I received my PhD in Social Psychology, but I have transitioned into the field of marketing. What ties these two fields together for me is my interest in the ways in which people make decisions in their daily lives, especially when other people are involved.
Below you will find examples of how that interest has led to published papers, and some hopefully-soon-to-be published ones, as well. Please see my CV for my other ongoing research projects, and don’t hesitate to contact me with questions about them.
PUBLISHED PAPERS
Scott, Sydney, and Elanor F. Williams (2023), “In Goal Pursuit, I Think Flexibility is the Best Choice for Me, But Not for You,” Journal of Marketing Research, 60 (5), 1008-1026.
Steffel, Mary, Elanor F. Williams, and Stephan Carney (2022), “A Simple Solution to Getting Consumers Engaged in Health Decisions: Making Medical Choices Feel Easy Increases Patient Participation,” Journal of the Association of Consumer Research, 7 (2), 154-163.
Garcia-Rada, Ximena, Mary Steffel, Elanor F. Williams, and Michael I. Norton (2022), “A Preference for Effort When Caring for Others.” Journal of Consumer Research, 48 (6), 970-990.
Steffel, Mary, and Elanor F. Williams (2021), "Do Our Choices Tell Us Who We Are? It Depends on How Easy They Were to Make.” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 31 (4), 784-791.
Williams, Elanor F., Alicea Lieberman, and On Amir (2021), “Perspective Neglect: Inadequate Perspective Taking Limits Coordination,” Judgment and Decision Making, 16 (4), 898-931.
Williams, Elanor F., Kristen E. Duke, and David Dunning (2020), “Consistency Just Feels Right: Procedural Fluency Increases Confidence in Performance,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 149 (12), 2395-2405.
Steffel, Mary, Elanor F. Williams, and David Tannenbaum (2019), “When Do Defaults Save Lives? When Changing Organ Donation Defaults Succeeds and Fails,” Behavioral Science and Policy, 5 (1), 69-88.
Steffel, Mary, and Elanor F. Williams (2018), “Delegating Decisions: Recruiting Others to Make Difficult Choices,” Journal of Consumer Research, 44 (5), 1015-1032.
Williams, Elanor F., and Joyce Ehrlinger (2017), "Failures to Learn from Feedback: Intra- and Interpersonal Roadblocks to Autonomous Learning," in Autonomous Learning in the Workplace, ed. Ray Noe and Jill Ellingson, New York: Taylor and Francis, 263-286.
Steffel, Mary, Elanor F. Williams, and Ruth Pogacar (2016), "Ethically Deployed Defaults: Transparency and Consumer Protection Via Disclosure and Preference Articulation," Journal of Marketing Research, 53 (5), 865-880.
Galak, Jeff, Julian Givi, and Elanor F. Williams (2016), " Why Certain Gifts Are Great to Give But Not to Get: A Framework for Understanding Errors in Gift Giving," Current Directions in Psychological Science, 25 (6), 380-385.
Steffel, Mary, Elanor F. Williams, and Jaclyn Perrmann-Graham (2016), "Passing the Buck: Delegating Choices to Others to Avoid Responsibility and Blame," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 135, 32-44.
Williams, Elanor F., David A. Pizarro, Dan Ariely, and James D. Weinberg (2016), "The Valjean Effect: Visceral States and Cheating," Emotion, 16 (6), 897-902.
Williams, Elanor F., and Mary Steffel (2014), “Double Standards in the Use of Enhancing Products by Self and Others,” Journal of Consumer Research, 41 (2), 506-525.
LeBoeuf, Robyn A., Elanor F. Williams, and Lyle A. Brenner (2014), "Forceful Phantom Firsts: Framing Experiences as 'Firsts' Amplifies Their Influence on Judgment," Journal of Marketing Research, 51 (4), 420-432.
Williams, Elanor F., David Dunning, and Justin Kruger (2013), "The Hobgoblin of Consistency: Algorithmic Strategies Underlie Inflated Self-Assessments of Performance,"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 104 (6), 976-994.
Alba, Joseph, and Elanor F. Williams (2013), “Pleasure Principles: Current Research on Hedonic Consumption,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 23 (1), 2-18.
Williams, Elanor F., and Thomas Gilovich (2012), “The Better-Than-My-Average Effect: The Relative Impact of Peak and Average Performances in Assessments of the Self and Others,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48 (2), 556-561.
Williams, Elanor F., Thomas Gilovich, and David Dunning (2012), “Being All That You Can Be: The Weighting of Potential in Assessments of Self and Others,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38 (2), 143-154.
Williams, Elanor F., and Thomas Gilovich (2008), “Conceptions of Self and Other Across Time,” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34 (8), 1037-1046.
Williams, Elanor F., and Thomas Gilovich (2008), “Do People Really Believe They Are Above Average?” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44 (July), 1121-1128.
Williams, Elanor F. (2007), “Naïve Cynicism,” in Encyclopedia of Social Psychology, ed. Roy F. Baumeister and Kathleen Vohs, San Diego, CA: Sage Publications.
Williams, Elanor F. (2007), “Three-Dimensional Model of Attribution,” in Encyclopedia of Social Psychology, ed. Roy F. Baumeister and Kathleen Vohs, San Diego, CA: Sage Publications.
MANUSCRIPTS UNDER REVISIOn and review
Yadin, Dena, Nira Munichor, Elanor F. Williams, and Inbal Stockheim. “When Your Focus Determines Your Reality: The Effect of (Negative) Reviews on Consumer Experiences.” Invited for second round revision at Journal of Marketing Research.
Anderson, Craig L., and Elanor F. Williams. “Cold-Blooded Business Decisions: Intentional, Overt, and Strategic Brand Transgressions Commodify and Drive Away Consumers.” Invited for resubmission at Journal of Marketing.
Kim, Hyebin, Elanor F. Williams, Aviva Phillipp-Muller, Grant Donnelly, and Emily Rosenzweig. “Mismatched Giver and Recipient Preferences for Hedonic and Utilitarian Gifts.” Invited for resubmission at Journal of Marketing.
WORKING PAPERS
Kim, Hyebin, Elanor F. Williams, and Mary Steffel. “It’s My Party: Hosting Leads People to Make Self-Reflective Choices for Shared Consumption.”
Kim, Hyebin, Elanor F. Williams, and Mary Steffel. “The Host’s Dilemma: Hosts Feel Like They Miss out on Their Own Parties.”
Williams, Elanor F., and Robyn A. LeBoeuf. “People Believe They Will Have More Control Over the Future Than They Did Over the Past.”
Williams, Elanor F., and Yoel Inbar. “Making Your Problem My Problem: Fees Seem Less Fair the More They Pay to Meet Rather Than Exceed Standards.”
Steffel, Mary, Elanor F. Williams and Daniella Kupor. “Should We Encourage the Good or Discourage the Bad: Consumers’ Reactions to Nudges Depend on How They Are Framed.”
Steffel, Mary, Elanor F. Williams, and Robyn A. LeBoeuf. “Overly Specific Gift Giving: Givers Choose Personalized but Less-Versatile and Less-Preferred Gifts.”
Somasundaram, Pooja, Jenny Olson, and Elanor F. Williams. “No One Needs to Know: The Emotional Costs of Outsourcing Effort.”
SELECTED ONGOING PROJECTS
Sharing novel experiences with others (with Hyebin Kim and Sydney Scott).
Gift reactions (with Yanyi Leng).
Using business technology to manage personal relationships (with Ximena Garcia-Rada and Mary Steffel).
Seeing invisible labor through a one-way mirror (with Mary Steffel).
When people enjoy useful things (with Pooja Somasundaram).
Giving up on giving gifts (with Hyebin Kim).