal Aversion
Consumers often face decisions about whether to purchase products that are intended to protect them from possible harm. However, safety products rarely provide perfect protection and sometimes “betray” consumers by causing the very harm they are intended to prevent. Examples include vaccines that may cause disease and air bags that may explode with such force that they cause death. Expanding research on betrayal aversion, this study examines the …
Consumer Response to Versioning: How Brands’ Production Methods Affect Perceptions of Unfairness
Marketers often extend product lines by offering limited-capability models that are created by removing or degrading features in existing models. This production method, called versioning, has been lauded because of its ability to increase both consumer and firm welfare. According to rational utility models, consumers weigh benefits relative to their costs in evaluating a product. So the production method should not be relevant. Anecdotal evidenc…
When Boastful Word of Mouth Helps versus Hurts Social Perceptions and Persuasion
Although self-enhancement has recently been established as a central motive for sharing word-of-mouth information, little is known about the impact of self-enhancing assertions (e.g., boasting) on persuasion. We theorize, and demonstrate in three studies, that although boasting is perceived negatively, such immodest self-presentations can either impede or enhance social perceptions and persuasion. The valence of the persuasion outcome depends hea…
Are Critics More Credible? When Positivity Is Expected, Negative Reviewers Are Perceived to Be Less Credible
When writing a review, influencers market their credibility–a critical antecedent to consumers’ attitudes towards reviewers, reviews, and brands. This research examines how consumer reviews shape source credibility and subsequent word-of-mouth (WOM) of influencers. Nineteen studies (N = 7,330), across several product categories and situations, find that consumers perceive negative reviewers as less credible than positive reviewers due to an expec…
The Final Countdown: Temporal Frames of Environmental Threats
Scientists, NGOs, companies, and the press typically communicate temporal predictions about environmental threats in terms of the calendar date by which the threat is expected to occur (e.g., “Water shortage in the UK by 2040”). However, across eight online studies and a field experiment, we find that referring instead to the amount of time left until the threat (e.g., “Water shortage in the UK within 20 years”) makes the threat feel temporally c…
Psychology (7 works) · Decision-Making and Behavioral Economics (4 works) · Social Psychology (4 works) · Advertising (3 works) · Business (3 works) · Computer Science (3 works) · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification (3 works) · Product (mathematics) (3 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (3 works) · Sociology (3 works)