BizSugar.com › Public Relations › Scientists Give PR People a Hand with Two Recent Studies

The results of two interesting social science studies relevant to PR and marketing professionals are out this week. Imagine that when you were small, your mother consistently criticized some aspect of the way you performed or presented yourself. Later you grew up and decided (perhaps after years of therapy) that your mother was, how do we say this delicately, less than rational on this particular point. Yet every time you go to do that thing she disapproved of, you feel the hovering ghost of her criticism. It's a phenomena everyone can understand, and now scientists have proven what we've all suspected all along: negativity is contagious and, once you've caught it, hard to kick. This information is of use not only to psychologists, but also to anyone concerned with her company or product's public image. The research was reported yesterday in the Journal of Consumer Research.