Stigma and Markets
Not all market categories are positive, or even neutral. Stigmatized categories are potent and operate in unique ways. In this research stream I show that stigma readily travels through mere associations in markets, based on automatic associations rather than deliberate cognition. This means stigma can harm “innocents” who are connected to the category just by happenstance, and these effects do not readily reverse when stigmas recede.
Selected Publications
Negro, G., M.L. Williams and E.G. Pontikes. “Destigmatization and Its Imbalanced Effects.”
[PDF]McDonnell, M.H. and E.G. Pontikes. “Bad Company: The Reputational Implications of Cross-Sector Interactions with a Stigmatized Firm.”
[PDF]Pontikes, E.G., G. Negro and H. Rao (2010). “Stained Red: A Study of Stigma by Association with Blacklisted Artists during the ‘Red Scare’ in Hollywood, 1945-1960.” American Sociological Review, 75(3): 456-478.
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