• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, April 9, 2012

While we all know what Freud would say about America’s passion for big cars, TVs, and houses, it turns out that the relationship between size and status is a little more complex. New research from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management reveals that consumers view even a simple choice among small, medium and large as a way to inject a little more power into their lives. Marketing Daily asked Derek Rucker, associate professor of management and organizations at the Kellogg School, to explain the findings. 

Q: So consumers think bigger is better. Why is this surprising?

A: To us, the news was that bigger is only better when it confers status, and that the size message is much more malleable than I would have thought. In general, bigger things cost more. So it makes sense that to consumers, they confer more status. But what really struck us was that size becomes much more important when it’s a question of power, even with very mundane objects. We tend to think of status purchases as expensive, like cars or jewelry, but a large cup of coffee says a lot about a person.

Q: How so?

A: People like to have power and control over their environment, and don’t like to lose it -- that’s true no matter how much money you make. When a car cuts us off or someone turns a fan on us in an airplane, we feel powerless and we don’t like it. 

We tested this giving away different sizes of bagel pieces. In one experiment, a banner proclaimed: “We all feel powerless in the morning. Treat yourself to free bagels!” Another said: “We all feel powerful in the morning. Treat yourself to free bagels!” And a third said, “It’s morning. Treat yourself to free bagels!” After controlling for whether or not people had eaten breakfast, people who felt powerless tended to take the larger bagel pieces over the small ones. In general, larger items are associated with higher status -- that seems to be the default. 

Q: But not always?

A: No! In fact, we were surprised by how easy it is to reverse that. In another experiment, we offered four sizes of hor d’oeuvres. In some cases, we told people the largest ones had recently been served at a White House event, and in other cases, that the smaller ones had. People chose the size associated with the White House -- they were looking for status, not more food. Cell phones are another good example of this. If people believe smaller phones are better and more expensive, they’ll want them.

Q: So we have to ask: Size matters more to men, right?

A: No -- at least not in our data: Both genders seem equally susceptible to this state of powerlessness, and when offered three size options, are likely to choose the largest. Interestingly, we tested this with free coffee -- the will choose the largest, even when they’re not paying. 

Q: What’s the big takeaway for marketers?

A: That advertising really matters. In our bagel experiment, the banner put people in a certain mindset of feeling powerful, or feeling powerless. Advertisers have more control over the implications about status than they realize.