4.bandwagon Effect
4.bandwagon Effect
4.bandwagon Effect
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Małgorzata Niesiobędzka
self, and those who emphasize their similarity to some Luxury products are perceived as more psycho-
other consumers, choose products that enjoy approv- logically distant than ordinary goods and they are
al and recognition among members of these groups. associated with an abstract mental representation.
The relationship between the dependent self and the Hansen and Wänke (2011) demonstrated that luxury
bandwagon effect depends on the strength of one’s products act as more distant objects and require more
susceptibility to normative influences. Customers abstract language. Consumers use more abstract lan-
with a dependent self and with a strong propensity to guage when they think of luxury. Products described
indulge the expectations of aspirational groups try to in an abstract manner are perceived as more luxuri-
purchase products that are popular within the refer- ous than products described concretely. Furthermore,
ence group (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012, 2014). Simi- an abstract language is often used in advertisements
lar results from Tsai, Yang and Liu (2013) demonstrate for luxury products (Hansen & Wänke, 2011). Con-
significant relationships between a consumer’s need strual Level Theory (Trope & Liberman, 2000, 2003,
for uniqueness, their susceptibility to normative influ- 2010) proposes that psychological distance from an
ence and the snob effect, and the bandwagon effect. object enhances the propensity to construe a more
The purpose of this study was to analyze band- abstract representation of it. Temporal, spatial, and
wagon consumption through several experimental social distance leads to more abstract, generalized
approaches, because the previous studies were only representation of the objects as it is observed in the
of correlative nature. The study was intended to de- case of luxury products. The psychological distance
termine whether the activation of the aspirational of luxury connects with the exclusiveness and un-
reference group concept has an impact on a propen- familiarity with luxury goods. Well-known, wealthy
sity to conspicuous luxury consumption. It was ex- people are socially distant, but on the other hand
pected that the activation of an aspirational reference they are perceived as proximal to luxury, and thus
group would enhance the propensity to conspicuous may be treated as vehicles to world of luxury. Thus
consumption. The aspirational reference group has associations, the recommendation of a luxury prod-
a strong influence on luxury consumption due to uct by modern significant others (movie stars, celeb-
conformity process, especially identification influ- rities) should enhance consumer willingness to pur-
ence. Attitudes towards products, consumer choices chase and display the luxury brand.
made by non-membership desired groups are used In order to better understand the bandwagon ef-
by individual as a guide for their own attitudes and fect within conspicuous luxury consumption, three
behavior. Contrary to normative influence, identi- experimental studies were conducted. In the study
fication influence is not based on rewards or sanc- the bandwagon effect is treated as increased demand
tions (Amaldoss & Jain, 2005; Bearden & Etzel, 1982; for luxury goods due to their popularity, especially
Bearden, Netemeyer, & Teel, 1989; Deutsch & Gerard, among famous people. The concept of the aspiration-
1955; Grimm, Agrawal, & Richardson, 1999; McGuire, al group was induced through the advertisement of
1968; Park & Lessig, 1977; Zinkhan & Lascu 1999). a luxury product with reference to consumer icons
The symbolic meaning of products used by signifi- – “stars” (Experiment 1, Experiment 2) – and by di-
cant others helps individuals to construct, maintain, rect references to famous people (Experiment 3).
and express the desired identity. Therefore individu- The amount of money spent on the luxury product
als choose products congruent with the social image (Experiment 1), the size of the luxury brand logo
of aspirational groups. Nowadays celebrities, such as (Experiment 2, Experiment 3), and the doubling of
movie and music stars, have become cultural icons. the luxury brand logo (Experiment 2) were used as
They serve as visible signs of wealth and fame – the the indicators of the propensity to conspicuous con-
values admired most by consumer society. The at- sumption (see: Griskevicius et al., 2007; Lee & Shrum,
tempt to resemble the aspirational reference group 2012; Tyler et al., 2012; Wang & Griskevicius, 2014).
underlies the bandwagon effect in conspicuous lux-
ury consumption. Another form of social influence,
other than identification with media figures, is one STUDY 1
that activates constructs. People who want to be like
celebrities are prone to adopt their attitudes and be- The purpose of Study 1 was to establish whether an
havior, but not only those. The media figures activate activation idea of the aspirational group through the
mental constructs, including goals and norms (Lin- advertisement has an impact on the willingness to
denberg, Joly, & Stapel, 2011). Media figures induce pay more for the luxury product. It was expected that
predominantly materialistic goals – wealth, fame the amount of money spent on the luxury product
and popularity. Luxury brands are socially recog- would be higher in the group with activation of the
nized signs of wealth, and thus references to media idea of the aspirational group through the advertise-
figures via the activation of materialistic goals might ment (experimental group) than in the group without
enhance the willingness to purchase and display the activation of the idea of the aspirational group (con-
luxury brand (conspicuous consumption). trol group).
1200
vertisement with the slogan referring to the favorite
stars (t(58) = –2.08, p < .040, d = .54). As predicted, 1000
participants watching the iPhone advertisement 800
with the slogan were willing to pay significantly 600
more (M = 1477.59 zl, SD = 962.47 zl) than partici- 400
pants watching the advertisement only with the pic-
200
ture of the iPhone (M = 988.17 zl, SD = 844.75 zl) (see
Figure 1). 0
Consistent with the hypothesis, when the adver No slogan with Slogan with
tisement included references to the aspirational favourite stars favourite stars
group, participants were willing to pay more for the Figure 1. The amount of money spent on luxury
luxury product than participants who watched the product in the group with references to aspiratio-
advertisement without explicit cues to significant nal group and in the group without references to
others. aspirational group.
differed in size: 20, 28, 40, 54 mm. The participants re- The influence of media figures on conspicuous con-
ported which T-shirt they would choose. sumption also connects with the activation of goals
and norms (Lindenberg, Joly, & Stapel, 2011). The
media figures enhance willingness to purchase and
RESULTS display the luxury brands via the activation of mate-
rialistic goals. Luxury brands are socially recognized
The t‑test revealed a significant effect for manipula- and visible signs of wealth and fame – materialistic
tion (t(70) = –2.76, p < .010). Participants in the exper- goals. Furthermore, luxury products are perceived as
imental condition more often created words referring more psychologically distant than ordinary goods.
to money (loot, brass, and gold) (M = 2.42, SD = 0.60) The psychological distance of luxury connects with
than participants in the control condition (M = 1.92, the exclusiveness and unfamiliarity with luxury
SD = 0.91). goods. Well-known, wealthy people are socially dis-
The t‑test revealed a significant effect for aspira- tant, but on the other hand they are perceived as prox-
tional group activation (t(70) = –2.02, p < .050; d = .47). imal to luxury, and thus may be treated as vehicles
As predicted, participants with the aspirational group to world of luxury. In the study the activation of the
activation were willing to choose a T-shirt with idea of modern significant others enhances consumer
a bigger Ralph Lauren logo (M = 36.50, SD = 15.01) willingness to purchase and display the luxury brand.
than participants in the control group (M = 30.38, To sum up, the results experimentally supported the
SD = 10.51) (see Figure 2). Consistent with the hy- bandwagon effect within luxury conspicuous con-
pothesis, the activation of the aspirational group en- sumption previously established in correlative stud-
hanced preferences for a clearly visible logo. ies (Kastanakis & Balabanis, 2012, 2014; Kim & Jang,
2014; Tsai, Yang, & Liu, 2013).
The present study has some limitations. In Ex-
DISCUSSION periment 2, the study group included only women.
The previous results demonstrated a greater male ten-
The purpose of this study was to analyze bandwagon dency for conspicuous consumption than females. Men
consumption from several experimental approach- showing off their spending may be treated as an evo-
es, due to the correlative nature of previous studies. lutionary strategy for signal status, as a social signal
Through three experiments, I am able to provide evi- directed at potential mates (Griskevicius et al., 2007;
dence that the activation of the aspirational reference Lens, Driesman, Pandelaere, & Janssens, 2012; Nelissen
group concept significantly affects the propensity to & Meijers, 2011). Thus, the replication of Experiment 2
conspicuous consumption. Participants watching ad- in a group consisting of men should demonstrate the
vertisements that included references to significant bandwagon effect to more of an extent.
others were willing to pay more for a luxury product Furthermore, an important issue concerns the
and doubled the luxury brand logo on created T-shirts logos of the luxury brands presented to partic-
more often than participants watching advertise- ipants. The logos were chosen in pre-test studies
ments without explicit references to significant oth- conducted in the comparative groups – Yves Saint
ers. It was also observed that the ad with the slogan Laurent in the female student group and Ralph Lau-
“Feel like a movie star” encouraged respondents to ren in the post-graduate student group. Nerveless,
place a larger luxury brand logo than the ad without
the slogan, but only at a tendency level. Furthermore,
40
the activation of the idea of the aspirational group
Size of Ralph Laurent logo
38
by direct reference to famous people, e.g. Beyoncé 36
or Angelina Jolie, enhanced preferences for a clear- 34
ly visible luxury logo. Participants with aspirational 32
group activation chose a larger Ralph Lauren logo 30
size than participants without an activation notion of 28
an aspirational group. The results of the experiments 26
presented herein demonstrate that the activation of 24
the aspirational reference group concept might en- 22
hance the propensity to conspicuous consumption 20
probably due to the conformity process, especially No activation Activation
to identification influence. The symbolic meaning of Aspirational group concept
products used by significant others helps individuals
to construct, maintain, and express desired identity. Figure 2. The size of luxury brand logo in the group
Therefore individuals choose products congruent with activation concept of aspirational group and in
with the social image of aspirational groups – now- the group without activation concept of aspirational
adays celebrities, such as movie and music stars. group.
these brand logos might be perceived differently by types of scarcity signals with products’ suitability
participants; thus, in further studies the possibility for conspicuous consumption. International Jour-
of choosing a logo from some set of brands should nal of Research in Marketing, 27, 225–235.
be offered. Gil, L. A., Kwon, K. N., Good, L. K., & Johnson, L. W.
As was mentioned, only a small number of studies (2012). Impact of self on attitudes toward luxury
do not apply an entirely status-seeking perspective brands among teens. Journal of Business Research,
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spicuous consumption. Inclusion of the bandwagon Granot, E., Toya, L., Russell, M., & Brashear-Alejan-
effect and snob effect in the analysis allows us to dro, T. G. (2013). Populence: Exploring Luxury for
better understand the complex nature of conspicu- the Masses. Journal of Marketing Theory and Prac-
ous consumption in post-modern society. The effect tice, 21, 31–44. doi: 10.2753/MTP1069-6679210102
of the bandwagon effect on consumer behavior can Grimm, P. E., Agrawal, J., & Richardson, P. S. (1999).
be moderated by personality characteristics and situ- Product Conspicuousness and Buying Motives as
ational influences. Therefore, future research should Determinants of Reference Group Influences. Ad-
examine which personality traits and what situations vances in Consumer Research, 4, 97–103.
might enhance the bandwagon effect within luxury Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J. M., Sundie, J. M., Cialdi-
consumption. ni, R. B., Miller, G. F., Kenrick, D. T. (2007). Bla-
tant Benevolence and Conspicuous Consumption:
When Romantic Motives Elicit Strategic Costly
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