Moral tribalism and its discontents: How intuitive theories of ethics shape consumers' deference to experts

Abstract

We study the psychology at the intersection of two social trends. First, as markets become increasingly specialized, consumers must increasingly defer to outside experts to decide among complex products. Second, people divide themselves increasingly into moral tribes, defining themselves in terms of shared values with their group and often seeing these values as being objectively right or wrong. We tested how and why these tribalistic tendencies affect consumers' willingness to defer to experts. We find that consumers are indeed tribalistic in which experts they find convincing, preferring products advocated by experts who share their moral values (Study 1), with this effect generalizing across product categories (books and electronics) and measures (purchase intentions, information-seeking, willingness-topay, product attitudes, and consequential choices). We also establish the mechanisms underlying these effects: because many consumers believe moral matters to be objective facts, experts who disagree with those values are seen as less competent and therefore less believable (Studies 2 and 3), with this effect strongest among consumers who are high in their belief in objective moral truth (Study 4). Overall, these studies seek not only to establish dynamics of tribalistic deference to experts but also to identify which consumers are more or less likely to fall prey to these tribalistic tendencies.

Conviction Narrative Theory: A theory of choice under radical uncertainty

“…Narratives induce emotional engagement, mental imagery, and attention, creating “narrative transportation” that can lead reasoners to believe elements of the story (Adaval & Wyer, 1998; Escalas, 2004; Green & Brock, 2000; Hamby, Brinberg, & Daniloski, 2017; Van Laer, de Ruyter, Visconti, & Wetzels, 2014). Moreover, the broader narratives espoused by a communicator, such as moral and political worldviews, can lend additional credence to their claims (Johnson, Rodrigues, & Tuckett, 2021; Marks, Copland, Loh, Sunstein, & Sharto, 2019). Persuasion is crucial in coordination because it allows a group to have the same narrative in their heads, making narratives a part of our collective or transactive memory (Boyd, 2009; Chwe, 2001; Hirst, Yamashiro, & Coman, 2018; Wegner, 1987) and providing a shared plan for coordinated action.…”

Narrative Expectations in Financial Forecasting

“…Our work on the interplay between narratives, confidence, and emotions suggests that narratives direct attention to particular information, which influences our confidence and in turn our emotions (Bilovich et al, 2020). Finally, social influence plays a crucial role, as people use seemingly irrelevant cues, such as an expert's moral and political values, to assess which financial advisor to trust (Johnson, Rodrigues, & Tuckett, 2020). This may be one important link in understanding why particular stories "go viral" in particular social groups (Shiller, 2017).…”

Narrative expectations in financial forecasting

“…Our work on the interplay between narratives, confidence, and emotions suggests that narratives direct attention to particular information, which influences our confidence and in turn our emotions (Bilovich et al, 2020). Finally, social influence plays a crucial role, as people use seemingly irrelevant cues, such as an expert's moral and political values, to assess which financial advisor to trust (Johnson, Rodrigues, & Tuckett, 2020). This may be one important link in understanding why particular stories “go viral” in particular social groups (Shiller, 2017).…”