The curse of objectivity: Choosing objectively better products hinders consumers from receiving help

Abstract

Consumers who desire to be ‘rational’ tend to rely on reason and resist affective influences and thus choose objective options that are superior on quantifiable and measurable attributes but inferior on subjective and malleable attributes. Existing research reveals that consumers experience intrapersonal benefits from choosing objective options. Beyond these benefits, this study reveals the novel and interpersonal curse of choosing objective options that hinders consumers from receiving help. Six studies found that, compared to subjective-option choosers, objective-option choosers were considered less warm and received less help. Moreover, this social curse was attenuated when consumers’ choices did not reflect their own preferences. The current research contributes to the literature on objectivity–subjectivity trade-offs by extending it from the intrapersonal to the interpersonal perspective, and to the literature on helping by revealing how consumption reduces future help received in irrelevant contexts beyond current consumption.