Marketing actions that influence estimates of others also shape identity

Journal of Consumer Psychology · 2015 · Volume 25 · Issue 3

DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2015.01.008

Abstract

Consumers' social identities stem from comparisons between themselves and others. These identities help determine consumption decisions. Unfortunately, perceptions of comparative traits and characteristics are frequently biased, which can lead to similarly biased consumption decisions. Five studies show that two incidental but commonplace marketing decisions can influence consumers' estimates of their relative standing and thus their social identities by influencing estimates of how other consumers are distributed.

Keywords

Availability, Identity, Distribution estimates, Social identity, Relative standing

Enable JavaScript for citation tools and additional paper interactions.