What’s in a title? “Customers Infecting Other Customers”

The title of this study about “customers infecting other customers” is, in a sense, itself rather infectious:

The sepulchrally named co-author, Dr. Tombs

“Third Party Customers Infecting Other Customers for Better or for Worse,” Alastair G. Tombs, Janet R. McColl‐Kennedy, Psychology and Marketing, vol. 30, no. 3, March 2013, pp. 203-293.  The authors, at the University of Queensland, explain:

“In this article the effect of the displayed emotions of third party customers and purchase occasion on customers are examined, even when there is no direct interaction between customers. Three independent studies, including two experiments are employed…. Results show that customers are “infected” by the displayed emotions of third party customers even when there is no direct interaction between the customers.”

(Thanks to investigator Neil Martin for bringing this to our attention.)