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The group-contagion effect: the influence of spatial groupings on perceived contagion and preferences
Arul Mishra1, Himanshu Mishra, Dhananjay Nayakankuppam
1David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah, 1645 E. Campus Center Dr., Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA. arul.mishra@utah.edu
Abstract:
We used contagion theory as a framework for studying the influence of spread of qualities in a group. We found that people's preferences change depending on how objects are arranged in a group. They prefer to choose from a closely arranged group if one unidentified object in that group has a positive quality, but prefer to choose from a group in which objects are farther apart if one unidentified object in that group has a negative quality. We call this pattern of preference the group-contagion effect. We also found that the magnitude of the effect increases if the number of objects possessing the positive or negative quality increases.
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