Overcorrection in Mixed Racial Purchasing

We investigate consumer behavior in situations of interracial sales contact and explore how prejudice influences prosocial purchase decisions towards vendors from an in- and out-group by applying the theory of overcorrection. In general, out-group interactions are widely associated with negative behavior; however, the opposite can also occur by showing overly friendly and controlled behavior (so-called overcorrection). Overcorrection is an under-researched phenomenon in the domains of consumer behavior and sales management. We argue that overcorrection has potentially important marketing implications and aim to shed light on this issue by focusing on the role of prejudice, as well as on the motivation to appear unprejudiced. In a laboratory experiment, the race of street vendors (Whites vs. Blacks) was manipulated between subjects and a prosocial purchase decision was measured. Implicit and explicit prejudice, as well as the motivation to act without prejudice,  moderated the relationship between the vendor's race and the likelihood of a prosocial purchasing decision (willingness to purchase). Overcorrection is observable at a low level of prejudice (implicit and explicit) and disappears at moderate and high levels of prejudice. Where prejudice towards Black vendors is low, participants indicate a higher willingness to purchase from Black than from White vendors. We argue that participants with low prejudice showed the highest overcorrection because they are not experiencing cognitive depletion and can regulate their behaviors. A higher motivation to act without prejudice (regardless of the level of prejudice) leads to overcorrected behavior. The insights of these findings have substantial implications for sales and charity managers.