Sally Shin

Shin, Sally MJ, and Alexander G. Fulmer, “Single Farm-to-Table: Preference for Foods with a Single Source of Origin,” Revising for 3rd round review at the Journal of Marketing Research

While food and beverage companies frequently communicate origin-related messages about their products, their effectiveness remains largely unknown. The current research investigates the impact of a product’s origin numerosity (i.e., whether its core element is sourced from one versus multiple location(s)) on consumer preference. Nine experiments reveal that consumers favor products sourced from a single origin over otherwise identical products sourced from multiple origins. This preference extends beyond categories with strong marketplace norms favoring single origin (e.g., wine and whiskey) to those where such norms are weaker (e.g., hot sauce, cranberry sauce, and peanut butter). The single origin preference persists across purchase intentions and incentive-compatible choices, using both controlled, minimal stimuli and richer marketplace-inspired operationalizations. This effect is driven by perceptions of essential purity, such that single origin products are perceived as having greater preservation of essential properties. Consequently, information that enhances the perceived purity of a multi-origin product attenuates the preference for single origin numerosity, offering theory-driven and actionable solutions to benefit producers of multi-origin products. Finally, this preference reverses when consumers evaluate bundle packs of products such that multi-origin bundles are preferred to single origin bundles. These findings offer theoretically rich and practically relevant insights into origin-related marketing communications.

Shin, Sally MJ, Nirajana Mishra, and Ravi Dhar, “From Lemons to LemonAIde: How Low Brand Trust Increases Consumer Receptivity to Artificial Intelligence,” Under 2nd round review at the Journal of Consumer Research

As brands increasingly develop consumer-facing artificial intelligence (AI), understanding how key brand characteristics influence preferences for AI- relative to human-based systems becomes important. Across ten experiments (and five supplemental studies), we identify a novel and counterintuitive role of brand trust: consumers exhibit a greater relative preference for product recommendations from a brand’s AI system when trust in that brand is low (vs. high). This effect is robust across product categories and trust signals, and generalizes beyond preference for individual agents to preferences for firm-level system implementations and recommendation compliance in incentive-compatible settings. We propose that this effect is driven by Differential Essence Transfer: the belief that AI-based systems are weaker embodiments of the brand’s essence (i.e., its (un)trustworthiness) than human-based systems. We find support for this mechanism via moderation, such that consumers who hold stronger beliefs in Differential Essence Transfer amplify the impact of trust on AI preference. We discuss and rule out potential alternative explanations including perceived outsourcing, brand warmth, and brand liking, empirically isolating trust as the key driver of our effect. These findings offer theoretically novel contributions and actionable insights into how managers of brands with different reputational standing can align their deployment of consumer-facing AI-driven services.

Shin, Sally MJ, Paul Rozin, and Gal Zauberman, “When Cherished Memories Are Threatened: Selective Preservation of Creation Memories Following Creator Transgressions,” Revising for 2nd round review at the Journal Experimental Social Psychology

Consumers often hold cherished memories that are later threatened by troubling revelations. How do consumers reconcile the joy they once felt with the knowledge they now hold? The fact that they once held favorable sentiments is part of their personal history, but can they continue to extract value from revisiting their pasts in the wake of such revelations? Our research focuses on one such instance in the arts, media, and entertainment industry: when positive memories of a creator (e.g., musician) and the experiences associated with their creations (e.g., listening to their music) are challenged by negative information about the creator. Six preregistered experiments reveal a robust pattern of selective memory preservation. When revisiting their pasts, individuals compartmentalize the creation from its creator, preserving the positivity of creation memories more than that of the creator memories. Unlike this dissociation in memory, in the present, the revelation diminishes how positively they currently evaluate both the creation and the creator. These findings suggest that despite diminished current evaluations of both the creation and the creator, consumers can still extract positive post-experience utility from revisiting their memories of the creation.