How Vulnerable are Consumers to Blatant Persuasion Attempts?
37 Pages Posted: 15 Dec 2005
Abstract
We show that subtle environmental elements - such as background music - can reduce skepticism and decrease consumers' use of persuasion knowledge. In four studies we show that the presence of background music can result in increased distraction and increased inclination to follow salespeople's advice. Remarkably, this effect persists even when the ulterior motive of the salesperson is made extremely salient. Our results suggest that consumers may be more vulnerable to persuasion attempts then is usually assumed in the persuasion knowledge literature.
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Bosmans, Annick M.M. and Warlop, Luk, How Vulnerable are Consumers to Blatant Persuasion Attempts?. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=869978 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.869978
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