Compensatory word of mouth: Advice as a device to restore control

Alessandro M. Peluso, Andrea Bonezzi, Matteo De Angelis and Derek D. Rucker

International Journal of Research in Marketing, 2017, vol. 34, issue 2, 499-515

Abstract: Consumers often give advice by recommending products and services to one another. The present research explores the idea that advice giving sometimes reflects a self-serving desire to compensate for a loss of control. Four experiments provide convergent evidence for a phenomenon we term compensatory word of mouth, whereby consumers' communications contain advice fueled by their own need to restore control. Experiment 1 explores the potential practical relevance of this idea by showing that advertising messages can threaten consumers' sense of control and increase advice giving in word-of-mouth communications. Experiment 2 uses a different paradigm and further demonstrates that a threat to consumers' sense of control increases advice giving. As additional evidence of a compensatory account, Experiment 3 finds that threatened individuals' propensity to give advice is attenuated when they are first given an alternative means to restore a sense of control. Finally, Experiment 4 demonstrates that advice giving can serve a compensatory function by instilling a greater sense of competence that enhances consumers' feelings of control.

Keywords: Compensatory word of mouth; Recommendations; Need for control; Advice giving; Social communications (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ijrema:v:34:y:2017:i:2:p:499-515

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2016.10.003

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