Marketing Seminar（2014-11）

Title: Costly Signaling: Conspicuous Consumption as a Means of Restoring Inferiority

Speaker:Xiaoying Zheng

Affiliation:Peking University

Time: : Wednesday 3 December. 1:30-3:00pm

Location: Room217, Guanghua Building 2

Abstract:

Social comparison, the process of assessing selfrelative to others, is a fundamental and pervasive psychological mechanism that influences people’s judgments, experiences, and behavior greatly(Festinger, 1954). The current research investigates the effect of social comparison on conspicuous consumption behavior. We propose that the inferiority individuals experience after making upward comparison would motivate them to engage in conspicuous consumption.Four studies support this prediction. Study 1 manipulates social comparison in an academic performance context and finds that undergraduates who make upward comparison are more willing to spend money on conspicuous products. Study 2 suggests that participants prefer conspicuous brand logos over invisible ones after receiving a negative comparative feedback on their intelligence test. Study 3 demonstrates that after making upward comparison, consumers are more likely to spend money on public products than their counterparts. Study 4 examines the moderating role of self-concept clarity and shows that the proposed compensation effect occurs only among consumers with low self-concept clarity.

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