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Comparative advertisements and schadenfreude: when and why others’ unfortunate choices make us happy

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Abstract

Comparative advertisements often feature situations depicting consumers who use competitors’ brands being subjected to misfortunes. We examine schadenfreude, the pleasure derived from the misfortunes of others, as an affective response elicited by comparative ads, as well as consumers’ beliefs in tempting fate as a heretofore unexamined influence thereof. Consistent with our theory, we show that comparative ads depicting the misfortunes involving lower-quality (vs. higher-quality) competitors elicit greater schadenfreude, and that this is because choosing the former is perceived to tempt fate and to be more deserving of misfortune than the latter. Moreover, heightened levels of schadenfreude in turn lead to more positive attitudes and increased purchase intentions among consumers who are more (vs. less) reluctant to tempt fate.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business Administration, Pennsylvania State University Harrisburg, 777 West Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, PA, 17057, USA

    Ozge Yucel-Aybat

  2. School of Business Administration, University of California, Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, CA, 92521, USA

    Thomas Kramer

Authors
  1. Ozge Yucel-Aybat
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  2. Thomas Kramer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ozge Yucel-Aybat.

APPENDIX: Storyboards for study 1 (study 2)

APPENDIX: Storyboards for study 1 (study 2)

First screen:

Pat is shown entering a store to buy a digital camera (deodorant).

The voice-over says: “Your wedding day is one of the most important days in your life – one you want to think back on and remember forever. No camera has ever been chosen more often to protect those memories and bring them to life over and over again” (“Buying the right deodorant can be one of the most important decisions we make.”)

Second screen:

Pat is shown in the camera (deodorant) aisle of the store, first picks up higher-quality Brand B, (lower-quality Brand A) but then shakes his head, puts it back and chooses the competitor lower-quality Brand A (higher-quality Brand B) instead.

Third screen:

Pat is shown using the competitor Brand A (Brand B) camera (deodorant) he bought and then holding an ugly, out-of-focus picture from the wedding party, taken with the new camera. Pat is not smiling and doesn’t seem happy at all (and then dancing in a party. Other dancers are moving away from Pat one by one. Pat has underarm sweat stains all over and the other dancers are very disturbed by the unpleasant odor. Pat seems to be very angry).

The voice-over says: “For special memories, use Brand B (Brand A) camera (deodorant) instead, and remember the best moments with Brand B!” (Brand A).

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Yucel-Aybat, O., Kramer, T. Comparative advertisements and schadenfreude: when and why others’ unfortunate choices make us happy. Mark Lett 28, 579–589 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-017-9431-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-017-9431-8

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