IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0153448.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Trickle-Down Preferences: Preferential Conformity to High Status Peers in Fashion Choices

Author

Listed:
  • Jeff Galak
  • Kurt Gray
  • Igor Elbert
  • Nina Strohminger

Abstract

How much do our choices represent stable inner preferences versus social conformity? We examine conformity and consistency in sartorial choices surrounding a common life event of new norm exposure: relocation. A large-scale dataset of individual purchases of women’s shoes (16,236 transactions) across five years and 2,007 women reveals a balance of conformity and consistency, moderated by changes in location socioeconomic status. Women conform to new local norms (i.e., average heel size) when moving to relatively higher status locations, but mostly ignore new local norms when moving to relatively lower status locations. In short, at periods of transition, it is the fashion norms of the rich that trickle down to consumers. These analyses provide the first naturalistic large-scale demonstration of the tension between psychological conformity and consistency, with real decisions in a highly visible context.

Suggested Citation

  • Jeff Galak & Kurt Gray & Igor Elbert & Nina Strohminger, 2016. "Trickle-Down Preferences: Preferential Conformity to High Status Peers in Fashion Choices," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(5), pages 1-11, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0153448
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0153448
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153448
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0153448&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0153448?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tian, Kelly Tepper & Bearden, William O & Hunter, Gary L, 2001. "Consumer's Need for Uniqueness: Scale Development and Validation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(1), pages 50-66, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Pengji Wang & Adrian T. H. Kuah & Qinye Lu & Caroline Wong & K. Thirumaran & Emmanuel Adegbite & Wesley Kendall, 2021. "The impact of value perceptions on purchase intention of sustainable luxury brands in China and the UK," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 28(3), pages 325-346, May.
    2. Huang, Youlin & Qian, Lixian, 2021. "Consumer adoption of electric vehicles in alternative business models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    3. Wang, Le & Luo, Xin (Robert) & Li, Han, 2022. "Envy or conformity? An empirical investigation of peer influence on the purchase of non-functional items in mobile free-to-play games," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 147(C), pages 308-324.
    4. Stathopoulou, Anastasia & Balabanis, George, 2019. "The effect of cultural value orientation on consumers' perceptions of luxury value and proclivity for luxury consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 298-312.
    5. Yoshida, Masayuki & James, Jeffrey D. & Cronin, J. Joseph, 2013. "Sport event innovativeness: Conceptualization, measurement, and its impact on consumer behavior," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 68-84.
    6. Bian, Qin & Forsythe, Sandra, 2012. "Purchase intention for luxury brands: A cross cultural comparison," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(10), pages 1443-1451.
    7. Javier F. de la Ballina & Isabel de la Ballina, 2019. "Scarcity as a Desirable Attribute of Luxury Fashion Brands in Millennial Marketing," Tržište/Market, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb, vol. 31(2), pages 153-170.
    8. Hajiheydari, Nastaran & Delgosha, Mohammad Soltani & Olya, Hossein, 2021. "Scepticism and resistance to IoMT in healthcare: Application of behavioural reasoning theory with configurational perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    9. Ostovan, Nima & Khalili Nasr, Arash, 2022. "The manifestation of luxury value dimensions in brand engagement in self-concept," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    10. Rebecca Pera & Giampaolo Viglia, 2017. "Can snacking be healthy? A comparison between coeliacs and health conscious food consumers," MERCATI & COMPETITIVIT?, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(3), pages 79-99.
    11. Saliha Anwar & Tayyaba Rafique, 2022. "Development Of Service Quality Scale In Online Higher Education," Bulletin of Business and Economics (BBE), Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH), vol. 11(1), pages 53-62, March.
    12. Roux, Elyette & Tafani, Eric & Vigneron, Franck, 2017. "Values associated with luxury brand consumption and the role of gender," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 102-113.
    13. Francesco Polese & Luca Carrubbo & Francesco Caputo & Debora Sarno, 2018. "Managing Healthcare Service Ecosystems: Abstracting a Sustainability-Based View from Hospitalization at Home (HaH) Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-15, October.
    14. Yoo, Jungmin & Park, Minjung, 2016. "The effects of e-mass customization on consumer perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty toward luxury brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 5775-5784.
    15. Raza, Ali & Wasim, Manahil & Ishaq, Muhammad Ishtiaq, 2024. "Virtual reality-based product displays to inspire consumers’ purchase intentions: An experimental study," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    16. Teerling, M.L. & Huizingh, Eelko K.R.E., 2006. "Exploring the concept of web site customization: applications and antecedents," Research Report 06F07, University of Groningen, Research Institute SOM (Systems, Organisations and Management).
    17. Boukis, Achilleas & Christodoulides, George & Semaan, Rania W. & Stathopoulou, Anastasia, 2024. "What drives consumers towards shared luxury services? A comparison of sequential versus simultaneous sharing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    18. Bastos, Wilson, 2020. "“Speaking of Purchases”: How Conversational Potential Determines Consumers' Willingness to Exert Effort for Experiential Versus Material Purchases," Journal of Interactive Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 1-16.
    19. M. Joseph Sirgy & Eda Gurel-Atay & Dave Webb & Muris Cicic & Melika Husic-Mehmedovic & Ahmet Ekici & Andreas Herrmann & Ibrahim Hegazy & Dong-Jin Lee & J. Johar, 2013. "Is Materialism All That Bad? Effects on Satisfaction with Material Life, Life Satisfaction, and Economic Motivation," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 110(1), pages 349-366, January.
    20. Dörnyei, Krisztina Rita & Lunardo, Renaud, 2021. "When limited edition packages backfire: The role of emotional value, typicality and need for uniqueness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 233-243.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0153448. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.