Psychological Effects of Social Exclusion on Stereotyping and Consumer Behavior: An Abstract

In times of increased connectedness, research gradually starts to unveil the potential side effects of high social media usage (Forbes 2017). Paradoxically, people with higher reported social media usage seem to feel more socially excluded than those who make less use of those platforms (Primack et al. 2017). Social exclusion has been recognized as a growing epidemic, increasingly linked with physical, mental, and emotional consequences (Valtorta et al. 2016; Mourey et al. 2017). By definition, social exclusion is the feeling of being lonely, rejected, isolated, or ostracized (Su et al. 2017). Although a lot has been shown about the causes and the existence of this phenomenon, a recent and growing concern is how the experience of social exclusion affects people’s judgments and decision making.

Research shows that social exclusion threatens people’s need to belong (Aydin et al. 2010; Gardner et al. 2000). Specifically, feeling socially excluded leads to a greater interest in making new friends and improves the desire to work with others (Maner et al. 2007). Additionally, social exclusion leads to higher fixation and attention to positive social cues (e.g., smiling faces; DeWall et al. 2009). Therefore, regardless of the specificity of the effects of social exclusion, the reaction is related to an attempt to cope with the self-threat and restore the shaken self.

This research sheds light on the role of social exclusion on peoples’ interpersonal judgments. As our studies show, participants have a higher purchase intentions toward a product that was pre-owned by a senior (vs. young) seller (Study 1) and demonstrate more positive attitudes toward an overweight (vs. thin) seller in a selling context (Study 2) when primed with feelings of social exclusion. This research provides several contributions. First, the findings provide initial evidence on the effects of social exclusion on approaching behavior toward stigmatized social groups. More specifically, we argue that feeling excluded might reduce stereotypical behavior, as in our studies people in the social exclusion condition had approaching responses toward commonly stigmatized groups. Contrarily, in the control condition, this effect dissipates.