Previous research has shown that people tend to perceive organic consumers as more moral and higher status than conventional consumers. We propose that organic consumption might have reputational costs as well. Drawing from research on do-gooder derogation, virtue signaling, and cynicism, we suggest that people might see organic consumption as driven not only by altruistic but also by selfish – specifically, impression management – motives. In Study 1, participants rated organic (vs. conventional) consumers as having stronger altruistic concerns (for the environment, animal welfare, and social justice), as well as stronger impression management motives: organic (vs. conventional) consumers were seen as trying to appear more moral and high-status than they actually were. In Study 2, we separately assessed participants' perception of organic (vs. conventional) consumers’ actual (vs. signaled) levels of morality and status. Organic consumers were perceived as trying to appear as more moral (but not more high-status) than they actually were, whereas conventional consumers were perceived as being honest in the impressions they tried to make. These results demonstrate that organic consumption might have not only positive, but also negative, reputational consequences.

先前的研究表明，与传统消费者相比，人们倾向于将有机消费者视为道德更高，地位更高的消费者。我们建议有机消费也可能会带来声誉成本。通过对善意克减，美德信号和犬儒主义的研究，我们建议人们可能将有机消费视为不仅由利他主义驱动，而且由自私动机（尤其是印象管理动机）驱动。在研究1中，参与者将有机（相对于传统）消费者对利他主义的关注（针对环境，动物福利和社会正义）以及较强的印象管理动机评为：有机（相对于传统）消费者正在尝试显得比实际更具道德和地位。在研究2中，我们分别评估了参与者对有机体的认知（相对于 常规）消费者的道德和地位实际水平（相对于信号水平）。有机消费者被认为比实际看起来更道德（但地位不高），而传统消费者被认为在尝试制造的印象上是诚实的。这些结果表明，有机消费不仅会带来正面的声誉影响，而且还会带来负面的声誉影响。