IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/mktlet/v35y2024i1d10.1007_s11002-023-09685-4.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Embracing the spotlight (effect): how attention received online influences consumers’ offline spotlight biases

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew J. Hall

    (Oregon State University)

Abstract

In general, consumers perceive others to pay more attention to them than is actually the case (i.e., the spotlight bias). The present research examines how the magnitude of this bias (i.e., the relative inaccuracy of these attention-related perceptions) can be influenced by the attention consumers receive after sharing content online. Specifically, when consumers receive more (less) attention after sharing content online, they experience increased (decreased) egocentrism. This, in turn, increases (decreases) the inaccuracy of their perceptions regarding the attention others pay to their subsequent offline behavior—i.e., it increases (decreases) the magnitude of their spotlight biases. This effect is moderated by both consumers’ need for attention and their intensity of social media use. Thus, this research highlights how online feedback mechanisms can have a detrimental effect on consumers’ ability to accurately perceive their offline social environments. It also contributes to theory by demonstrating the online-to-offline contagion of egocentrism.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew J. Hall, 2024. "Embracing the spotlight (effect): how attention received online influences consumers’ offline spotlight biases," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 45-57, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:35:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11002-023-09685-4
    DOI: 10.1007/s11002-023-09685-4
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11002-023-09685-4
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11002-023-09685-4?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John G. Lynch Jr., 2006. "Accessibility-Diagnosticity and the Multiple Pathway Anchoring and Adjustment Model," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(1), pages 25-27, June.
    2. Plé, Loïc & Demangeot, Catherine, 2020. "Social contagion of online and offline deviant behaviors and its value outcomes: The case of tourism ecosystems," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 886-896.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Li, Tao & Chen, Yun, 2022. "The obstacle to building a mutual regulation system: Exploring people's intervention intention toward tourists' deviant behavior," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    2. Legoux, Renaud & Larocque, Denis & Laporte, Sandra & Belmati, Soraya & Boquet, Thomas, 2016. "The effect of critical reviews on exhibitors' decisions: Do reviews affect the survival of a movie on screen?," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 357-374.
    3. Swoboda, Bernhard & Sinning, Carolina, 2020. "How country development and national culture affect the paths of perceived brand globalness to consumer behavior across nations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 58-73.
    4. Lee, Saerom & Bolton, Lisa E., 2020. "Mixed signals? Decoding luxury consumption in the workplace," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 331-345.
    5. Kristiina Herold & Anssi Tarkiainen & Sanna Sundqvist, 2016. "How the source of word-of-mouth influences information processing in the formation of brand attitudes," Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(1), pages 64-85, January.
    6. Sebastian Schneider, 2022. "Price-related consumer discussions in China and the United States: a cross-cultural study investigating price perceptions and word-of-mouth transmission," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(3), pages 274-290, June.
    7. Habel, Johannes & Alavi, Sascha & Pick, Doreén, 2017. "When serving customers includes correcting them: Understanding the ambivalent effects of enforcing service rules," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 919-941.
    8. Chatterjee, Swagato & Goyal, Divesh & Prakash, Atul & Sharma, Jiwan, 2021. "Exploring healthcare/health-product ecommerce satisfaction: A text mining and machine learning application," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 815-825.
    9. Sebastian Schneider & Frank Huber, 2022. "You paid what!? Understanding price-related word-of-mouth and price perception among opinion leaders and innovators," Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(1), pages 64-80, February.
    10. Schweitzer, Fiona & Mai, Robert, 2022. "Does one rotten apple always spoil the barrel? The role of perceptions of empowerment when consumers observe destructive others in online co-creation activities," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 436-446.
    11. Jha, Subhash & Balaji, M.S. & Peck, Joann & Oakley, Jared & Deitz, George D., 2020. "The Effects of Environmental Haptic Cues on Consumer Perceptions of Retailer Warmth and Competence," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 96(4), pages 590-605.
    12. Liu, Ran & Ford, John B. & Zhang, Weiyong & Bonnici, Joseph, 2023. "Reappraising the roles of review valence and conflict in online relationships," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    13. Lehtonen, Miikka J. & Vesa, Mikko & Harviainen, J. Tuomas, 2022. "Games-as-a-Disservice: Emergent value co-destruction in platform business models," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 564-574.
    14. Wendy Hui, 2010. "Self-generated Validity, Framing Effects, and Survey Research in IS," ICBBR Working Papers 11, International Centre for Behavioural Business Research.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:mktlet:v:35:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s11002-023-09685-4. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.