Consumer lay theory suggests that women will spend more money than men in the presence of a physically dominant male employee, whereas theories of intrasexual competition from evolutionary psychology predict the opposite outcome. A retail field study demonstrates that male customers spend more money and purchase more expensive products than their female counterparts in the presence (vs. absence) of a physically dominant male employee. This effect has a more powerful impact on male customers who lack bodily markers of dominance (shorter stature or measures linked to lower levels of testosterone). When confronted with other physically dominant (vs. nondominant) men, these male customers are particularly prone to signal status through price or logo size. Their elevated feelings of intrasexual (male-to-male) competitiveness drive them to spend more money on status-signaling, but not functional, products and to prefer and draw larger brand logos. Because pictorial exposure is sufficient for the effect to occur, these findings are not limited to in-store interactions with dominant male employees but have broad implications for marketing and advertising.

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Little research has focused on understanding how the misuse of consumers' names in the marketplace impacts consumption. Building on the motivation and personal identity threat literatures, we explore the impact of being identified by someone else's given name in the marketplace. We find that consumers exhibit avoidance behaviors when misidentified (versus remaining unidentified or being correctly identified), which is mediated by feelings of respect. We also show that misidentification effects are moderated by ego fragility (i.e., as measured by implicit self‐esteem), with the effects more pronounced among those with more fragile egos. We attenuate this effect via self‐affirmation, showing that misidentified consumers who have been affirmed no longer exhibit product avoidance responses. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.