2051 Pamplin Hall Rebecca Rabino rrabino@vt.edu 617-835-0604 Website: rrabino.com Education PhD Marketing 2017 Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech (Expected) Minor: Statistics Advisor: Paul Herr BA Majors: English and Economics, Summa Cum Laude 2011 Northeastern University Research Interests The causes and consequences of consumer curiosity; factors influencing charitable donation behavior Publications (Selected abstracts on pages 5-6) Refereed Publication Zemack-Rugar, Yael, Rebecca Rabino, Lisa Cavanaugh, and Gavan Fitzsimmons (2015), When Donating is Liberating: The Role of Product and Consumer Characteristics In the Appeal of Cause-Related Products. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 26 (April), 213-230. Manuscript Revision Zemack-Rugar, Yael, Rosellina Ferraro, and Rebecca Rabino, Wouldn t It Be Nice? The Impact of Imagined Consumption on Preference for Complementary Products. (invited for third-round review at Journal of Consumer Research) Dissertation The Expectations, Experiences, and Consequences of Curiosity Resolution Proposal Defended: 5/27/16 Committee: Paul Herr (Chair; Virginia Tech), Rajesh Bagchi (Virginia Tech), Elise Chandon Ince (University of South Carolina), Mario Pandelaere (Virginia Tech, Ghent University), and Yael Zemack-Rugar (University of Central Florida)
Abstract: In many marketing contexts, such as teaser campaigns and mystery ads, marketers must both evoke and resolve curiosity. However, curiosity resolution remains poorly understood; previous research suggests that curiosity resolution may be satisfying, while other research warns that it may be disappointing. I seek to clarify these diverging predictions. In my first essay, I explore consumers expectations of their post-resolution satisfaction. I demonstrate that curious consumers are unable to accurately predict their post-resolution satisfaction, and seek to isolate satisfaction deriving from curiosity resolution itself from satisfaction related to the manner in which curiosity is resolved. In my second essay, I explore curiosity resolution in a novel marketing context: discount mystery ads. Discount mystery ads are promotions in which a price reduction is announced, but the magnitude of the reduction is temporarily concealed. I demonstrate that viewing a discount mystery ad results in increased consumer interest. Furthermore, consumers exhibit a decreased sensitivity to the magnitude of the discount; thus, such ads are particularly effective for low-level discounts. Selected Research in Progress Rabino, Rebecca, Elise Chandon Ince, and Debora Thompson, Look Who s Talking: Ambiguous Accents, Curiosity, and Product Evaluations. (advanced writing stage, preparing for imminent submission at the Journal of Consumer Research) Rabino, Rebecca and Paul Herr, Calling a Lie a Lie: Deception Identification, Word of Mouth, and Consumer Attitudes (five studies completed, one in development; targeting Journal of Consumer Research) Rabino, Rebecca and Mario Pandelaere, When Discounts Satisfy My Curiosity: Curiosity Resolution and Discount Mystery Ads (based on second essay of my dissertation; 5 studies completed, one in development; targeting Journal of Marketing Research) Sundar, Aparna, Rebecca Rabino, and Frank Kardes Overcoming the Negative Halo Effect: Inferences about GMOs and Artificial Ingredients (advanced writing stage, preparing for imminent submission at Marketing Letters) Refereed Conference Presentations (*denotes presenter) Zemack-Rugar, Yael*, Rosellina Ferraro, and Rebecca Rabino (2015) Wouldn t It Be Nice? The Impact of Imagined Consumption on Preference for Complementary Products, Society for Consumer Psychology, Winter Conference, (February), Phoenix. Ince, Elise Chandon, Debora Thompson, and Rebecca Rabino* (2014) Guess Where I'm From: Ambiguous Accents, Curiosity and Product Evaluations, Association for Consumer Research, North American Conference, (October), Baltimore.
Zemack-Rugar, Yael, Canan Corus, Rebecca Rabino*, and David Brinberg, (2013) Working Against the Clock: Predicting Responses to Deadline Goal Failure, Association for Consumer Research, North American Conference, (October), Chicago. Recent Awards and Honors 2016 Outstanding Doctoral Student of the Pamplin College of Business ($500) 2016 Pamplin College of Business Doctoral Student Research Award ($500) 2016 Pamplin Doctoral Summer Research Grant ($7,500) 2016 Virginia Tech Graduate Research Development Program ($993) 2015 AMA Sheth Consortium Fellow 2015 Pamplin Doctoral Summer Research Grant ($7,500) 2015 Virginia Tech Graduate Research Development Program ($700) Teaching Experience Instructor at Virginia Tech Fall 2014 Sole Instructor: Consumer Behavior, two sections Rating: 5.6 and 5.8/6 Summer 2014 Sole Instructor: Consumer Behavior Rating: 5.9/6 Teaching interests: Consumer Behavior, Principles of Marketing, Marketing Research, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Communication, and International Marketing. Doctoral Coursework 4.0 GPA Spring 2015 Advanced Marketing Research Juncai Jiang Spring 2014 Advanced Statistics for Education Kusum Singh Spring 2014 Seminar in Buyer Behavior Research Kim Weaver Spring 2014 Advanced Method Regression Anne Ryan Fall 2013 Marketing Strategy Paul Herr Fall 2013 Applied Multivariate Analysis Inyoung Kim Fall 2013 Experimental Design Anne Ryan Spring 2013 Statistics in Research II Anne Ryan Spring 2013 Experimental Economics Sheryl Ball Spring 2013 Judgment and Decision Making Rajesh Bagchi Fall 2012 Business Research Methods Kevin Carlson Fall 2012 Consumer Welfare Paul Herr Fall 2012 Statistics in Research I Anne Ryan Relevant Professional Background 2010 Marketing Associate Meccanotecnica Riesi, Sicily, Italy
2009 Newsletter Program Coordinator The MathWorks, Natick, Massachusetts 2008 Marketing Assistant, Marketing Communications Constant Contact, Waltham, Massachusetts Service Ad Hoc Reviewing Journal of Consumer Research (Trainee) The Association for Consumer Research North American Conference The American Marketing Association Summer Marketing Educators Conference The Society for Consumer Psychology Annual Winter Conference Other Service 2012-2014 GSA (Graduate Student Association) Marketing Department Delegate 2015-2016 Behavioral Lab Manager 2015-2016 Founder of Marketing Department Journal Club Professional Affiliations Association for Consumer Research (ACR) Society for Consumer Psychology (SCP) American Marketing Association (AMA) References Paul Herr Rajesh Bagchi Mario Pandelaere Department Head Professor of Marketing and Virginia-Carolinas Professor of Purchasing Management Professor of Marketing and Richard E. Sorensen Junior Faculty Fellow Pamplin College of Business Virginia Tech 2016 Pamplin Hall Pamplin College of Business Virginia Tech 2016 Pamplin Hall Associate Professor of Marketing at Virginia Tech and at Ghent University Pamplin College of Business Virginia Tech 2016 Pamplin Hall Phone: (540) 231-6949 Phone: (540) 231-3076 Phone: (540) 231-6949 Email: herrp@vt.edu Email: rbagchi@vt.edu Email: mpand@vt.edu
Selected Abstracts Zemack-Rugar, Rabino, Cavanaugh, and Fitzsimons (2016): The present work examines the effectiveness of pairing a charitable donation with a product purchase. We propose a compensatory process, in which the guilt-laundering properties of charitable donations are more appealing the more consumption guilt is experienced. Consumption guilt is dependent on both product type (hedonic vs. utilitarian) and consumer characteristics (guilt-sensitivity), such that adding a charitable donation to hedonic products is more impactful than adding the same donation to utilitarian products, especially for guiltsensitive consumers. As a result of the impact of product type and guilt-sensitivity, several nonintuitive findings emerge. For example, guilt-sensitive consumers, who normally indulge in hedonic consumption the least, indulge at least as much as their less guilt-sensitive counterparts when hedonic products are paired with a charitable donation. Moreover, guilt-sensitive consumers are relatively insensitive to the nature of the supported cause, indulging in hedonic consumption even when it supports disliked causes. Six studies demonstrate the impact of adding charitable donations to products as well as the unique role that consumption guilt and its alleviation play in the underlying process. Rabino, Chandon Ince, and Thompson: This work explores a novel driver of consumer curiosity, ambiguously accented speech, and its impact on judgments and behavior. Curiosity is an intense motivational force with the power to influence marketing contexts, but has received limited attention in consumer behavior research. The results of four experiments show that ambiguous accents, which are of indeterminate origin, trigger curiosity about the speaker s origin. Accent-induced curiosity transfers to products and services endorsed by the speaker, thereby enhancing consumers interest and behavioral intentions. We demonstrate the accent-induced curiosity effect across a variety of male and female accents from several nationalities. Furthermore, we explore how situational (approach vs. avoidance goals) and individual difference (ambiguity intolerance) factors moderate this accentinduced curiosity effect. Zemack-Rugar, Ferraro, and Rabino: Prior work on imagined consumption has focused on the imagined product itself. Instead, we examine the impact of imagined consumption on the imagined product s complement. We propose that imagined consumption increases preference for the imagined product s complement relative to when no imagining occurs. However, we predict that this increase will be moderated by what is imagined: purchase versus use. We propose that imagined purchase (use) leads to a why- (how-) focus associated with an abstract (concrete) mindset, resulting in a goal (attribute) focus. We demonstrate that complements are more strongly related in their goals than in their attributes, and as a result, a focus on goals (i.e., imagined purchase) results in greater preference for and choice of the complement than a focus on attributes (i.e., imagined use). Across eight studies, we demonstrate the asymmetric effect of imagined purchase versus use on preference for and choice of the complement, and provide supporting evidence for the proposed theoretical framework. Moreover, the data rule out several alternative explanations. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.
Sundar, Rabino, and Kardes: The halo effect occurs when global inferences of a target product, person, or organization serve to influence inferences about specific characteristics of that target. The halo effect is a remarkably robust phenomenon that is surprisingly difficult to moderate. Previous research has established that even heavy-handed procedures are completely ineffective. In the current research, we explore halo effects in a practically relevant and topical context: food labels. Importantly, we demonstrate the effectiveness of three new moderators of the halo effect: critical thinking, causal reasoning mindsets, and inconsistent belief priming. All three new moderators were effective at reducing the magnitude of the halo effect. These moderators serve to attenuate the halo effect by reducing reliance on intuitive responses or by encouraging consumers to adopt more moderate beliefs. Furthermore, we demonstrate implications for actual consumption and calorie estimation as well as for inferences about the taste and health related properties of various products.