An anonymous stranger you encounter on websites like Yelp or Amazon may seem to be just like you, and a potential friend. But a stranger on a site like eBay is a whole different story.
A new study finds that on websites where people compete against each other, assumptions about strangers change.
Previous research has shown that people have a bias toward thinking that strangers they encounter online are probably just like them.
But when they are competitors, strangers are seen as different, and not sharing your traits and values — and that changes how people act, said Rebecca Walker Naylor, co-author of the study and assistant professor of marketing at The Ohio State University‘s Fisher College of Business.
“When you’re competing against people you don’t know, you actually bid much more aggressively than you might normally, because you assume that these strangers aren’t similar to you,” she said.
“You feel you have the license to bid aggressively because the other bidders aren’t like you and you don’t have to be nice to them.”
Naylor said the results should serve as a caution for people who shop on auction sites like eBay.
“You need to be aware that, whether you mean to or not, you will naturally see other anonymous bidders as different from you. That will get the competitive juices flowing and you might end up paying more than you really want,” she said.
Naylor conducted the study with Cait Poynor Lamberton of the Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh, and David Norton at the University of Connecticut.
Their findings appear in the August 2013 issue of the Journal of Consumer Research.
In several related experiments, the researchers conducted simulated online auctions in which people thought they were bidding for products like a popular energy drink. In some cases, the study participants knew they were similar — or dissimilar — from the people they were bidding against, while other times they didn’t know anything about their competitors.
In one study, college students were told they would be bidding on a bottle of Five Hour Energy Drink. They were then shown one of three profiles of a “representative” bidder they were competing against. In one profile, the bidder was demographically similar to the participant. A second profile featured a profile that was demographically different. The third profile was ambiguous, so these participants couldn’t tell how similar they were to their competition.
Before the bidding, the researchers primed some participants for competition by having them complete a word search involving words describing competition, such as “battle,” “challenge” and “contend.”
As expected, the participants’ bid was lowest — 75 cents — when they competed against someone similar to themselves. When they were bidding against people who were not like them, their high bid went up to $1.22.
But the bid was highest when the participant competed against an anonymous person — all the way to $1.28.
“They automatically assumed that if they didn’t know anything about this person they were bidding against, it must be someone who is not like them,” Naylor said. “That’s different from how people approach strangers on other websites.”
The results were confirmed in another study involving students from the University of South Carolina. Half the students were told they would be bidding on a site called “eBay Auctions,” while the other half were told they were bidding on the site “Gamecock Auctions.” The mascot of South Carolina is the Gamecocks, so participants were given the impression that other bidders on that site were also likely affiliated with their university.
They were then given profiles of a competing bidder who was similar, dissimilar or ambiguous.
Results showed that participants were least aggressive in their bidding against similar competitors and most aggressive against dissimilar competitors, regardless of which website they were on.
When it came to the ambiguous competitors whom they didn’t know much about, participants competed aggressively against their rival on eBay, but not so much if the bidding occurred on Gamecock Auctions.
In fact, the researchers asked participants to rate how similar they were to their competing bidder. When they didn’t have much information on their competitor, they still rated themselves as similar when they competed on Gamecock Auctions. But they rated these ambiguous competitors as dissimilar when they were on eBay.
The Latest Bing News on:
How People View Strangers Online
- The King: Eternal Monarch Season 1 Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via Netflixon April 28, 2024 at 8:20 am
Eternal Monarch Season 1 is a South Korean romantic drama series set in two parallel worlds. The story follows Emperor Lee Gon of the Kingdom of Corea, who embarks on a mission to seal the doors of ...
- Kokua Line: Should I return Venmo payment from stranger?on April 28, 2024 at 5:01 am
The cash-transfer app describes more than a dozen common scams in its Help Center, and "payments from strangers" is one of them ... scam involves a request for the money back because honest people ...
- Can a group of strangers find common ground on one of the most divisive issues in America?on April 27, 2024 at 7:01 am
In the group, the biggest sticking points are: fetal health; maternal health that might not be immediately life-threatening; and sexual and domestic violence and whether someone should be forced to ...
- Can 14 strangers from Wisconsin help America find common ground on abortion?on April 27, 2024 at 2:00 am
This is the first in a series about a group of Wisconsin residents trying to come up with policies to address abortion and its root causes that could be applied nationwide. MADISON, Wis. — Thomas Lang ...
- Mom's disappearance draws daughter into probe of online romance scamson April 26, 2024 at 4:47 pm
Laura Kowal's match on an online dating site wasn't what he seemed. Now her daughter is on a mission to expose the risk of romance scams: "It could happen to anybody." ...
- Shockingly, People Aren’t Interested In Paying $3,500 For Apple’s Wildly Overpriced Vision Pro VR Headseton April 26, 2024 at 5:49 am
Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reported that the company had slashed its Vision Pro shipments to 400,000-450,000 units, with the market predicting 700,000–800,000 units or more. According to the report, ...
- My View: A return to public speaking works out well - for the most parton April 26, 2024 at 3:00 am
My speaking engagements are for the purpose of raising public awareness about wildlife conservation, particularly elephants. I’m a long-time volunteer for The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, which sp ...
- Here's why the internet keeps telling people to look at their keyboardson April 23, 2024 at 12:43 pm
Social media users are spelling out keyboard messages like "U," "WE," and "JK" in all sorts of different contexts.
- The life-changing magic of asking kind strangers to rate your looks onlineon April 23, 2024 at 2:00 am
On Reddit, a community dedicated to advice on one’s appearance has given some men some unexpected confidence – and its moderators are trying to maintain one of the internet’s few troll-free places ...
- “Are you a couple?”: TikTok, vox pops and our obsession with the wisdom of strangerson April 12, 2024 at 8:41 am
Street interviews are taking over social. But what's behind our recent infatuation with other people’s lives? As I’m doom-scrolling late one night something makes my thumb stop amid the clothes ads, ...
The Latest Google Headlines on:
How People View Strangers Online
[google_news title=”” keyword=”How People View Strangers Online” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
The Latest Bing News on:
Assumptions about strangers
- For Jewish students, protests stir fear, anger, hope and questionson April 28, 2024 at 7:00 am
For Jewish college students, this is a moment of intense and sometimes conflicting emotions as many college campuses erupt in loud protests.
- The sexy, vexing and surpassingly strange art of Christina Rambergon April 26, 2024 at 6:30 am
Ramberg’s paintings, displayed in a ravishing retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago, are devastatingly cool and suggestive.
- People Keep Secrets Because They Overestimate Harsh Judgmentson April 26, 2024 at 6:00 am
Research suggests that people tend to exaggerate how critically they will be viewed if they reveal negative information about themselves to others ...
- Mastering first impressions: How your brain sizes up strangers in 7 secondson April 25, 2024 at 7:08 am
Laura Nassar goes through the science behind first impressions and how we can enhance them ...
- Salman Rushdie reflects on attack that changed his life in new memoir ‘Knife’on April 23, 2024 at 3:30 pm
Salman Rushdie, one of the world’s best-known writers, was attacked and nearly killed by a young man with a knife. Rushdie has written of that harrowing day and all that’s followed in a new book. He ...
- A White author calculated just how much racism has benefited her. Here’s what she foundon April 22, 2024 at 9:10 am
Five Families and the Cash Value of Racism in America,” journalist Tracie McMillan traces just how much of her family’s modest wealth can be attributed to their race.
- Why Emotionally Intelligent People Never Say 'I Know How You Feel,' Backed by Scienceon April 19, 2024 at 2:27 am
Want to be more empathetic? Stop assuming (or trying to prove) you know how another person feels, especially if you know that person well.
- The First AI Gadgets Are a Cautionary Taleon April 18, 2024 at 2:01 am
Then there’s the Humane AI Pin, a clip that snaps onto your shirt with a magnet. It’s got a camera, a microphone, a speaker, and a small projector that throws a gesture interface on your palm, for an ...
- Don’t Believe What They’re Telling You About Misinformationon April 15, 2024 at 3:00 am
People may fervently espouse symbolic beliefs, cognitive scientists say, but they don’t treat them the same as factual beliefs. It’s worth keeping track of the difference.
- Lesbian Moms Reveal the Rudest Questions They're Asked by Strangerson March 8, 2024 at 8:51 pm
Even despite the constant questioning, the pair said interactions with strangers can sometimes ... people to try their best not to make assumptions about others," Allie said.
The Latest Google Headlines on:
Assumptions about strangers
[google_news title=”” keyword=”assumptions about strangers” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]