The friendly taking effect: how interpersonal closeness leads to seemingly selfish yet jointly maximizing choice

This research documents the “friendly taking effect” in choosing consumption packages for the self and others: interpersonal closeness leads to a preference for a self-benefiting package when this package also offers greater total benefit to the self-other collective (studies 1-2). We propose that a friendly intention (i.e., concern for the total benefit) underlies the friendly taking effect; therefore, people both take more from and give more to a close (vs. distant) other when doing so offers greater benefits in total (study 3), and people are cognitively tuned in to (e.g., acquire, remember) information about the total benefit more when choosing a package for themselves and a close (vs. distant) other (study 4). Moreover, the importance people place on the total benefit mediates the impact of closeness on people’s preference for self-benefiting packages (study 5). We explore the boundary conditions (study 6) and implications for marketers of consumption packages (study 7).本研究记录了为自身与他人选择消费套餐时的亲善生效效应（friendly taking effect）：当某套餐可同时为自我-他人整体带来更高总收益（total benefit）时，人际亲密度（interpersonal closeness）会提升个体对自利型套餐（self-benefiting package）的偏好（研究1-2）。我们提出，亲善意图（即对总收益的关切）是该亲善生效效应的内在驱动基础；因此，当选择能带来更高总收益时，个体既会为亲密（而非疏远）的他人更多谋取自身收益、也会更多为其提供收益（研究3）；同时，在为自身与亲密（而非疏远）的他人选择套餐时，个体对总收益相关信息的认知关注度显著更高，具体表现为更易获取、记忆这类信息（研究4）。此外，个体对总收益的重视程度，在人际亲密度对个体偏好自利型套餐的影响中发挥中介作用（研究5）。我们还探索了该效应的边界条件（研究6），以及其对消费套餐营销从业者的实践启示（研究7）。