Most of us, at one point, have felt like a fraud. Usually we can overcome the negative feelings associated with feeling like a fraud by acknowledging why we deserve our accomplishments. However, there are times when, despite all external evidence, we still feel like an impostor. A person experiences the impostor phenomenon when they are unable to internalize their achievements and they have the constant fear of being exposed as a fraud. The current research examines each of the four behaviors associated with experiencing the impostor phenomenon and examines how they influence our consumption behavior. The impostor cycle is a model that shows how achievement related tasks lead to emotions and behaviors that perpetuate the impostor phenomenon. We examine how individuals experience the impostor cycle differently and how this impacts their consumption decisions. In eight studies, including one pretest, we demonstrate how the goal of avoiding detection as a fraud influences product preferences, and how the two different paths of progressing though the impostor cycle, self-handicapping or over-preparing, influences the willingness to pay for products.
","abstract_html":"<p>Most of us, at one point, have felt like a fraud. Usually we can overcome the negative feelings associated with feeling like a fraud by acknowledging why we deserve our accomplishments. However, there are times when, despite all external evidence, we still feel like an impostor. A person experiences the impostor phenomenon when they are unable to internalize their achievements and they have the constant fear of being exposed as a fraud. The current research examines each of the four behaviors associated with experiencing the impostor phenomenon and examines how they influence our consumption behavior. The impostor cycle is a model that shows how achievement related tasks lead to emotions and behaviors that perpetuate the impostor phenomenon. We examine how individuals experience the impostor cycle differently and how this impacts their consumption decisions. In eight studies, including one pretest, we demonstrate how the goal of avoiding detection as a fraud influences product preferences, and how the two different paths of progressing though the impostor cycle, self-handicapping or over-preparing, influences the willingness to pay for products.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Goldsmith, Emily"],"institution":"The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York","degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy","degree_level":"Doctoral","degree_discipline":"Business","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Stephen Gould"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":["Lauren Block","David Luna","Sara Williamson"],"year":2018,"date_issued":"2018-02-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2018-02-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:00:26Z","subjects":["Marketing"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2458","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Stephen Gould"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Lauren Block","David Luna","Sara Williamson"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Goldsmith, Emily"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-12-12T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Business"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Doctoral"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Marketing"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2458"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Most of us, at one point, have felt like a fraud. Usually we can overcome the negative feelings associated with feeling like a fraud by acknowledging why we deserve our accomplishments. However, there are times when, despite all external evidence, we still feel like an impostor. A person experiences the impostor phenomenon when they are unable to internalize their achievements and they have the constant fear of being exposed as a fraud. The current research examines each of the four behaviors associated with experiencing the impostor phenomenon and examines how they influence our consumption behavior. The impostor cycle is a model that shows how achievement related tasks lead to emotions and behaviors that perpetuate the impostor phenomenon. We examine how individuals experience the impostor cycle differently and how this impacts their consumption decisions. In eight studies, including one pretest, we demonstrate how the goal of avoiding detection as a fraud influences product preferences, and how the two different paths of progressing though the impostor cycle, self-handicapping or over-preparing, influences the willingness to pay for products.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Do You Feel Like a Fraud? How Experiencing the Impostor Phenomenon Influences Consumption Choices"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Stephen Gould"],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Lauren Block","David Luna","Sara Williamson"],"dc:creator":["Goldsmith, Emily"],"dc:date.available":["2017-12-12T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Most of us, at one point, have felt like a fraud. Usually we can overcome the negative feelings associated with feeling like a fraud by acknowledging why we deserve our accomplishments. However, there are times when, despite all external evidence, we still feel like an impostor. A person experiences the impostor phenomenon when they are unable to internalize their achievements and they have the constant fear of being exposed as a fraud. The current research examines each of the four behaviors associated with experiencing the impostor phenomenon and examines how they influence our consumption behavior. The impostor cycle is a model that shows how achievement related tasks lead to emotions and behaviors that perpetuate the impostor phenomenon. We examine how individuals experience the impostor cycle differently and how this impacts their consumption decisions. In eight studies, including one pretest, we demonstrate how the goal of avoiding detection as a fraud influences product preferences, and how the two different paths of progressing though the impostor cycle, self-handicapping or over-preparing, influences the willingness to pay for products.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/2458"],"dc:subject":["Marketing"],"dc:title":["Do You Feel Like a Fraud? How Experiencing the Impostor Phenomenon Influences Consumption Choices"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Business"],"thesis:degree_level":["Doctoral"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy"],"thesis:institution_name":["The Graduate School and University Center of The City University of New York"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:00:26Z"}