Marketing Plans
AI Hyperrealism: Why AI Faces Are Perceived as More Real Than Human Ones
Elizabeth Miller et al.
Psychological Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
Recent evidence shows that AI-generated faces are now indistinguishable from human faces. However, algorithms are trained disproportionately on White faces, and thus White AI faces may appear especially realistic. In Experiment 1 (N = 124 adults), alongside our reanalysis of previously published data, we showed that White AI faces are judged as human more often than actual human faces-a phenomenon we term AI hyperrealism. Paradoxically, people who made the most errors in this task were the most confident (a Dunning-Kruger effect). In Experiment 2 (N = 610 adults), we used face-space theory and participant qualitative reports to identify key facial attributes that distinguish AI from human faces but were misinterpreted by participants, leading to AI hyperrealism. However, the attributes permitted high accuracy using machine learning. These findings illustrate how psychological theory can inform understanding of AI outputs and provide direction for debiasing AI algorithms, thereby promoting the ethical use of AI.
Safety Reviews on Airbnb: An Information Tale
Aron Culotta et al.
NBER Working Paper, November 2023
Abstract:
Consumer reviews, especially those expressing concerns of product quality, are crucial for the credibility of online platforms. However, reviews that criticize a product or service may also dissuade buyers from using the platform, creating an incentive to blur the visibility of critical reviews. Using Airbnb and official crime data in five major US cities, we find that both reviews and self experiences concerning the safety of a listing's vicinity decrease guest bookings on the platform. Counterfactual simulations suggest that a complete removal of vicinity safety reviews (VSR) would hurt guests but increase revenues from reservations on Airbnb, with positive sorting towards listings formerly with VSR. Conversely, incorporating VSR in a listing's overall ratings or highlighting VSR could generate opposite effects. Either way, the interests of consumers are not always aligned with the interests of a revenue-centric platform. Because VSR are more closely correlated with official crime statistics in low-income and minority neighborhoods, our findings suggest that suppressing or highlighting VSR would have different effects on different neighborhoods.
The Basketball Court
David Fontana & David Schleicher
Yale Working Paper, May 2023
Abstract:
Public law scholars often consider how to separate power among and within governmental entities in order to encourage that power to be used effectively. However, public law scholars only rarely bring the insights they have developed about the separation of powers to bear on questions of how to design private business firms. But these firms often need their own private separation of powers to diffuse power among their officials and ensure compliance with foundational firm objectives. This Article considers an emerging form of the private separation of powers: a private supreme court-like institution internal to a single firm. The consistent application of firm rules may be commercially valuable in some contexts, and private supreme courts can help provide firms with that kind of consistency. We consider the case for private supreme courts from the perspective of one illustrative example: sports leagues, and, in particular, the National Basketball Association ("NBA"). We argue that the NBA should create a "Basketball Court," a somewhat-independent adjudicatory body that uses the tools of judicial decision-making to interpret league rules in a consistent way that can provide commercial value to the NBA. Creating a court-like body would promote the ability of the NBA to convince spectators of the fairness of competition, encourage casual spectators to make the types of emotional and financial investments that turn them into rabid fans, and dissuade governments from regulating their sports. We pattern our discussion of a court-like structure on the Oversight Board created by Facebook (now Meta) in 2018. The Oversight Board has largely been considered for what it means for speech, but we are interested in what it means for private institutional design more generally. Creating a court-like institution with independent judges writing opinions justifying their interpretations of private firm rules will be desirable for many, the NBA included.
How Traditional Production Shapes Perceptions of Product Quality
Keith Wilcox, Sandra Laporte & Gabriel Ward
Journal of Consumer Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
The current research examines how the knowledge that a product is made using a traditional method influences perceptions of its quality. We propose that consumers believe a brand using traditional methods is beneficial for society because it is concerned about cultural preservation and this belief has a positive effect on perceived quality. Six experimental studies show consumers evaluate products produced with a method described as traditional to be higher in quality than similar products that are not described as traditionally made and this effect is mediated by the belief the brand is beneficial for society. Consistent with this theory, the positive effect of traditional production on perceived quality is attenuated when consumers view the brand to be unconcerned about cultural preservation, such as when the use of a traditional method is framed as a follower strategy (i.e., it imitates the actions of other brands) or when the brand is a multinational company. By showing the mere mention of a traditional method can be another subtle way to position a brand as a moral actor, these findings contribute to the understanding of the link between perceived social responsibility and product evaluations.
Typography Talks: Influencing Vintage Anemoia and Product Safety Perceptions with Vintage Typography
Alicia Kulczynski & Margurite Hook
Journal of Marketing, forthcoming
Abstract:
Drawing from the concept of anemoia, the authors propose a new typology of nostalgia called vintage anemoia. Vintage anemoia encompasses consumers' positive and nostalgic response to vintage cues, regardless of specific historical periods or individual lived experiences. Through a series of seven studies, the authors demonstrate that vintage typography, by evoking feelings of vintage anemoia, can enhance consumer perceptions of product safety. This effect has positive downstream consequences on key marketing outcomes, including brand attitude, purchase intention, and willingness to pay. Furthermore, the effect of vintage anemoia on product safety perceptions remains unaffected by whether product safety information indicates that a product is safe or unsafe. However, the effect diminishes when an explicit indexical cue (year of establishment) is utilized or when promoting futuristic products. The findings contribute to the existing body of knowledge in marketing and provide insights for marketers on leveraging vintage typography as a strategic tool for creating emotional connections with consumers and enhancing perceptions of product safety.
Does socioeconomic status moderate the relation between cultural wording of recruitment information and organizational attraction?
Brent Stevenor et al.
Journal of Personnel Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Strategies to increase socioeconomic status (SES) diversity within organizations have been given little attention. Research suggests that subtle characteristics of recruitment materials influence peoples' perceptions of organizations. In this hybrid registered report, we examined whether SES moderates the relation between individualistic-collectivistic recruitment message wording and organizational attraction. Using a large sample (N = 652), we found that people high in SES were more attracted to collectivistic-worded recruitment information than were people low in SES. People low in SES were more attracted to individualistic-worded recruitment information than collectivistic-worded recruitment information. The implications of our findings and directions for future research are discussed.