Conspicuous Consumption Through Brands Triggered By Social Comparison Types

Abstract

Social comparison is an inevitable, ubiquitous psychological mechanism which is practiced both consciously and unconsciously in everyday life. In seeking to expand an understanding of this fundamental behavior and how it influences consumption decisions in individuals, this study mainly focuses on the relationship between social comparison and conspicuous consumption. Furthermore, this paper assesses on how different types of social comparison groups can distinctively affect conspicuous consumption and brand preference. Data was gathered via an experiment of undergraduate students after being unconsciously exposed to a fictitious protagonist (in-group vs. out-group) either triggering upward or downward comparison. The findings indicate that participants tend to prefer conspicuous goods over non-conspicuous goods after encountering an upward comparison compared with downward comparison for in-groups. By contrast, significant difference for conspicuous goods preference did not exist for out-group protagonists regardless of the direction. Furthermore, preference towards brand conformity exists for individuals exposed to the upward social comparison groups, and brand deviation for the downward social comparison groups.