Stereotype threat created by dissociative groups

• Main Author: El Hazzouri, Mohammed
• Other Authors: Carvalho, Sergio (Marketing)
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: Stereotype; Threat
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1993/8469

Research on consumer behavior shows that consumers tend to avoid products associated with dissociative groups (e.g. White and Dahl 2006). In this research, I show that stereotypes that associate products with dissociative groups can pose a threat to consumers, thus adversely affecting their performance when using these products. Results of this research suggest that consumers facing the threat of dissociative groups show low ability in using the products related to these groups. Specifically, they report low competence when using these products and shun opportunities to blame their poor performance on external or unstable barriers to success thus signaling that they have low ability regarding the use of these products. Assuring consumers that they do not belong to dissociative groups by acknowledging that they lack ability in the domains stereotypically related to these groups attenuates the effect of the threat thus enhancing performance. Results also show that stereotype threat created by dissociative groups is accompanied by a fear of rejection from one’s ingroup. A method that helps reduce fear of rejection (i.e. money priming) helps in attenuating the effect of the threat on performance.