We Are All In This Together: The Effect of Shared Fate on Feelings of Security and Risk Tolerance
Please email mktoffice@wbs.ac.uk to book a place. Lunch available afterwards in 1.022.
Uncontrollable events, such as economic, social, or environmental calamities, as well as smaller-scale events unavoidable by consumers’ own due care frequently impact them as a unit and expose them to possible harm. To examine how consumer responses are shaped by contexts characterized by co-experienced exposure to harm, we introduce to the marketing literature the concept of shared fate and proffer that salient perceptions of shared fate produce feelings of security that guide consumers’ risk tolerance. Importantly, given mutual dependence and a probable alignment of interests among group members following exposure to harm, perceptions of shared fate and, in turn, feelings of security will depend on the size of the exposed group – even in instances when group size is irrelevant to the individual consumer’s vulnerability. A series of studies supports our theory and casts doubt on a viable alternative explanation suggesting that larger versus smaller groups represent stronger cues of social proof. Theoretically, we thereby extend current work on irrational beliefs and personal fate by advancing the notion of shared fate and its heretofore unexamined and unfounded impact on feelings of security and, in turn, risk tolerance. Substantively, we provide guidance to managers whose marketing strategies target small segments with products that involve risk or potential harm, suggesting that activating a sense of shared fate in the segment might improve consumer reactions.
Thomas Kramer ( https://profiles.ucr.edu/app/home/profile/tkramer) is a Professor of Marketing and the Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs for the School of Business at the University of California, Riverside. He received his Ph.D. degree from Stanford University and his MBA and Bachelor’s degrees from Baruch College, CUNY. Prior to joining the University of California, Riverside in 2015, he was a faculty member at Baruch College from 2003 to 2010, and at the University of South Carolina from 2010 to 2015.
Professor Kramer’s research interests focus on examining factors that influence preference construction and subsequent decision-making, including extraordinary consumer beliefs (such as superstitious, magical, fateful, or karmic beliefs), biases, and heuristics. He has published 36 peer-reviewed articles, and his research has appeared in top marketing and decision-making journals, including the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. His most recent work examines differences in consumer behavior engendered by renting versus purchasing skill-based products, ritualistic consumer behavior to overcome negative affective states, and consumer implications of shared consumption.
From 2021 to 2023, Professor Kramer was the Co-Editor, and from 2024 to 2026 is serving as Associate Editor, for the Journal of Consumer Psychology. He previously served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Consumer Research and as Issue Co-Editor for the Journal of the Association of Consumer Research issue on "The Science of Extraordinary Beliefs." He is currently on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Marketing Research and the Journal of International Marketing.
Professor Kramer has taught undergraduate, MBA, PhD, and executive-level courses in Marketing Management, Marketing Research, Consumer Behavior, and Global Marketing.