Drawing Inferences About Others on the Basis of Corporate Associations

Abstract

This research examined how observers use corporate associations (e.g., environmental responsibility) in drawing inferences about a target consumers’ dispositions (e.g., whether the target person really cares about the environment). Respondents read a scenario describing a target consumer purchasing a certain brand of pens, whose maker had recently teamed up with an environmental organization. It was found that target-related factors (e.g., impression motivation, the consistency of behavior) and company-related factors (e.g., the congruity of the supported cause with the companys’ reputation) systematically influenced the dispositional inferences made by the observers.