The Impact of Source and Item Characteristics on Consumer Responses to Flattery in Retail Sales Transactions

Flattery is a common method of interpersonal influence applied by agents in the marketplace. However, the literature on persuasion knowledge and related topics has primarily revealed a negative influence of flattery in a retail setting. The present research identifies two critical boundary conditions in the context of marketplace interactions which may result in a positive outcome of flattery. Results of a field study demonstrated that when a highly attractive (vs. less attractive) salesperson flatters a consumer on an item she/he already owns (vs. an item from the store), flattery can lead to higher satisfaction, trustworthiness and intentions to revisit the store.



Citation:

Sutapa Aditya, Kelley Main, and Darren Dahl (2009) ,"The Impact of Source and Item Characteristics on Consumer Responses to Flattery in Retail Sales Transactions", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36, eds. Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 932-932.

Authors

Sutapa Aditya, York University, Canada
Kelley Main, University of Manitoba, Canada
Darren Dahl, University of British Columbia, Canada



Volume

NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 36 | 2009



Share Proceeding

Featured papers

See More

Featured

P10. Omission Bias in the Gain vs. Loss Domain

Jen H. Park, Stanford University, USA

Read More

Featured

The Identifiable Donor Effect

Yunqing Chen, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China
Leilei Gao, Chinese University of Hong Kong, China

Read More

Featured

Semantic Processes in Memory-Based Consumer Decision Making

Sudeep Bhatia, University of Pennsylvania, USA

Read More

Engage with Us

Becoming an Association for Consumer Research member is simple. Membership in ACR is relatively inexpensive, but brings significant benefits to its members.