Buyer beware of your shadow: how price moderates the effect of incidental similarity on buyer behavior
Using both a lab experiment and actual transaction data, we investigated whether and how incidental similarities (e.g., shared letters between buyer and seller's name) might influence buyer behavior. Particularly, while prior work suggests that consumers generally prefer incidental similarity,...
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Published in | Journal of applied social psychology Vol. 44; no. 10; pp. 643 - 649 |
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Main Authors | , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Hoboken
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.10.2014
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Using both a lab experiment and actual transaction data, we investigated whether and how incidental similarities (e.g., shared letters between buyer and seller's name) might influence buyer behavior. Particularly, while prior work suggests that consumers generally prefer incidental similarity, we use the context of Internet auctions to show that this preference reverses when prices are high. Under these conditions, buyers avoid incidentally similar sellers. We speculate that this effect is tied to individuals' motive to self‐protect. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. |
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Bibliography: | istex:F290BB02F3C5A7BB0CCA15A7933DEC0AEB47CC9D ArticleID:JASP12255 ark:/67375/WNG-WR0S8GVL-H |
ISSN: | 0021-9029 1559-1816 |
DOI: | 10.1111/jasp.12255 |