Abstract
The present study focuses on the naive theory of exclusivity (vs.popularity) triggered by the sales level of self-expressive (vs. functional) products and introduces perceived self-image exclusivity and perceived face threat to explain the effect of self-expressive products' sales levels on consumers' purchase intention. Specially, about 900 young people participated in four experiments, which used T-shirts, pillows, cups, fashion coats and heating blankets as experimental materials. Through four studies, it is found that consumers are more likely to choose self-expressive (vs. functional) products with low sales (vs. high sales) level. In addition, the paper presents a serial mediation effect of perceived self-image exclusivity → perceived face threat, which can explain the “I will follow the minority” effect of self-expressive products. Finally, the study presents the theoretical and practical significance and future research direction.
Highlights
Imagine a consumer who is exploring the information of Amazon Best Sellers on amazon.com, intending to buy a coat and wet wipes there
It might be considered that the two products in Study 1A were so different in terms of use that participants’ valuation and a real need for them would result in bias
This study demonstrated a link between self-expressive products and naive theory of exclusivity in different contexts of buying products and explored the connection from the perspective of face threat
Summary
Imagine a consumer who is exploring the information of Amazon Best Sellers on amazon.com, intending to buy a coat and wet wipes there. How likely will he/she choose a coat with high sales level (namely, ranked as a best seller)? Sales level, which reflects the number of buyers, will influence a consumer’s choice of a product. This idea is generated by social naive theories because consumers often evaluate products or services based on common sense or naive theory (Raghunathan et al, 2006; Labroo and Mukhopadhyay, 2009; Yorkston et al, 2010; Deval et al, 2013). In some cases (e.g., buying functional products), consumers may choose products that many others like, driven by the naive theory of popularity, that is, preferring high sales level, and yet in other situations (e.g., buying self-expressive products), they will be attracted to products that few others are interested in, driven by the naive theory of exclusivity (Steinhart et al, 2014), that is, avoiding high sales level
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