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Emotionally Numb: Expertise Dulls Consumer Experience

Author

Listed:
  • Matthew D Rocklage
  • Derek D Rucker
  • Loran F Nordgren
  • J Jeffrey Inman
  • Chris Janiszewski

Abstract

Expertise provides numerous benefits. Experts process information more efficiently, remember information better, and often make better decisions. Consumers pursue expertise in domains they love and chase experiences that make them feel something. Yet, might becoming an expert carry a cost for these very feelings? Across more than 700,000 consumers and 6 million observations, developing expertise in a hedonic domain predicts consumers becoming more emotionally numb—that is, having less intense emotion in response to their experiences. This numbness occurs across a range of domains—movies, photography, wine, and beer—and across diverse measures of emotion and expertise. It occurs in cross-sectional real-world data with certified experts, and in longitudinal real-world data that follows consumers over time and traces their emotional trajectories as they accrue expertise. Furthermore, this numbness can be explained by the cognitive structure experts develop and apply within a domain. Experimentally inducing cognitive structure led novice consumers to experience greater numbness. However, shifting experts away from using their cognitive structure restored their experience of emotion. Thus, although consumers actively pursue expertise in domains that bring them pleasure, the present work is the first to show that this pursuit can come with a hedonic cost.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthew D Rocklage & Derek D Rucker & Loran F Nordgren & J Jeffrey Inman & Chris Janiszewski, 2021. "Emotionally Numb: Expertise Dulls Consumer Experience," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 48(3), pages 355-373.
  • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:48:y:2021:i:3:p:355-373.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jcr/ucab015
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Joy, Annamma & Wang, Jeff Jianfeng & Orazi, Davide C. & Yoon, Seyee & LaTour, Kathryn & Peña, Camilo, 2023. "Co-creating affective atmospheres in retail experience," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(2), pages 297-317.
    2. Martin E. Lichtenstern & Sajid Anwar & Hammad Siddiqi, 2024. "Unraveling the Fallacy of Expertise: Exploring the Influence of Product-Related Experience on Consumer Perception of Product Knowledge," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-19, March.
    3. Colmekcioglu, Nazan & Marvi, Reza & Foroudi, Pantea & Okumus, Fevzi, 2022. "Generation, susceptibility, and response regarding negativity: An in-depth analysis on negative online reviews," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 235-250.
    4. Jennifer L. Stoner & Maria A. Rodas, 2024. "Love is blind: the ironic effect of fans’ experience on taste perception," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 35(1), pages 15-28, March.

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