Consumer Science

Just got some time to rethink about the Macbeth effect. Zhong and Liljenquist (2006, paper) suggested that people have needs to clean themselves after their moral purity is at stake. Like lady Macbeth, people believe that washing themselves could remove sins. For instance, the authors showed that people are more likely to choose washing products after they feel their morality is threatened. I'm thinking: does the so called "washing effect" only happen when people feel their moral purity is in threaten (eg. Recall unethical deed from past)? I, myself, sometimes also feel that taking a bath might also wash away my bad luck. So my question is: when you feel unlucky, do you also have an intention to choose detergent products more often than other types of products, does the concept of washing yourself become more accessible in your mind when you got so damned bad luck? Does cleaning our body only remove the immorality, or does the washing effect also remove all the negative feeling? It's not so clear from the original paper (See my former attached paper link). Furthermore, for the positive event on you, such as when you have good luck or feel morally good, do you still have the need to wash yourself? Interestingly, the traditional chinese culture believe that washing your body could wash away your good luck (See the link here) Wish all of you who read this note have a lot of good lucks, but remember to take a shower for confronting another different good luck :)