Management Talk: Rebecca Hamilton (Georgetown)

Marketing Seminar Series

Presents

 

Rebecca Hamilton

 

Michael G. and Robin Psaros Chair in Business Administration

Professor of Marketing and Marketing Area Coordinator

Georgetown University

 

 

“Learning that You Can’t Always Get What You Want:

The Effect of Childhood Socioeconomic Status on Decision Making Resilience”

 

Much of the literature on consumer decision making has focused on choice, implicitly assuming that consumers will be able to obtain what they choose. However, the options consumers choose are not always available to them, either due to limited availability of the options or to consumers’ limited resources. In this research, we examine the impact of childhood socioeconomic status on consumers’ responses to choice restriction. Building on prior work showing that perceived agency and effective coping strategies may differ by socioeconomic status, we hypothesize that consumers socialized in low socioeconomic status environments will be more likely to exhibit two adaptive strategies in response to two different forms of choice restriction. In three studies in which participants encountered unavailability of their chosen alternative, we find that participants of various ages with low (vs. high) childhood socioeconomic status display greater persistence in waiting for their initial choices yet greater willingness to shift when the alternative they have chosen is clearly unattainable. We discuss the theoretical implications of these results and how they contribute to a deeper understanding of the long-term effects of socioeconomic status on consumer behavior.

 

Friday, March 3rd, 2017

11:30a.m. – 1:00p.m.

165 Whitney Ave

Classroom 4210

 

Lunch will be served