Can brand sharing change consumers’ brand attitudes? The roles of agency-communion orientation and message length

Abstract

This research explores the effect of agency–communion orientation on changes in consumers’ brand attitudes after brand sharing. Two laboratory studies and one field study indicate that when consumers are communion- (vs. agency-) oriented, their attitudes toward a brand can be changed to conform to others’ attitudes after sharing their thoughts about the brand with others. This effect is found to be moderated by contextual differences in message length, where communion- (vs. agency-) oriented consumers are more likely to change their brand attitudes to conform to others’ attitudes if they share their thoughts about the brand in messages of long length. However, this effect is attenuated when they share their thoughts about the brand in messages of short length. The theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.