The persuasiveness of guilt appeals over time: Pathways to delayed compliance

Past research on guilt-elicitation in marketing does not examine how the communications' effects might persist over time, when there is a gap between advertising at time 1 and the time of choice consideration at time 2. This study explores the processes leading to delayed compliance through guilt-based communications. Guilt elicitation enhances transportation into the message, driving message compliance through the effect of transportation. Transportation explains the effects recorded several days after campaign exposure. The influence of transportation is mediated by two pathways: increases in anticipated guilt and perceived consumer effectiveness. The message type moderates the relevance of different pathways in explaining persuasiveness. Appeals delivered through a text and image message (rather than text only) are more effective in driving compliance and shape reactions via guilt anticipation. The study raises important implications for research on the use of guilt appeals and the design of more effective messages based on this emotion

Too good to be true? Boundary conditions to the use of downward social comparisons in service recovery

Evidence shows that downward social comparisons (DSCs), messages delivered by frontline employees describing how service experiences turned out even worse for others, can reduce customers’ anger following a service failure. This study contributes to the literature on DSCs and service recovery by highlighting pitfalls associated with the use of these messages in service recovery and showing the conditions necessary for their effectiveness. Building on persuasion knowledge theory, we show that customers draw manipulative inferences about DSCs because of the perceived bias associated with the source of the message and the implicit derogation of a competitor that DSCs entail. To reduce inferences of manipulative intentions, frontline employees should accompany DSC messages with intense apologies and use selfderogation to reduce the perception that they are criticizing another firm. Past claims on the generalized effectiveness of DSCs need to be revised. Managers should craft social comparison messages carefully to avoid negative reactions from customers. Our research indicates that once adapted to address these concerns, DSCs can be an effective recovery strategy amongst individuals with a strong need for social comparison information

persistent occurrence of serogroup y sequence type st 23 complex invasive meningococcal disease among patients aged five to 14 years italy 2007 to 2013

In Italy, the incidence of invasive meningococcal disease (IMD) has remained stable since 2007 (around 0.3 cases/100,000 inhabitants). However, as reported for other European countries, an increase of serogroup Y Neisseria meningitidis has been observed. In this study we report IMD cases from 2007 to 2013 in Italy and investigate the clinical and epidemiological features of cases affected by serogroup Y. Molecular characteristics of serogroup Y strains are also described. During the study period, the proportion of IMD cases due to serogroup Y increased, ranging from 2% in 2007 to 17% in 2013 (odds ratio (OR): 8.8), whereby the five to 14 years age group was mostly affected (p < 0.001). Overall 81 serogroup Y IMD cases were identified, with a median age of 18 years, ranging from three months to 84 years. Of the 81 respective patient samples, 56 were further subject to molecular typing. The sequence type (ST)-23 complex (clonal complex (cc)23) was predominant among serogroup Y meningococci (54/56 samples), and included nine different STs. Presumably, ST-23 was the founding genotype, with all the other STs presenting as single-locus variants. All cc23 isolates analysed harboured mutations in the lpxL1 gene; however, no associations among lpxL1 mutations, ST and age group were identified. Overall, these findings generate scientific evidence for the use of the quadrivalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine in the five to 14 years age group

Placenta Growth Factor-1 Exerts Time-Dependent Stabilization of Adherens Junctions Following VEGF-Induced Vascular Permeability

Increased vascular permeability is an early event characteristic of tissue ischemia and angiogenesis. Although VEGF family members are potent promoters of endothelial permeability the role of placental growth factor (PlGF) is hotly debated. Here we investigated PlGF isoforms 1 and 2 and present in vitro and in vivo evidence that PlGF-1, but not PlGF-2, can inhibit VEGF-induced permeability but only during a critical window post-VEGF exposure. PlGF-1 promotes VE-cadherin expression via the trans-activating Sp1 and Sp3 interaction with the VE-cadherin promoter and subsequently stabilizes transendothelial junctions, but only after activation of endothelial cells by VEGF. PlGF-1 regulates vascular permeability associated with the rapid localization of VE-cadherin to the plasma membrane and dephosphorylation of tyrosine residues that precedes changes observed in claudin 5 tyrosine phosphorylation and membrane localization. The critical window during which PlGF-1 exerts its effect on VEGF-induced permeability highlights the importance of the translational significance of this work in that PLGF-1 likely serves as an endogenous anti-permeability factor whose effectiveness is limited to a precise time point following vascular injury. Clinical approaches that would pattern nature's approach would thus limit treatments to precise intervals following injury and bring attention to use of agents only during therapeutic windows

An Extended Model of Moral Outrage at Corporate Social Irresponsibility

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/ 10.1007/s10551-014-2487-

The role of guilt and pride in consumers’ self-regulation: an exploration on sustainability and ethical consumption

Researchers are interested in understanding the individual processes that favour consumers’ self-regulation since they can contribute to the achievement of personal and collective long-term goals in many areas. Sustainable and ethical consumption represents one such context; self-regulation can be a key driver for the solution of environmental and social sustainability challenges. In a series of three studies, this thesis investigates how guilt and pride contribute to consumers’ decisions to purchase sustainable products. The research adopts a multiple methods approach. The first qualitative study explores the process that leads to emotional experiences and describes what characterises feelings of guilt and pride. Five key dimensions that lead to enhanced self-control and stronger experiences of guilt and pride are identified: 1) altruistic value preference, 2) moral relevance of the issue presented, 3) credibility of the ethical claim(s) presented, 4) perception of a trade-off between altruism and self-interest, 5) social visibility of the decision. The two quantitative investigations examine consumers’ emotional reactions and how they affect future intentions to purchase sustainable products. It is demonstrated that: 1) feelings of guilt and pride have a positive influence on the intentions to purchase ethical products in the future; 2) intentionality is not necessary to experience guilt or pride; 3) experiences of guilt and pride have a positive impact on consumers’ efficacy beliefs; 4) beliefs in self-efficacy and collective efficacy influence positively intentions to purchase ethical products in the future. This research contributes to the literature on sustainable consumption by exploring how guilt and pride influence the purchase of ethical alternatives. This thesis also contributes to other domains of consumer research by: 1) explaining how guilt and pride influence cognition in self-regulation contexts; 2)developing a context-bound theory of appraisal in the study of guilt and pride. Implications for practitioners are also critically discussed

When doing good will not save us: revisiting the buffering effect of CSR following service failures

Past research offers inconsistent evidence on whether CSR is an effective service recovery strategy. Current debates overlook the signals that service failures send about the company, and their interplay with CSR. We propose a moderated mediation model showing that CSR's effectiveness for service recovery depends upon failure type. For failures signaling a lack of skills and expertise, CSR enhances warmth which in turn lowers revenge. Warmth further increases perceived competence which influences conciliatory responses. CSR, however, does not help if the failure signals a lack of moral integrity. Both warmth and competence explain the CSR's buffering effect. Our study demonstrates that “doing good” helps only to the extent that service failures that do not raise doubts about the character of the company. Even in these circumstances, however, the buffering effect of CSR is observed only in case of customer–firm communal relationships. Consistent evidence from three experiments revisits more optimistic assessments of the ability of CSR to act as a recovery strategy and shows that CSR can help only under very circumscribed conditions. Managerially, we show how and when the CSR buffer applies in service contexts, offering insights on how managers can best reap the potential benefits of service brands' involvement in CSR