Doctor of Philosophy

dissertationThe authors challenge the traditional notion of taboo that it restricts people's behavior. They show that taboo experienced by individuals can actually facilitate behavior that is considered socially unacceptable like the purchase of taboo products. In the first essay, the authors have shown that the process through which such taboobreaking behavior occurs is through reactance. This research also acknowledges the heterogeneity in social identification among individuals in a society. The authors show that the positive affect of taboo on purchase of taboo products attenuates for individuals who score highly on collective self-esteem, which is a measure of the extent to which individuals define themselves in terms of their society. The second essay also studies the taboo construct but specifically focuses on the taboo nature of mating products. The authors contribute to previous research on the influence of affect on purchase of desirable products and risk-taking by analyzing the influence of affect on taboo and purchase of taboo products. The authors draw from previous research on the influence of positive affect on risks and heuristics to show a strong influence of a positive affective condition and taboo. They justify how taboo is a heuristic, and breaking taboo is akin to taking a moral and social risk and hence it will be more salient under a positive affective condition. Further, taboo acts as a mediating link between positive affect and purchase as individuals are motivated to compete against their own ingrained inhibitions to achieve iv the object they desire. The motivation to compete is established by the amplifying moderating effect of competitiveness on the link between positive affect and taboo and purchase. The research for both essays has been conducted in the context of sexual mating products in a South Asian country where such products are considered taboo with the help of six laboratory studies and two field studies with an online retailer of sexual mating products from that country