Narcissistic consumers in retail settings

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to investigate how narcissistic consumers perceive and respond to variations in price and store image in retail settings. Design/methodology/approach The data for this study were collected from a sample of 248 respondents who participated in an experiment with a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subjects design. Findings The findings show that while narcissists and non-narcissists do not differ in their perceptions of product quality, they show completely different behavioral intentions. For instance, narcissistic consumers ascribe more importance to store image than to product price, whereas price is more critical in non-narcissists’ decision-making. Research limitations/implications Using a young sample and only one product category (i.e. clothing) may affect the generalization of the findings. The inherent drawback of experiments (i.e. gaining internal validity at the cost of external validity) is another limitation of this work. Practical implications The construct of narcissism plays a critical role in the way people evaluate products’ symbolic value and ultimately decide to purchase goods from a store which has a certain type of image, including the expected price of the merchandise. Therefore, the findings of this study have significant managerial implications for critical areas of retail business such as segmentation using narcissism, store image management and merchandise pricing. Originality/value Despite a long history in social and clinical psychology, few empirical studies have examined narcissism and its impact on consumer behavior. The present study is an attempt to address this gap in retail settings and provides insights into the joint effects of product price and store image on narcissists’ purchase behavior.