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When managers set aspirations for their firms, they typically compare their own firms' performance to past aspirations as well as to the performance of social reference groups. The authors explore how firm generic strategy affects managers' adaptation of firm aspirations in response to feedback from three social reference groups that vary in terms of breadth (population average, strategic group, and one direct rival).

The authors propose that firm generic strategy (low-cost or differentiation) functions as an organizational information filter through with managers interpret performance feedback. The authors test for whether generic strategy has a moderating effect on the influence of performance feedback from social reference groups.

Based on a longitudinal sample of US airlines, the study shows that all firms are influenced most strongly by their strategic groups. Low-cost and differentiation generic strategies differ in terms of which social reference group motivates a larger reaction when overperforming: low-cost firms are more influenced by the population average which is contributed to by the entire industry than are differentiating firms, while differentiating firms are more swayed by the narrow focus of their direct rivals than are low-cost firms.

Although firm strategy represents a core decision at the firm level, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, performance feedback research, surprisingly, has not yet integrated generic strategy into its models.

Our econometric research allows for a possible response of a person's hours worked to hours typically worked by members of a multidimensional labor market reference group that considers demographics and geographic location. Instrumental variables estimates of the canonical labor supply model expanded to permit social interactions pass a battery of specification checks and indicate positive and economically important spillovers for adult men. Ignoring or incorrectly considering social interactions in male labor supply can misestimate the response to tax reform by as much as 60%.

This paper aims to analyse reference group influence through the imagined audience construct of the role theory. Prior research has shown the influential nature of reference groups on an individuals’ behaviour. The studied theatrical metaphor supplies a new perspective to the social phenomenon of reference group dynamics in consumer behaviour.

Twenty face-to-face interviews were conducted utilizing a naturalistic research study design. The interviews took place in the participants’ homes, and participants were asked to create five outfits for various social situations. Then, the participants were asked about the outfits they created, and how that outfit aided in their role preparation process. An inductive analysis of the data resulted in narrative themes that align with several role theory constructs.

The consumer role rehearsal narratives that emerged describe the process individuals go through for anticipated social interactions. Depending on the social situation, role theory constructs such as role expectations, role location, role learning and role skill were highlighted. The imagined audience of various reference groups do impact the individual’s future behaviours.

Future researchers could apply additional role theory constructs not only to reference groups but also to other aspects of consumer behaviour as well.

This paper supplies a role theory framework that can be used by future researchers when studying reference group influence on consumer behaviour.

This paper aims to extend and complement research on reference groups by suggesting that two distinct types of dissociative groups – specifically, a near versus distant dissociative group – have differential impacts on consumer choices. While prior research has examined the impact of dissociative groups on consumer evaluations and responses more generally, there has been little attention paid to how different types of dissociative groups may affect consumer choices. The current research attempts to address this research gap by identifying two different types of dissociative groups and exploring how, why and the conditions under which they might exert differential impacts on consumer choices.

Four experimental studies test these ideas. Studies 1–2 were conducted on Amazon Mechanical Turk. Studies 3–4 were conducted in a laboratory setting at a large public university.

The findings suggest that consumers are less likely to buy a product if it is associated with a near dissociative group as compared to a distant dissociative group; and this effect is driven by construal-level mindsets. In addition, the proposed effect is moderated by group conformity such that for people low in conformity, the proposed effect holds; while for people high in conformity, they would not make a purchase as long as a product is associated with a dissociative group – regardless of whether it is near or distant.

For experimental control, the studies were conducted in the lab or using online participants, and thus might lack much of the richness of real field settings. Future research could seek to address these issues, perhaps, examining the effects of social distance to a dissociative group on consumer choices in a naturalistic environment.

This work advances an understanding of how different types of dissociative groups affect consumer behavior, with implications for marketing practices and public policymakers. First, the findings provide important insights into how to expand into a completely new market. Second, this research provides an important implication for launching a successful advertising campaign and designing an effective marketing segmentation strategy. Third, this research also offers important insights into how to pivot marketing strategies during a crisis. Finally, the research draws out the implications for policymakers to develop effective substance abuse prevention programs for children and adolescents.

To the knowledge, this is the first study to examine different types of dissociative groups and their differential impacts on consumer choices. Further, the current research complements prior research on reference groups by identifying the conditions under which a nearer social distance might lead to greater negative product evaluation. Finally, this research identifies the conditions under which the impact of different types of dissociative groups may vary, opening up new areas for research on why, how and when dissociative groups can affect consumer behavior.

This paper aims to study low adoption of modern technology for pearl millet in Rajasthan, India, from the perspective of social networks. The state has the lowest adoption of modern pearl millet seeds among Indian states. . In particular, this paper tries to identify the limitations of channels with endogenous effects, thereby limiting large-scale adoption of modern varieties that would require social multipliers.

Defining the network/reference groups in terms of social identity and geographical proximity, this paper utilizes the intensity of interaction with different network nodes to identify the presence of endogenous effects. In particular, this paper uses the interaction of intensity of social exchange with the group level adoptions to establish the presence of endogenous effects. With adequate controls, greater intensity of interaction having a bearing on technology choice can only happen when there exists social learning (endogenous effect) and cannot be associated with other forms of social effects (namely, exogenous and correlated effects).

This paper finds evidence for the existence of endogenous social effects in adoption but largely from exclusionary channels. A comprehensively mapped network is used with its intensity to explain the extremely low rate of adoption. Only close-knit networks that, with social fragmentation, limit benefits to few, affect adoption significantly. The non-functionality of less exclusionary information sources and services can be a factor underlying low adoption.

The main limitation of the study is inability to control for unobserved individual heterogeneity because of the cross-sectional nature of data. Further, although an extensive mapping of individual networks has been done, it still cannot be guaranteed to be exhaustive.

With fragmentation, large-scale adoption programs would require networks, sources of information and services that are less exclusionary. Based on the survey data, media and non-religious organizations play a focal role here in the adoption of modern technology. This finding is extremely crucial for policy, as these channels comprise direct policy levers in a fragmented society like India. Indeed, several government programs in India have relied on these channels to run large-scale adoption programs. Their ineffectiveness could be a prime factor for such limited dissemination of technology in Rajasthan.

In different settings, social fragmentation could be an important factor determining technology adoption outcomes. The evolving consensus in the literature based on several studies is that ethnic fragmentation has potentially negative consequences on macro-economic performance (Alesina and Tabellini, 1989 and Collier, 2000). In the literature on technology adoption, the role of fractionalization is somewhat under-studied. With fragmentation, there can be significant micro-level impacts (for instance, low technology adoption of a crop) if channels that are inclusive are not well developed. The finding that channels like extension services, media or organizations are not effective in determining choice of technology does not mean that they should not be tapped. The empirical findings suggest that, in their current form in the state of Rajasthan, the roles played by these are limited. The policy implications would be to develop these systems in a way that there is a greater uptake. Recall that less than 4 per cent of the respondents got information on seeds from media sources, an extremely low number. There is certainly scope for increasing the outreach of these channels that are much more important for spread of agricultural technology in a fragmented society.

This paper is an attempt to come up with an empirical strategy to mitigate the issues related to reflection problem. In the cross-sectional data itself, we use the interaction of group choices with intensity of interaction within the group to introduce a non-linearity that tries to bypass the identification issues as in reflection problem. This method of introducing non-linearity in cross-sectional data is a novel attempt to achieve identification of endogenous effects.

An understanding of consumer behaviour helps companies in catering more effectively to the needs and wants of their target markets. This better understanding of the consumer can lead to significant increases in a company's sales within a given market segment, and therefore can lead to increased profits (Dhalla and Mahatoo 1976). Accordingly, understanding the factors which contribute to consumer purchases and consumer satisfaction are among the most important functions a market researcher may perform (Vecchio 1991). Once manufacturers understand the characteristics of their particular target market segment, more effective promotion can be devised (Piirto 1990).

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the influence of purchase intentions on repurchase decisions, and also to examine the moderating effects of reference groups and perceived risks.

The travelers on Taiwan tourist trains were surveyed. Convenience sampling was used to collect primary data. A total of 1,200 questionnaires were distributed and 1,155 effective samples were collected. The effective return rate was 96 percent. Regression analysis was used to test hypotheses.

The paper finds that; purchase intentions will have a positive effect on repurchase decisions: the higher the informational reference group influence, the greater the positively moderating effect between purchase intentions and repurchase decisions; the higher the value‐expressive reference group influence, the greater the positively moderating effect between purchase intentions and repurchase decisions; and the higher the psychological risk, the greater the negatively moderating effect between purchase intentions and repurchase decisions.

Limitations of the study are: the research targets the travelers on tourist trains. Consequently, it is less efficient in external validity due to the limited scope; the conceptual limitation needs to be elaborated more; and, since the research adopts the cross‐sectional research method without longitudinal section study it may be limited in the generalization. The moderating effects of reference groups and perceived risks have been examined on the inconsistency between purchase intentions and repurchase decisions in the study.

In tourism, reference group influence can provide the opportunity for individuals to communicate with group members in sharing the experiences of a destination and selection of a particular purchasing decision. The sole moderating effect of psychological risk has been verified among three dimensions. Therefore, the measurement and enhancement are critical for marketers to handle future business.

The extra value of the paper is to combine theory and practice together, and verify the moderating effects of reference groups and perceived risks between purchase intentions and repurchase decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effects of fashion weeks on brand constellations of participating fashion companies in social media.

The study analyses how brand constellations take form for seven Swedish fashion companies before, during and after Fashion Week Stockholm. In total, 3,449 user-generated contents referring to the sampled brands were collected and analysed.

On average, brand constellations of participating companies are increasingly incorporating other participating brands as a result of the fashion week. Based on the presented results, four brand constellation outcomes for participating fashion companies are identified: brand constellation amplification, concentration, division and dilution.

As this paper is focussed on the Swedish market, additional results from fashion weeks taking place in other cities would be beneficial to verify the four brand constellation outcomes.

The results question the resilience of professionally curated brand constellations due to the emergence of user-driven constellations that also shape the position of fashion brands. Therefore, this development can potentially have a considerable impact on often carefully orchestrated brand positioning strategies executed by fashion companies.

Digitally fuelled interdependences of brand constellations by professionals and consumers attest to the dilution of borders between consumers and producers.

This paper contributes to the field of fashion marketing and management by identifying four different brand constellation outcomes in social media for participating fashion companies as a result of fashion weeks and how to managerially handle these respective outcomes.

Nowadays, companies are seeking to create meaningful and long-term relationships with their customers. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to examine the role of parasocial and social aspects of consumption in building trustworthy and loyal relationships in both offline and online services.

Two studies were conducted using the survey research method. The first study collected data from 285 soccer fans, and the second study collected data from 298 Facebook consumers.

The study confirms the proposed model and suggests that parasocial and social relationships act as significant antecedents of service brand loyalty in both offline and online services.

This is the first study that examines parasocial and social relationships in tandem and their role in developing loyal relationships with service brands. It also confirms that social relationships in a service setting play a significant role in predicting brand trust and loyalty.

Performance feedback theory (PFT) has informed analyses in numerous national contexts and has been used to explain various business and management activities of firms. Stemming from behavioral theory and grounded in a cognitive perspective, which views organizational actions as being the results of decisions produced by groups of individual decision-makers, PFT research has mostly assumed the universal nature of cognition and decision-making processes. However, PFT also presumes that individual decision-makers bring with them different backgrounds and experiences. Hence, this paper offers propositions on how cultural differences in individualism-collectivism influence the major components of PFT, including the formation and revision of performance goals (aspiration levels), and search behaviors and risk preferences in response to gaps between goals and actual performance. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

This paper offers theoretical propositions for the above purpose.

This is not an empirical analysis.

By integrating the individualism-collectivism differences framework into the PFT model, the authors answer previous calls to integrate concepts and frameworks from other theories into PFT while considering the role of cultural differences in aspiration-consequence relationships. Additionally, much of PFT research has focused on outcomes, while actual internal processes have remained unobserved. By focusing on how cultural differences influence various PFT processes, this conceptual analysis sheds light on the unobserved bounds of decision-makers' cognitions.