Search results

This study aims to examine the effect of opinion leadership on individuals’ susceptibility to social influence, which eventually affects their adoption behavior and assess how these relationships vary with gender in new product adoption.

Data were collected based on a survey of young consumers regarding the adoption of new consumer electronics. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and multiple sample analyses.

The study finds that opinion leaders are more sensitive to influence from others when the mechanism of status competition is at work. Although consumers who are more susceptible to normative influence tend to adopt new products later than others, those who are more susceptible to status competition are more likely to adopt earlier. The results also provide evidence for gender differences. Female leaders are more susceptible to status competition, whereas male leaders are less sensitive to informational influence. The effects of susceptibility to normative influence and status competition on adoption behavior are stronger for female than for male consumers.

The overall structural model predicts an interesting relationship between individual influence and susceptibility, as well as the effects of these factors on adoption behavior. This study also provides deeper insights into the dynamics of the social influence mechanisms at work for each gender in new product adoption.

The impact of assimilation on a consumer’s susceptibility to interpersonal influence is assessed in samples of first‐generation Armenian and Chinese immigrants to the US. We find that: (a) Chinese immigrants are more susceptible to interpersonal influence than are Anglo‐Americans who in turn are more susceptible to this influence than are Armenian immigrants, (b) Chinese immigrants are especially susceptible to the normative type of interpersonal influence and (c) Chinese immigrants’ susceptibility to both types of interpersonal influence decreases significantly as they identificationally‐assimilate, whereas Armenian immigrants’ susceptibility to both types of interpersonal influence decreases significantly as they structurally‐assimilate into the Anglo‐American macro‐culture.

Interpersonal influences play a major role in shaping consumer choice decisions. This is particularly evident in the case of services, where intangibility and variability add to the decision difficulty. While all consumers are susceptible to interpersonal influence, people differ in the extent of their susceptibility to interpersonal influence, with some individuals being chronically more susceptible to social influence than others. Seeks to speculate in this paper that, in addition to individual differences, susceptibility to interpersonal influence also varies systematically across cultures with varying degrees of individualism‐collectivism.

Hypothesis is tested by investigating and comparing the structure, properties, and mean levels of the susceptibility to interpersonal influence scale across samples of French and English Canadian consumers.

It is found that: French Canadians are significantly more susceptible to normative influence than English Canadians; French Canadians score significantly lower than English Canadians on measures of individualism; and individualism has a significant negative effect on consumer susceptibility to normative influence.

By showing that French Canadians were indeed less individualistic than English Canadians, and that individualistic orientation had a significant negative effect on both the utilitarian and the value‐expressive dimensions of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence, hopefully it has been demonstrated that differences in susceptibility to normative influence between French and English Canadians are partly driven by cultural differences in individualistic orientation.

This study aims to empirically investigate how susceptibility to social influence in new product adoption varies with one’s structural location in a social network.

The social network data were collected based on a sociometric network survey with 589 undergraduate students. Social network analysis and ordinary least squares regression analyses were used to test the hypotheses.

This study finds that consumers with high degree centrality (i.e. hubs) who have a large number of connections to others and consumers with high betweenness centrality (i.e. bridges) who connect otherwise distant groups in social networks are both less sensitive to informational influence from others. More importantly, the authors find evidence that consumers with moderate levels of degree/betweenness centrality are more susceptible to normative influence and status competition than those with low or high degree/betweenness centrality. The inverse-U patterns in the above relations are consistent with middle-status conformity and anxiety.

This research complements social influence and new product diffusion research by documenting important contingencies (i.e. network locations) in consumer susceptibility to different types of social influence from a social network perspective.

The findings will assist marketers to leverage social influence by activating relevant social ties with effective messages in their network marketing strategies.

This research provides a better understanding of the mechanisms driving susceptibility to social influence in new product diffusion.

Chinese face refers to reputation, others’ respect or compliance which is gained through self-representation and role-playing. The purpose of this paper is to identify and distinguish the four dimensions of face construct: personal identity-face, family identity-face, friend identity-face and occupational identity-face. Based on this, the authors discuss and investigate the influence of four different face dimensions on a consumer’s need for uniqueness (CNFU).

This research uses a questionnaire survey method and convenience samples. Subjects are students from a university in Wuhan operated directly under the Ministry of Education. A total of 730 questionnaires were distributed mainly in libraries and study rooms. After eliminating invalid questionnaires, 690 questionnaires were obtained. In sum, 44.1 percent research subjects are males, and 59 percent of them are undergraduate samples; 92.5 percent subjects’ monthly disposable consumption was less than 2,000 yuan.

The result shows that the influence paths and directions are different. Specifically, personal identity-face and family identity-face restrain CNFU through promoting interdependent self-construal, and friend identity-face and occupational identity-face facilitate CNFU through enhancing the consumer’s susceptibility to normative influence.

These findings are useful for clarify contemporary Chinese individuality-seeking consumption and conformity consumption behavior, and will shed light on form strategic practices, such as brand positioning and product communication.

Using an instant response device within the context of a controlled experiment, we find that people’s self‐assessment of susceptibility to normative influence (SNI) differs substantially from the actual, or true, degree to which they are influenced by the actions of others. Actual SNI, a subconscious reaction to the behavior of those around us, can be altered when participants (falsely) believe their peers differ in their willingness to sign a new lease under various rental reduction incentives when their landlord has defaulted on his mortgage. The results are insensitive to eight alternative measures of actual SNI. This study supports the behavioral finance literature relating to herding in that we show people are very much willing to follow the lead of their peers, even in situations where information gain is not the likely derived benefit. Instead, people appear to herd in our study for social reasons.

The purpose of this paper is to examine affect of cosmopolitanism and consumers’ susceptibility to interpersonal influence on Indian consumers’ fashion clothing involvement. Moderating effect of demographics was studied.

Survey technique through self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities in India.

Utilitarian, value expressive factors of normative influence and cosmopolitanism influence Indian consumers’ fashion clothing involvement. Type of city, income, and education moderated influence of normative values and cosmopolitanism on fashion clothing involvement.

One of the major limitations of current research was that it had a large number of respondents in the age group of 18-40 years. Future research can attempt to reduce age biasness.

The findings can prove helpful to international apparel brands marketing luxury and fashion clothing in India. However, since conformance to social norms was important for Indians, clothing manufacturers should use reference groups, opinion leaders, and celebrities to generate awareness. A blend of global and local lifestyle should be used. International luxury brands can customize their products to combine ethnic tastes.

Fashion clothing market promises immense growth opportunities in India. There is limited research to examine influence cosmopolitanism on Indian consumers’ consumption behaviour. Knowledge about influence of global lifestyle, brands, mass media, and services on Indian consumers’ behaviour can help in targeting them effectively.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the roles of self-esteem (SE), negative affect (NA), and consumer susceptibility to normative influence in the enactment of impulse buying behavior.

A theoretical model is developed through an extensive review of literature. Survey research is conducted to collect the data from respondents. Structural equation modeling is performed to test the model and the hypotheses.

The outcome of the study reveals that the act of impulsive buying is preceded by buying impulse (BI). BI is positively influenced by consumer susceptibility to normative influence and impulsive buying tendency (IBT). SE influences the generation of BI partially mediated by IBT.

The study is limited in its generalizability in terms of its geographic location, culture, and the context of product categories.

The findings of the study have practical implications in developing marketing communications, merchandising, and personal selling strategies.

In view of the contradictory empirical evidences in extant literature regarding the role NA the present study re-examines whether NA influences impulse buying. The study, conducted in the field setting also ascertains the external validity of the findings not tested in the prior research. Furthermore, in light of psychology literature, the relationship between SE and IBT was hypothesized and empirically established in the present study.

The purpose of this paper to use Self-Determination Theory (SDT) to explain the online brand community (OBC) identity internalization process through brand website interactivity. Secondary purpose of the research is to explore the role of several individual difference factors and brand-specific constructs in predicting brand website interactivity.

This study proposes the OBC motivation development continuum of brand website interactivity. Thus, a national panel was collected by a reputable online survey firm and a structural equation model was used to test the proposed model.

The authors examined four brand-related antecedents and mediators (brand engagement in self-concept, susceptibility of normative influence, opinion leadership, and consumer innovativeness) and found evidence of the differing roles that brand engagement in self-concept and purposive motives play as mediators to brand website interactivity.

Marketing managers can use the proposed model as a useful tool for understanding ways to target and motivate segment specific consumers in ways that will increase the effectiveness of managers’ OBC building strategies.

This study utilized SDT to explain the internalization process of brand website interactivity. Further, several individual difference factors were explored as antecedents and mediators of brand website interactivity.

The purpose of this paper is to examine affect of consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence (CSII) and demographics on ecologically conscious consumer behaviour (ECCB).

Data were collected through mall intercept technique in six cities across India.

ECCB and CSII scales were applicable in Indian context. Factor analysis revealed two factors for ECCB scale: ecologically conscious purchase behaviour and green product attitudes. Normative, informative influence of CSII and income were predictors to ecologically conscious purchase behaviour. Normative influence emerged as predictor to green attitudes.

The study focuses itself only on CSII factors. It does not examine influence of variables like personal values, risk perception, and personality on ECCB. It does not examine role of consumers’ attitude towards conservation of energy and natural resources.

The findings can be of immense use to firms marketing green brands in India. Social group acceptance and conformance is important for Indian consumers; advertising and promotional campaigns should use social groups for marketing green products. Consumer involvement and engagement can be created through social networking web sites. Ecologically concerns should be rewarded in order to encourage consumers to adopt green attitudes.

Green marketing and ecologically conscious behaviour are upcoming research areas in India. There is limited research to understand Indian consumers’ concerns about environment. ECCB and CSII scales were used as it was assumed that using scales which have been tested and validated in other cultures would give reliable results.