From conformity to reactance: Contingent role of network centrality in consumer-to-consumer influence

Pabitra Chatterjee, Barthelemy Chollet () and Olivier Trendel ()
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Barthelemy Chollet: EESC-GEM Grenoble Ecole de Management, IREGE - Institut de Recherche en Gestion et en Economie - USMB [Université de Savoie] [Université de Chambéry] - Université Savoie Mont Blanc
Olivier Trendel: MKT - Marketing - EESC-GEM Grenoble Ecole de Management

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Abstract: Central consumers in a group often are influential, because their social prominence commands conformity from other members. Yet, there can be another contradictory effect of centrality, such that other members regard it as a threat to their attitudinal freedom and express reactance instead of conformity. Whether a group member conforms or reacts to the evaluation of a more central member might depend on the strength of their relationship, which determines the social cost of disagreeing. We provide evidence of such an interaction between centrality and relational strength with an experiment where participants with preexisting affective ties of varying strengths taste a snack in groups (Study 1) and a field study where participants connected by instrumental ties consume a complex service (Study 2). A scenario-based experiment manipulating centrality and strength of ties provides further evidence that reactance underlies the observed effects (Study 3).

Keywords: Consumer-to-consumer influence; Centrality; Shared consumption; Tie strength (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cdm and nep-exp
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://univ-smb.hal.science/hal-01589885v1
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Published in Journal of Business Research, 2017, 75, pp.86-94. ⟨10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.02.012⟩

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:gemptp:hal-01589885

DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.02.012

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