Climbing down the Ladder Makes you Play It Safe
Year
2017
Author(s)
Youjae Yi, Seo Young Kim, Jae Won Hwang
Journal
European Journal of Marketing
Volume
51(5/6)
Pages
946-959
Purpose
This study aims to examine how social exclusion and the social status of a rejecter affect consumers’ purchase intentions toward ordinary products.

Design/methodology/approach
Three experiments were conducted to test the hypotheses.

Findings
The status of a rejecter, whether high or low, had a significant influence on individuals’ evaluations of ordinary products. Results showed that individuals who were rejected by a low status source had higher purchase intentions toward the ordinary (vs unique) products compared to those who were rejected by a high status source due to threatened self-concept.

Practical implications
With the increased number of lonely consumers in the market today, firms should pay closer attention to the behavioral patterns of consumers who are socially excluded. In addition, firms should be aware that consumers’ purchase intentions vary depending on the sources of social exclusion.

Originality/value
This paper addresses the significant impact of sources of social exclusion on consumers’ evaluation of ordinary products. Moreover, this study focuses on a relatively neglected definition of social status, namely, the sociometric status, to fill the gap in the social status literature.