Physical contact influences how much people pay at celebrity auctions

• DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1313637111
• Publication Date: 2014-02-25T02:44:15Z
• Authors: George E. Newman; Paul Bloom
• Keywords: Thinking; Models, Economic; Famous Persons; Cost-Benefit Analysis; 05 social sciences; Humans; 0501 psychology and cognitive sciences; Models, Psychological; Magic; Social Behavior

SignificanceContagion is a form of magical thinking in which people believe that a person's immaterial qualities or essence can be transferred to an object through physical contact. Our paper provides unique evidence for the influence of contagion beliefs in an actual market context. We analyze several high-profile celebrity auctions and demonstrate that the degree of perceived physical contact that a celebrity has with an item influences the amount of money that collectors are willing to pay for it at auction. This effect does not appear to be accounted for in preauction estimates. Therefore, our paper is unique in suggesting the existence of contagion effects outside of the laboratory using consequential purchase decisions.