Social Influence and Consumer Behavior

<p>A good deal of consumer research is focused on social influence since consumers make purchase decisions in the context of a social framework. This collection of innovative essays examines both the conscious and non-conscious effects of social influence on consumer behavior processes and outcomes covering a wide variety of topics such as compliance influence tactics social networks social relationships family decision-making and spokespersons.</p><p>The papers are authored by experts in consumer psychology from both psychology and marketing backgrounds. Some of their key insights include:</p><ul> <p> </p> <li>The relationship between the target and the influence agent determines the effectiveness of influence tactics</li> <p> </p> <li>Priming consumers with products associated with social networks such as iPhones for friends or refrigerators with families makes those products become more attractive</li> <p> </p> <li>Negative associations of celebrity endorsers can transfer to the brand</li> <p> </p> <li>Cognitive dissonance underlies the question-behavior effect</li> <p> </p> <li>Family decision-making includes emotional contagion and mirroring</li> <p> </p> <li>Post-decisional information search is often conducted even when the search may reveal that a bad decision was made</li> <p> </p> <li>The fear-then-relief technique can lead to purchase.</li> </ul><p>The papers in this volume offer a rich assortment of research ideas which will prove valuable in furthering theoretical development in the social influence-consumer behavior area. This book will be of interest to consumer researchers and psychologists engaged in active empirical or conceptual work. It was originally published as a special issue of the journal <i>Social Influence</i>.</p>