Salient knowledge that others are also evaluating reduces judgment extremity

• Published in: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science Vol. 50; no. 2; pp. 366 - 387
• Main Authors: Tsai, Claire I., Zhao, Min, Soman, Dilip
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.03.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Business and Management; Consumer behavior; Consumers; Judgment; Knowledge management; Marketing; Marketing research; Original Empirical Research; Purchase intention; Social research; Social Sciences; Canada; Crowdsourcing; Social norm; Web surveys; Marketing research; Presence of others; Conformity; Digital survey
• ISSN: 0092-0703; 1552-7824
• DOI: 10.1007/s11747-021-00807-w

As companies increasingly conduct marketing research online (e.g., through social networking sites or their brand community platforms), the knowledge that others are also filling out the same surveys becomes increasingly salient to respondents. This research examines how the salience of this knowledge influences consumer judgments. Two important characteristics of our research paradigm are especially relevant to digital contexts: (1) judgements made by the consumers are neither observable nor subject to others’ disapproval; and (2) consensus is not observable or verifiable. Nevertheless, in six main studies and one auxiliary study ( Web Appendix ), we found that high knowledge salience of others also evaluating reduced judgment extremity. Judgment extremity is quantified by the degree or strength of an evaluation or numeric estimate about a judgment target. This effect was driven by consumers’ tendency to predict a moderate consensus and to conform to this perception. Implications for marketing research and crowdsourcing are discussed.