Americus Reed

Americus Reed
  • The Whitney M. Young Jr. Professor
  • Professor of Marketing

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    764 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    3730 Walnut Street
    University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: how social identity, social influence, values, attitudes and judgments interact in shaping purchase decisions and consumer behavior.

Links: CV, Personal Website

Overview

For much more information, visit Americus’ PERSONAL WEB PAGE.

Professor Americus Reed is the Marketing Department’s only “identity theorist,” focusing his research on the role consumers’ self concepts play in guiding buying decisions. He examines how social identity, social influence, values, attitudes and judgments interact in shaping purchase decisions and consumer behavior, but from a social psychology point of view.

Most recently, Professor Reed studied brand identity by examining the triggers that lead consumers to identify with and become loyal to a product, brand or logo. Other recent research looked at judgments that are linked to a person’s identity are virtually immovable, or “sticky,” providing new information for marketing managers about product loyalty.

Professor Reed’s research has been published in top-tier academic journals including the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. His teaching interests include courses in Consumer Behavior, Marketing Research, Marketing Management, Organizational Behavior and Social Psychology.

Professor Reed received his PhD from the University of Florida, and his MS and BA degrees from Georgia State University.

 

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Research

For much more information, visit Americus’ PERSONAL WEB PAGE.

  • Amit Bhattacharjee, Jonathan Z. Berman, Americus Reed (2013), Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger: How Moral Decoupling Enables Consumers to Admire and Admonish, Journal of Consumer Research.

    Abstract: What reasoning processes do consumers use to support public figures who act immorally? Existing research emphasizes moral rationalization, whereby people reconstrue improper behavior in order to maintain support for a transgressor. In contrast, the current research proposes that people also engage in moral decoupling, a previously unstudied moral reasoning process by which judgments of performance are separated from judgments of morality. By separating these judgments, moral decoupling allows consumers to support a transgressor’s performance while simultaneously condemning his or her transgressions. Five laboratory studies demonstrate that moral decoupling exists and is psychologically distinct from moral rationalization. Moreover, because moral decoupling does not involve condoning immoral behavior, it is easier to justify than moral rationalization. Finally, a field study suggests that in discussions involving public figures’ transgressions, moral decoupling may be more predictive of consumer support (and opposition) than moral rationalization.

Teaching

For much more information, visit Americus’ PERSONAL WEB PAGE.

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Amit Bhattacharjee, Jonathan Z. Berman, Americus Reed (2013), Tip of the Hat, Wag of the Finger: How Moral Decoupling Enables Consumers to Admire and Admonish, Journal of Consumer Research.
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