Pfeffer Jeffrey, Fong Christina T, Cialdini Robert B, Portnoy Rebecca R
Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, CA 94305-5015, USA.
Pers Soc Psychol Bull. 2006 Oct;32(10):1362-74. doi: 10.1177/0146167206290337.
Prior research has shown that positive information presented by a third party shields people from the negative consequences of being perceived as self-promoting. But in many contexts, those third parties are intermediaries with a financial interest in the person being promoted rather than neutral parties. In three experimental studies, the authors demonstrate that even when intermediaries are not neutral, they can be helpful for overcoming the self-promotion dilemma--the need to assert one's competence but not be harmed by the fact that people who self-promote are viewed negatively. The authors find that hiring an agent to sing one's praises results in more favorable perceptions of the client, which contributes, in turn, to a greater willingness to offer that person assistance. It is also shown that even when the intermediary is physically present and seen to be complicit with the client, the positive effects of having someone else speak on one's behalf persist.
先前的研究表明，第三方提供的正面信息能使人们免受被视为自我推销的负面影响。但在许多情况下，这些第三方是对被推销者有经济利益的中介，而非中立方。在三项实验研究中，作者表明，即使中介并非中立，他们也有助于克服自我推销困境——即需要展现自身能力，但又不会因自我推销者被负面看待这一事实而受到伤害。作者发现，雇一个代理人来夸赞自己会使客户得到更有利的评价，进而使人们更愿意向该客户提供帮助。研究还表明，即使中介实际在场且被视为与客户串通一气，让他人代自己说话的积极效果依然存在。
