••• the business of research
Outside affirmation helps build better teams
Looking to bolster the morale of your insights team? Try a little outside positivity. For the paper, “Seeing oneself as a valued contributor: social worth affirmation improves team information sharing,” University of Michigan Ross School of Business Professor Julia Lee Cunningham and her co-authors conducted three studies examining the effects of team members receiving affirmation of their social worth from trusted individuals outside the team. The researchers concluded that such encouragement helps team members see themselves as valued contributors and helps overcome their reluctance to offer their perspectives, leading to better information sharing.
“When you join a team, your responsibility is to make the team better by adding unique ideas or perspectives,” Cunningham says. “But paradoxically, you may feel unable to do so because you are too concerned with how you are perceived, with ‘belonging.’”
Managers can also take advantage of the findings in settings like onboarding sessions and performance reviews. “The way that managers give feedback doesn’t always have to be finding room for improvement or focusing on task performance; it can be about the person as well,” Cunningham says. “Even in an onboarding exercise, management can help newcomers see themselves as a valued contributor as they get started with the company. Letting someone know that we really care about them as a person, not just as somebody who contributes to the work process, can send a very powerful signal.”
••• consumer psychology
Perhaps the UGLI fruit had it right all along
Few marketers would recommend that clients call their products ugly but new research from the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business shows that when it comes to selling misshapen fruits and vegetables, labeling them as “ugly” can be a recipe for sales success.
For the study, “From waste to taste: how ‘ugly’ labels can increase purchase of unattractive produce,” the researchers conducted seven studies that tested the efficacy of describing the unattractive produce as “ugly” by having participants purchase produce at a farmers market and online and by examining people’s preconceptions about misshapen foods.
While the researchers found that consumers expected the imperfect produce to be less tasty and even less nutritious than more traditionally attractive foods, they also found that when the produce is labeled “ugly,” consumer hesitancy disappears – and not because of humor or originality. Calling items “ugly” signals to consumers that the only difference between items is aesthetic, which makes them aware of their bias and significantly increases their willingness to buy the less attractive produce.
The researchers also found that “ugly” labeling is more effective than other popular labels, such as “imperfect,” at driving choice of unattractive produce and generating click-throughs in online ads.