To Buy or to Resist: When Upward Social Comparison Discourages New Product Adoption

Abstract

This research examines how upward social comparison affects consumers’ propensity to adopt innovation. While one may predict that the symbolic benefits of innovation adoption may be appealing to consumers after they engage in upward social comparison, we argue that some of these consumers may, in fact, resist innovation. The degree to which these consumers adopt or resist innovation depends on whether they use a holistic or an analytical thinking style when evaluating new-product adoption. Three experiments demonstrate that following upward social comparison (vs. no social comparison), consumers who engage in holistic thinking tend to focus on the symbolic benefits of innovation adoption, resulting in greater innovation-adoption intention. By contrast, following upward social comparison (vs. no social comparison), consumers who engage in analytical thinking tend to focus on the potential risks associated with innovation adoption, resulting in greater resistance to new product adoption.