Susceptibility To Interpersonal Influence Research Articles

Consumer Engagement on Social Networking Sites

In spite the significance of consumer engagement that scholars have recognized, there is a gap in understanding the influencing factors of consumer social networking engagement behaviors. In the light of social identity theory, this study considered susceptibility to interpersonal influence (SIPI) and self-expressive brands (SEBs) on consumer social networking engagement behaviors. Data from our research demonstrated that SEBs and SIPI were positively related to brand attachment, which also impacted liking, sharing, and commenting on social networking sites (SNS). In addition, brand attachment played a positive mediating role among SEB, SIPI, and consumer engagement on SNS. The research explores the factors affecting consumer engagement on SNS with a new insight and guides brand managers to seek efficient ways to drive consumers to engage on online social networks.

The Wisdom of Some: Do We Always Need High Consensus to Shape Consumer Behavior?

From the Food and Drug Administration's efforts to prompt healthier eating to the Environmental Protection Agency's desire to prompt people to engage in environmentally friendly behaviors, a wide range of policy makers aim to persuade consumers. To do so, they must decide how and whether to use information about the behavior of other consumers as part of their persuasive message. In four experimental studies, the authors demonstrate that the persuasive advantage of high- versus low-consensus information depends on the target consumer's trait level of susceptibility to interpersonal influence (SII). Low-SII consumers differentiate between low- and high-consensus information, such that they are more persuaded by high-consensus information. In contrast, high-SII consumers find any cue about the behavior of others persuasive, regardless of whether it is high or low consensus. Importantly, this finding suggests that policy makers may find success motivating behavioral change even in low-consensus situations. The authors close by reporting data from two broadscale correlational surveys that identify behavioral, psychographic, and demographic characteristics related to consumer SII as well as domains in which low consensus currently exists, so that policy makers can identify and target these individuals and related issues.

Effectiveness of Consensus Information in Advertising: The Moderating Roles of Situational Factors and Individual Differences

This study aims to investigate the influence of both individual consumer differences and the purchase decision context on the effectiveness of consensus information in advertising. Three experiments explore the effectiveness of consensus information. In Experiment 1, gender serves as a moderator. Experiment 2 contains an examination of the susceptibility to interpersonal influence (SII) and purchase decision context as two potential moderators. Finally, Experiment 3 instead explores the need for cognitive closure (NFC) but again includes the purchase decision context as the two possible moderators. In Experiment 1, female participants, but not male participants, generate higher purchase intentions for ads with consensus cues as opposed to those without them. With Experiment 2, this study demonstrates that the effectiveness of consensus cues increases for a group (vs. personal) purchase decision, but only for people with high susceptibility to individual influence. In Experiment 3, the effectiveness of consensus cues is relatively greater for a group (vs. personal) purchase decisions, but only for consumers with a high NFC. Understanding what moderates the effectiveness of consensus information in advertising has the potential to help practitioners apply consensus information more effectively to improve their advertising returns. This study provides initial evidence about the impact of consensus information in advertising on purchase intentions, which is contingent on the situational context and individual differences.