‘Betrayal Effect’ Leads Consumers to Reject Safer Products, Law Prof Finds
Why do people reject products that make them safer—such as vaccines or air bags—when they learn of a very small chance of injury from the items?
The reason is a “betrayal effect,” according to a new study by Northwestern law professor Jonathan Koehler and University of Texas marketing professor Andrew Gershoff. People feel betrayed when they learn safety products carry risk, and they let that emotion get in the way of rational decision-making, according to a press release.
United Press International and Time’s Healthland news have a summary of the study, which was published in the Journal of Consumer Research.
Koehler and Gershoff studied the problem by asking study subjects to choose between two cars. One had an airbag that was less likely to save a life in a serious accident. The other had an airbag that was more likely to save a life, but it had a minuscule chance of causing death. Most participants avoided the safer airbag.
Those participants who scored higher on a personality test for intuitive thinking were most likely to avoid safer products because of the tiny potential risk they carried.
