The Mere Attention Effect: Why Attention Alone Increases Retrospective Experiential Satisfaction

When consumers share about their consumption experiences, they often receive feedback or attention from others. While prior research has considered consumer responses to positive (i.e., affirming) feedback, the present research considers how consumers respond to feedback that is nondiagnostic of the viewers’ attitudes (i.e., unvalenced attention). Specifically, we demonstrate that consumers derive value from receiving unvalenced attention because this attention is interpreted by sharers as a positive signal regarding their status, boosting their social self-esteem. This enhanced social self-esteem in turn leads sharers to recall their shared experiences more positively and increases retrospective satisfaction. By demonstrating the value that consumers derive from mere, unvalenced attention, we reveal a novel means of increasing satisfaction with experiences after they are consumed and highlight the importance of consumer-to-consumer attention exchange for marketers.