The Marketing of “Get Out of Jail Free Cards”: How Remedies Encourage Risky Consumption

Our research investigates “remedies”, a class of products or services that offer solutions to consumer problems. Examples include nicotine replacement products and debt consolidation loans. Like risk-avoidance messages, advertisements for remedies aim to reduce risky behavior—by advocating the use of the branded product or service promoted by the marketer. In a series of three experiments, we examine the effects of remedy messages as a function of consumers’ problem status, presenting evidence that motivated reasoning can explain the results. The good news: for consumers outside the problem domain (e.g., non-smokers, non-debtors), remedy messages reinforce perceptions that the behavior is risky and should be avoided (consistent with the aims of traditional models of health protection). The bad news: for consumers within the problem domain (e.g., smokers, debtors), remedy messages reduce risk perceptions and increase risky behavior (consistent with research on risk compensation). This boomerang effect provides evidence that remedies undermine risk-avoidance among those most at risk— with negative consequences for consumer welfare.