Researchers from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have found that people who frequently feel left out are more likely to take risky financial decisions that promise bigger payoffs.
The study was presented at the American Psychological Association's 121st Annual Convention, comprising of data from several experiments and a field survey. Researchers found that people who felt excluded were more likely to choose the longer odds for bigger lottery payoffs, take greater risks with their finances, bet on horse races and gamble in casinos.
"In the absence of social support, forlorn consumers apparently place more value on the power of money to secure what they want socially," Rod Duclos, PhD, assistant professor of marketing at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said in a press release.
For one experiment, 59 students played an online ball-tossing game. While some of them were made to feel socially included, others were made to feel excluded. They were then asked to choose between two hypothetical gambling situations with different odds. Researchers observed that the students that were made to feel socially excluded chose the riskier option. The same observation was made in a second experiment where essay writing was used to make 165 students feel either socially included or excluded.
"Some marketers with questionable ethics may target demographic groups likely to suffer from social exclusion, such as the elderly, divorcees, and widows or widowers," Duclos concluded. "Others may be tempted to isolate, physically or psychologically, prospective clients during financial negotiations since doing so may result in larger commissions. By illustrating how common experiences such as feeling rejected or accepted can affect consumers' financial decisions, our research can help people make more informed decisions."
