Back in Touch with Contagion: Some Essential Issues

Carol Nemeroff and Paul Rozin

Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2018, vol. 3, issue 4, 612 - 624

Abstract: Since the introduction of contagion theory to the psychological literature in the 1980s and 1990s, research and interest in the topic have proliferated, especially as related to consumer perceptions and preferences. In this article we review current conceptual issues in contagion theory, including the nature of essence and its relation to conceptions of the soul and self, backward contagion, the process of transmission and whether contact is necessary or sufficient for it to occur, the relation between positive and negative contagion, the status of the eight originally proposed defining features of psychological contagion, and the companion “law of similarity.” We conclude with a discussion of sustainability-relevant applications of contagion theory in the public interest, such as food and water supply and safety, ownership and the sharing economy, and health care. Future research should devote increased attention to cultural differences in psychological contagion and begin to explore emerging impacts of virtual environments on the extended sense of self, reality, and attendant contagion-based thinking.

Date: 2018
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