Hypocrisy Induction in Advertising

The authors examine hypocrisy induction, a strategy for encouraging ethical behavior by making perpetrators realize that they are violating moral values when they use anonymous online venues to abuse unknown strangers. Two studies show that hypocrisy induction prompts study participants with interdependent self-construals, but not those with independent self-construals, to report favorable responses toward an online campaign for preventing cyberbullying. In addition, feelings of guilt mediate the moderating role of self-construal. Theoretical implications and ideas for future research are discussed.