The effect of reference groups on purchase intention: Evidence in distinct types of shoppers and product involvement

• Reference groups have diverse impacts on purchase intention with different stimuli.
• Private groups motivate consumers to purchase both high and low product involvement.
• Utilitarian shoppers that use private information have higher purchase intention.
• The moderating role of three stimuli on purchase intention is met.

The extant research has investigated the impact of purchase intention by reference groups in different situations. Nonetheless, a few studies have examined the roles of reference groups (private and public) in the purchase intention of distinctive types of shoppers (utilitarian, social value, and hedonic) and the degree of product involvement (high and low). Drawing from social influence theory, using experimental research, and analysing data with ANOVA, the author reveals in Study 1 that private groups may have greater impact on motivation for both high and low product involvement compared to public groups. Studies 2 and 3 reveal that utilitarian shoppers tend to have higher purchase intention when private groups are used for information cues. On the other hand, reference groups do not affect the purchase intention of social value and hedonic shoppers. This research contributes to social influence theory by revealing that reference groups have a diverse impact on purchase intention under different stimuli.

Chinese Abstract现有的研究已经调查了在不同情况下参照群体对购买意愿的影响。尽管如此，有一些研究已经探讨了在不同类型购物者（功利型、社会价值型和享乐型）的购买意愿中以及在产品介入程度（高和低）中参照群体的角色（私人的和公众的）。通过运用社会影响力理论，使用实验性研究，并对数据进行了方差分析，笔者在研究1中表明，无论产品介入程度是高还是低，私人群体与公众群体相比都可以更大程度地对积极性产生影响。研究2和3表明，当信息提示来自私人群体时，功利型购物者往往会表现出更高的购买意愿。在另一方面，参照群体对社会价值型和享乐型购物者的购买意愿没有影响。这项研究为社会影响力理论提供了帮助，因为它表明了在不同的刺激条件下参照群体对购买意愿的影响是多样化的。