Attention to Social Comparison Information: An Individual Difference Factor Affecting Consumer Conformity

Interpersonal influence in consumer behavior is moderated by the extent of consumer sensitivity to social comparison information concerning product pruchase and usage behavior (cf. Calder and Burnkrant 1977). Two survey studies indicate that Lennox and Wolfe's (1984) attention-to-social-comparison-information (AT-SCI) scale has adequate convergent and discrimination validity and moderates the relative influence of normative consequences on behavioral intentions, as predicted. A quasi-experiment and an experiment in which control subjects under no social pressure are compared with high and low ATSCI subjects under pressure reveal that high ATSCI subjects are more likely to comply with normative pressures. Copyright 1990 by the University of Chicago.