TY  - JOUR
A1  - Liang, Shuang
A1  - Ullrich, Johannes
A1  - Dick, Rolf van
A1  - Lupina-Wegener, Anna
T1  - The intergroup sensitivity effect in mergers and acquisitions: testing the role of merger motives
T2  - Journal of applied social psychology
N2  - Research has shown that people are more defensive to criticism when it stems from an outgroup member, compared to an ingroup member (the intergroup sensitivity effect: ISE). We conducted two online vignette experiments to examine the ISE in the context of an organizational merger and the role of merger motives for the ISE. We predicted that the ISE would also emerge in mergers and acquisitions (M&As), but people would respond less negatively to criticism from the outgroup when the motive for the merger is described as achieving synergies rather than growth. In Experiment 1 (N = 452), which did not mention any motives behind the acquisition, a significant ISE emerged. Experiment 2 (N = 587) again showed an ISE regardless of the merger motive. In both experiments, the ISE was mediated by perceptions of the outgroup criticism as less legitimate and constructive. Overall, this research points to the intergroup sensitivity effect as a relevant phenomenon during post-merger integration.
Y1  - 2021
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/72331
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-723311
SN  - 1559-1816
N1  - This research was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation, grant number: 163106.
VL  - 51
IS  - 8
SP  - 769
EP  - 778
PB  - Wiley-Blackwell
CY  - Oxford [u.a.]
ER  -