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| Type | Conference Presentation |
| Scope | Discipline-based scholarship |
| Title | Switch or Repeat? The Hidden Effect of Social Influence on Purchase Behavior |
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| Authors |
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| Presentation Type | speech |
| Item Subtype | Original Work |
| Refereed | Yes |
| Status | Published in final form |
| Language |
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| Event Title | INFORMS MARKETING SCIENCE – 2019 |
| Event Type | conference |
| Event Location | Rome, Italy |
| Event Start Date | June 20 - 2019 |
| Event End Date | June 22 - 2019 |
| Abstract Text | Understanding how people influence or are influenced by their peers can help us understand the flow of market trends, product adoption and diffusion processes. Most existing work on social influence considers change in purchase behavior as a dependent variable and thus an individual is influenced if she was determined to change her behavior. However, nowadays people are faced with countless buying options, thus repeatedly purchasing the same product can be considered the exception rather than the norm. In this paper, the authors propose a theoretical framework in which the decision to repurchase or switch to a new product is related to two types of stimuli: intrapersonal (related to variety seeking and loyalty behavior) and interpersonal (related to exposure to the social group). They distinguish between two influence processes: to switch to a new product (visible influence) and to repurchase (hidden influence). By analyzing data on consumption decisions, the authors show that hidden influence has a positive effect on the probability to repurchase. The authors explore the effect further and show that for variety seeking consumers the hidden influence has a stronger effect on the purchase decision compared to visible influence. The results challenge classical findings by showing that the effect of social influence on switching behavior is only one facet of social influence and a potentially equally important aspect is its effect on repeated behavior. Focusing only on the visible side and ignoring the intrapersonal motivation to switch and repurchase has lead to framework in which the total social influence effect can often be over or underestimated. |
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