The Moderating Effect of Relationship Norm Salience on Consumers' Loss Aversion

People are said to be loss averse when their pain of losing something exceeds their joy of gaining it. This research proposes and tests a new moderator of loss aversion: the type of relationship norms salient at the time the loss or the gain is experienced. We suggest that mere salience of the norms of a communal relationship (based on concern for the partner) relative to those of an exchange relationship (based on quid pro quo) leads to a greater degree of loss aversion. A typical endowment effect study supports our overall thesis and shows that differences across relationship norms are stronger in selling prices (willingness to accept) than in buying prices (willingness to pay). (c) 2006 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..