University of Vaasa, School of Marketing and Communication, P.O. Box 700, 65101, Vaasa, Finland.
University of Vaasa, Finland.
Appetite. 2020 Feb 1;145:104492. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2019.104492. Epub 2019 Oct 22.
Status considerations have recently been linked to prosocial behaviors. This research shows that even everyday consumer behaviors such as favoring organic foods serve as prosocial status signaling. Key ideas from the continuum model of consumer impression formation and the theories of costly signaling and symbolic consumption are synthetized to make sense of this phenomenon. Two web-surveys (Ns = 187, 259) and a field study (N = 336) following experimental designs are conducted. This approach allows the analysis of both the more and less conscious reactions of consumers. Study 1 shows that the image of consumers favoring organic product versions is marked by characteristics consistent with prosocial status signaling. Study 2 replicates these findings with another sample and a wider range of products and demonstrate that observers' conservative values influence the image formed of organic food users. Study 3 establishes that similar image effects also emerge through a less conscious formation process and that they extend to how organic food users are socially treated. This research advances the current understanding concerning the interlinkages between organic food usage, prosocial status signaling, consumer impressions and reputation management. Substantively, the studies provide novel compelling empirical evidence for the ability of non-luxurious everyday consumer behaviors to qualify as prosocial status signaling. Conceptually, the integration of evolutionary and sociocultural perspectives represents a major contribution. More specifically, this research yields new understanding as regards the role of individual variation in sensing and interpreting status symbols.
地位考量最近与亲社会行为联系在一起。这项研究表明，即使是日常的消费者行为，如偏好有机食品，也可以作为亲社会地位信号。消费者印象形成的连续体模型和昂贵信号理论以及象征性消费的理论的关键思想被综合起来，以理解这一现象。通过实验设计进行了两项网络调查（N=187,259）和一项实地研究（N=336）。这种方法允许分析消费者更有意识和无意识的反应。研究 1 表明，偏好有机产品版本的消费者形象具有与亲社会地位信号一致的特征。研究 2 用另一个样本和更广泛的产品复制了这些发现，并表明观察者的保守价值观影响了对有机食品使用者的形象形成。研究 3 表明，类似的形象效应也通过无意识的形成过程出现，并延伸到有机食品使用者的社交待遇。这项研究推进了当前对有机食品使用、亲社会地位信号、消费者印象和声誉管理之间相互联系的理解。从实质上讲，这些研究为非奢侈日常消费者行为作为亲社会地位信号的能力提供了新的令人信服的经验证据。从概念上讲，进化和社会文化视角的结合是一个主要贡献。更具体地说，这项研究对个体差异在感知和解释地位象征方面的作用有了新的认识。
