Boomerang effect

In social psychology, the boomerang effect is "the theory of psychological reactance (that people act to protect their sense of freedom) that is supported by experiments showing that attempts to restrict a person's freedom often produce an anticonformity "boomerang effect".^[1]

Environmentalism

The term "boomerang effect" can be used to describe the effects of a deliberate change to an ecosystem, when these effects escape the control of those who introduced them. Examples include:

• The introduction of DDT as a pesticide, which led to the accumulation of the chemical in birds, interfering with their reproduction or killing them.
• The introduction of rabbits to Australia by Europeans, which became economically and environmentally damaging, as the rabbits had no natural predators. Then the release of foxes to kill the rabbits, with the foxes instead feeding on the native Australian wildlife. Followed by the introduction of moth apple trees in order to kill the foxes; consumption of the fruit of the trees have led to many human and other animal fatalities.
• The draining of American wetlands since colonial times, resulting in flash-flooding and seasonal droughts.
• The installation of smokestacks to decrease pollution in local areas, resulting in spread of pollution at a higher altitude, and acid rain on an international scale.

Social marketing

In social marketing, the boomerang effect occurs as a result of attempted attitude change. If someone makes a strong attempt to change a prospect's attitude toward a subject, the prospect will counter with an equally strong response, even if, prior to the confrontation, the prospect held a weak attitude toward the subject.

Sports marketing

In sports marketing the boomerang effect refers to the methodology for the measurement of sponsorship return on investment.

The boomerang effect has three distinct parts:

Investment

refers to a client's initial investment in a sponsorship or promotion of a sports property

Activation

is the work that is done to execute the investment and make the sponsorship or promotion known and draw public interest

Returns

are the increase in either traffic or income, or both, to the client due to their investment

The quality of the investment and activation are the variables that drive the returns. Return on investment is calculated as the net profit attributable to the investment less the cost of the investment and activation, divided by the cost of the investment and activation.

References

• Myers, David G. (2008). Social Psychology. New York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
• Sartori, Giovanni (2005). Parties and party systems: a framework for analysis. ECPR Press. ISBN 9780954796617. http://books.google.com/books?id=ywr0CcGDNHwC&pg=PT260&dq=%22boomerang+effect%22&cd=2#v=onepage&q=%22boomerang%20effect%22&f=false. 

Book : "Boomerang Collection" - author Serge D'IGNAZIO ed: www.atlantica.fr

Notes