Journal of Consumer Research, Inc.

Social Influence and Consumer Behavior

Author(s): Darren Dahl
Source: Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 40, No. 2 (August 2013), pp. iii-v
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/670170 .
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 Spring 2013

Social Influence and Consumer Behavior

Darren Dahl, Curator
University of British Columbia

The importance of understanding the role of social influence, how others affect our emotions, opinions,
or behaviors, in consumption has a long and varied history in the fields of sociology, psychology, and
marketing. As a topic area, social influence is incredibly broad, covering everything from mere presence
effects and mimicry to more direct forms of social persuasion often seen in consumption contexts such
as retail sales. Given this, early work in sociology and psychology defined theoretical frameworks for
understanding and investigating social influence (e.g., Mead’s development of symbolic interactionism,
Festinger’s social comparison theory) and provided effective starting points for consumer behavior re-
searchers to build understanding of the role of social influence in consumption. The articles selected for
this special collection are representative of this type of work, as they have added new insight into why
the social milieu is both a critical and fascinating piece of the consumption puzzle. In each instance
profiled, the authors have used an experimental approach to manipulate aspects of social influence,
thereby enabling a greater understanding of how the nuances found in the social environment can affect
the consumer. As a body of research, these papers validate the importance and complexity of social
influence in consumption and hopefully inspire subsequent research questions and ideas in this exciting
area of investigation.
The first two articles in the collection focus on social influence that is overt in nature; that is, the social
other is purposeful in the social behavior that influences the actions of the consumer. In the first article,
White and Argo document the reactions of consumers being imitated or mimicked by other consumers
(e.g., in product choice). While imitation is often described as the sincerest form of flattery, the authors
show that, in some instances, imitation in the consumption context results in consumption behaviors that
seek to preserve distinctiveness for the consumer—that is, consumers are seen to adopt disassociation
behaviors from the social other. In a second article, Duclos et al. show that purposeful social exclusion
of a consumer results in the pursuit of riskier financial opportunities on the part of the excluded consumer.
The authors contend here that the increased financial risk taking is due to the potential benefits wealth
can provide as a substitute for the lost popularity realized through social exclusion. Both of these articles
document a reactionary consumer who changes consumption behavior in response to direct influence
from the social other.
The collection continues with two articles that document more subtle forms of social influence—where
consumers’ own social comparisons to noninteracting others are found to influence consumption behavior
in surprising ways. Shalev and Morwitz show that dissociative others can be an important source of
social influence in their own right. In this research the authors document how a “low status user effect”
can exist when consumers observe a dissociative other using a desired product. In this instance, observing
consumers are shown to question themselves with respect to the desired product, resulting in increased
purchase intentions. The next article, by Ordabayeva and Chandon, shows that social comparison among
consumers in a lower socioeconomic tier can create more status-enhancing consumption when the con-
sumption is conspicuous. However, when the possession gap is narrow, consumption is reduced. Both
of these articles show an active consumer who is mindful of the influence of social comparisons that are
prevalent in the consumption context.
The collection concludes with an article by Wilcox and Stephen that investigates social influence in the
context of online social networks. Here the authors find that social network use enhances self-esteem of
consumers who focus on close friends in their browsing behaviors. They further document that this social
iii

䉷 2013 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc. ● Vol. 40 ● August 2013

All rights reserved. 0093-5301/2012/4002-0099$10.00. DOI: 10.1086/670170

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iv JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH

influence results in less self-control in subsequent behavior. This article makes the argument that the
social influence proffered by online social networks offers unique, new opportunities for theory devel-
opment.

Electronically published March 1, 2013.

When Imitation Doesn’t Flatter: The Role of Consumer Distinctiveness

in Responses to Mimicry
Katherine White and Jennifer J. Argo
In a series of four experiments, the authors examine the implications of one consumer’s possession being
mimicked by another consumer. The results demonstrate that when distinctiveness concerns are height-
ened, greater dissociation responses (i.e., possession disposal intentions, recustomization behaviors, and
exchange behaviors) arise in response to being mimicked by a similar as opposed to dissimilar other.
These effects are driven by threats to distinctiveness. Finally, these effects are mitigated when the imitated
possession is nonsymbolic in nature and when a low degree of effort is exerted to initially obtain the
possession. Implications for marketers and consumers are discussed.

Journal of Consumer Research, 38 (December 2011), 667–80

Show Me the Honey! Effects of Social Exclusion on Financial Risk-Taking

Rod Duclos, Echo Wen Wan, and Yuwei Jiang
This research examines the effects of social exclusion on a critical aspect of consumer behavior, financial
decision making. Specifically, four lab experiments and one field survey uncover how feeling isolated or
ostracized causes consumers to pursue riskier but potentially more profitable financial opportunities.
These daring proclivities do not appear driven by impaired affect or self-esteem. Rather, interpersonal
rejection exacerbates financial risk taking by heightening the instrumentality of money (as a substitute
for popularity) to obtain benefits in life. Invariably, the quest for wealth that ensues tends to adopt a
riskier but potentially more lucrative road. The article concludes by discussing the implications of its
findings for behavioral research as well as for societal and individual welfare.

Journal of Consumer Research, 40 (June 2013), 1480–93

Influence via Comparison-Driven Self-Evaluation and Restoration:

The Case of the Low-Status Influencer
Edith Shalev and Vicki G. Morwitz
Ample research shows that consumers accept influence from a source they identify with and reject
influence from a source they wish to dissociate from. The current article moves beyond the well-established
identification principle and delineates a new influence process. Influence via comparison-driven self-
evaluation and restoration (CDSER) takes place when one observes a counterstereotypical product user
and, as a result, questions one’s relative standing on the trait that the product symbolizes. In response
to this threatening self-evaluation, the observer becomes more interested in the target product. To clearly
distinguish CDSER from identification influence, the current investigation focuses on product users with

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SPRING 2013: DAHL v

a low socioeconomic status (SES). In contrast to the predictions of the identification principle, this article
demonstrates that low-SES users can in some circumstances positively influence observers and increase
their purchase intentions. The “low-status user effect” and the CDSER mechanism are demonstrated
across multiple product categories in four studies.

Journal of Consumer Research, 38 (February 2012), 964–80

Getting Ahead of the Joneses: When Equality Increases Conspicuous Consumption

among Bottom-Tier Consumers
Nailya Ordabayeva and Pierre Chandon
It is widely believed that increasing the equality of material possessions or income in a social group
should lead people at the bottom of the distribution to consume less and save more. However, this
prediction and its causal mechanism have never been studied experimentally. Five studies show that
greater equality increases the satisfaction of those in the lowest tier of the distribution because it reduces
the possession gap between what they have and what others have. However, greater equality also increases
the position gains derived from status-enhancing consumption, since it allows low-tier consumers to get
ahead of the higher proportion of consumers clustered in the middle tiers. As a result, greater equality
reduces consumption when consumers focus on the narrower possession gap, but it increases consumption
when they focus on the greater position gains (i.e., when consumption is conspicuous, social competition
goals are primed, and the environment is competitive).

Journal of Consumer Research, 38 (June 2011), 27–41

Are Close Friends the Enemy? Online Social Networks, Self-Esteem, and Self-Control
Keith Wilcox and Andrew T. Stephen
Online social networks are used by hundreds of millions of people every day, but little is known about
their effect on behavior. In five experiments, the authors demonstrate that social network use enhances
self-esteem in users who are focused on close friends (i.e., strong ties) while browsing their social network.
This momentary increase in self-esteem reduces self-control, leading those focused on strong ties to display
less self-control after browsing a social network. Additionally, the authors present evidence suggesting
that greater social network use is associated with a higher body mass index and higher levels of credit
card debt for individuals with strong ties to their social network. This research extends previous findings
by demonstrating that social networks primarily enhance self-esteem for those focused on strong ties
during social network use. Additionally, this research has implications for policy makers because self-
control is an important mechanism for maintaining social order and well-being.

Journal of Consumer Research, 40 (June 2013), 1448–61

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