Negativity is contagious, unfortunately

Do you ever notice that a negative personality can be contagious? I've seen this in my own family and within my social group. There are some people that are perpetually positive, while others default to a negative point of view on almost everything. It's more than cynicism as well.

A new study has shown that consumers can pick up negative views of a product when friends and those close to them have negative views on those same products to begin with? For example, if you can't stand the Apple iPod's iTunes software and you share that fact with your close friends, they too may come to dislike the software.

The results from this study also show that people with negative perceptions on a certain product can become even more negative when they meet new people that also have negative feelings about a certain product. In the consumer psychology field, this is huge. If you've ever heard the term "word of mouth," this would be the definition of that, big-time.