Objects with Souls: Unveiling the Ghost in the Machine of Consumer Perception

Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: It’s a boyhood fantasy. . . . I must have seen this ship hundreds of times in the Smithsonian but I was never able to touch it.

Lt. Commander Data: Sir, does tactile contact alter your perception?

Capt. Jean-Luc Picard: Oh yes! For humans, touch can connect you to an object in a very personal way.

(From Star Trek: First Contact)

Any excuse to add in an STNG reference. Apologies/You’re welcome.

Identical chairs with a $590,321 price difference (left, right)

The chair on the left is the John F. Kennedy chair which is priced at $679 USD. The one on the right is identical except it has some cushions on it and it sold for $591,000 USD.

Those are expensive cushions.

Or is it that JFK’s essence is worth an additional $590,321 USD? The one on the right is JFK’s actual chair that he commissioned (from the builders that make the replica chair on the left).

Today we’ll dive into the fascinating psychological phenomenon in which we subconsciously believe that objects have “souls” and how that affects consumer behavior.

SO WHAT DO WE KNOW?

People instinctively believe that things have “essence” and that “essence” can be transferred to things nearby especially through touch.

Magical contagion — Positive essence transfers from one thing to another — often related to transfer of positive traits.

• Origin place increases authenticity. Luxury products made in their original production houses are perceived as “more authentic” than when not made in their original production houses even if the methods and quality are the same.
• Famous people have the midas touch. Increased celebrity touch increases the value of objects. The amount of contact an object had with a celebrity as perceived by auction-goers positively predicts the final auction bid. Sterilizing the object devalues the object but increases the value of objects that were touched by unsavory celebrities (i.e., Bernard Madoff).
• Aspirational people’s traits are in their objects. Consumers believe that they acquire the attributes of an aspirational person who used the items before they did. In a sharing economy, a dissertation showed in a series of studies that people were likely to increase ratings of their own financial ability, intelligence, and discipline, aligned to the traits of the perceived previous user.
• Masters’ skills are in their objects. Performance improves when you believe you are using a professional’s equipment. Amateur golfers who were given golf equipment that they were told were previously used by a professional golfer perceived the golf hole to be bigger, their performance improved, and they sunk more putts than those who did not think they were using a professional golfer’s equipment. Similar effects happened when someone thought they were using a basketball that was touched by a professional basketball player.

Contamination contagion — Negative essence transfers from one thing to another — often related to physical contamination.

• Disgusting things devalue objects they touch. If something disgusting is near or touches something else, it affects purchase decisions. Researchers looked at items that could be put near each other in a shopping cart or a shopping aisle (i.e., feminine napkins and cookies, laundry detergent and cereal), and asked how much they would like to sample the cookies or the cereal. Participants were unaware that they were less likely to choose products that were placed near “disgusting” objects. This effect was stronger when the food was in clear containers. When containers were opaque, contagion effects were reduced.
• People devalue objects others touch. With the exception of celebrities or attractive people of the opposite sex, consumers devalue objects they believe have been touched by others. Similarly, consumers are less likely to pay for second hand items and are likely to be less satisfied with the product if they know about the previous owner (even if they think they get the previous owner’s positive traits — see point 3 from the magical contagion section).
• Morals can be transferred through touch. Choice of organ donor is influenced by moral judgements of the donor. Participants perceive a moral contagion from heart and liver transplants if given negative information about the organ donor that mirrors real-world data on concerns of actual patients face with organ donation. Coming in contact with a moral transgression increases your sense of guilt. Similarly, telling a lie makes mouthwash more desirable and writing a lie makes hand sanitizer more desirable.

Psychological ownership and the endowment effect through touch — Your essence transfers from one thing to another.

• Owning makes it valuable. The endowment effect is when the perceived value of an object increases because you own it. If you’ve ever tried to sell your things second hand, you know the pain of realizing no one wants your stuff, or at least for the price you think it’s worth.
• Touching it makes it mine. The endowment effect can occur simply by touching or imagining owning the object. There were no differences in perceived value of basketball tickets between those who owned the tickets and those who were asked to imagine that they owned the tickets. In a series of experiments, researchers also found that touching the object or imagining owning the object were both highly effective in increasing perceived ownership and valuation of the object. In the imagery condition they merely asked participants: “imagine taking the product home with you. Where would you keep it? What would you do with it?”
• Digitally touching it makes it mine. Psychological ownership can be transferred simply by touching the object on a touchscreen. Researchers found that products have higher valuations if participants touched the image of the product through a touchscreen versus through a mouse on a computer.

SO WHAT…

As a brand…

• Touch creates ownership. “Feel the freshness” as a slogan increased impulse purchases. Test drives, show rooms, trials, and free samples are all ways that people subconsciously perceive ownership.
• Mitigate contamination risks and increase positive transference. What are your products placed near? Where do your products get placed (we actually talked about trust transference in a study I ran at Google — Search as a trusted platform that transfers trust to items found there)? How do you create essence with celebrities/influencer endorsements? For example, BTS and Coca Cola launched limited edition Coke cans with individual designs for each member with their gestures and their signatures.
• Identify the essence that transfers. Premiumness of a brand can transfer through ownership, or owning something from a renown artist or designer transfers their essence into their products. Some fashion brands will call out specific designers (e.g., Adidas x Stella McCartney) or artists will create their own lines (e.g., Victoria Beckham, Beats by Dre) that carry their “essence”.
• Digital touch is also important. What experience do people have viewing and rotating your product to see what it is? What digitally immersive experiences do we create to help users interact with our products through touchscreens? For instance, Apple provides a 360º spin view of its iPhones, so users can look at the phone from any angle they choose as if they are holding the phone themselves.
• Help consumers imagine owning your products. The sense of ownership will increase how valuable your product is. IKEA Place does something similar, where they use augmented reality to help people visualize IKEA furniture in their own homes.
• Consumption experience, cleansing efforts, or focusing on the positive traits of previous owners can help bypass contamination effects from second-hand or share-economy products.

As a consumer…

• Once you get it, you’re probably not returning it. Free trials, satisfied or your money back, you already think it’s yours.
• Decluttering sentimental items is hard because we believe our objects have an “essence” and part of that “essence” is based on who has owned or touched them. When you are decluttering, are there ways that you can honor the essence of someone/a period of your life without it living in an object? Uncomfortably, sanitizing the object creates a perception of eliminating part of its essence, if you want to go the scorch-the-earth route on it.
• If you have bad memories surrounding an object or it reminds you of a negative person in your life, think of ways to “cleanse” the object (see previous point).
• Do we own things by experts that help us feel more capable? Although it can be a crutch, the placebo might just work (or borrow clothes from friends whose traits you admire, just kidding but sort of not?).
• It’s not that valuable. We think it’s valuable because we own it; when you’re a seller, humble yourself that your ownership adds margin to the prices you set for your second-hand goods.
• If you’re selling your goods — you can add in some positive info about yourself, people are buying those traits.

WANT TO LEARN MORE?

• Hood, B. M., Gjersoe, N. L., Donnelly, K., Byers, A., & Itajkura, S. (2011). Moral contagion attitudes towards potential organ transplants in British and Japanese adults. Journal of Cognition and Culture, 11(3–4), 269–286.
• Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J. L., & Thaler, R. H. (1990). Experimental tests of the endowment effect and the Coase theorem. Journal of political Economy, 98(6), 1325–1348.
• Lee, C., Linkenauger, S. A., Bakdash, J. Z., Joy-Gaba, J. A., & Profitt, D. R. (2011). Putting like a pro: The role of positive contagion in golf performance and perception. PloS one, 6(10), e26016.
• Morales, A. C., & Fitzsimons, G. J. (2007). Product contagion: Changing consumer evaluations through physical contact with “disgusting” products. Journal of Marketing Research, 44(2), 272–283.
• Newman, G. E., & Bloom, P. (2014). Physical contact influences how much people pay at celebrity auctions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(10), 3705–3708.
• Newman, G. E., & Dhar, R. (2014). Authenticity is contagious: Brand essence and the original source of production. Journal of Marketing Research, 51(3), 371–386.
• Newman, G. E., Diesendruck, G., & Bloom, P. (2011). Celebrity contagion and the value of objects. Journal of consumer research, 38(2), 215–228.
• Peck, J., & Shu, S. B. (2009). The effect of mere touch on perceived ownership. Journal of consumer Research, 36(3), 434–447.
• Stough, R. A. (2020). Renting More than the Runway: Essence Transfer in Access-Based Consumption. The University of Wisconsin-Madison.

WHO IS PSY.KO?

PsykoBabble is a curation of some of my favorite psych concepts and also the latest and greatest in the realms of social psychology. Why? My background is in cultural and digital psychology — this newsletter helps me stay on top of a field I love so much, share what I’ve found, and constantly push psychology’s application to life and work in meaningful ways.