Abstract
Consumers tend to abandon or avoid using a product when they become aware that it is being imitated by others. However, little is known about how or why such reactions may vary based on whether the mimicker belongs to the consumers’ dissociative group or membership group. This study proposes that consumers respond to mimickers from different social groups through the use of brands: horizontal or vertical differentiation. Across five studies, we show that when consumers are mimicked by a dissociative group (membership group), it results in feelings of self-identity threat (distinctiveness-threat). This, in turn, increases their desire for self-expression (a higher status position among brand users) and subsequently heightens the preference for horizontal (vertical) brands. These effects are mitigated when the mimicry domain has low identity-relevance and when the imitated person feels powerful.
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1057%2Fs41262-024-00354-z/MediaObjects/41262_2024_354_Fig1_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1057%2Fs41262-024-00354-z/MediaObjects/41262_2024_354_Fig2_HTML.png)
![](http://media.springernature.com/m312/springer-static/image/art%3A10.1057%2Fs41262-024-00354-z/MediaObjects/41262_2024_354_Fig3_HTML.png)
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abosag, I., Z.B. Ramadan, T. Baker, and Z. **. 2020. Customers’ need for uniqueness theory versus brand congruence theory: The impact on satisfaction with social network sites. Journal of Business Research 117: 862–872.
Bellezza, S., and J. Berger. 2020. Trickle-round signals: When low status is mixed with high. Journal of Consumer Research 47 (1): 100–127.
Bellezza, S., F. Gino, and A. Keinan. 2014. The red sneakers effect: Inferring status and competence from signals of nonconformity. Journal of Consumer Research 41 (1): 35–54.
Berger, J. 2016. Invisible influence: The hidden forces that shape behavior. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.
Berger, J., and C. Heath. 2007. Where consumers diverge from others: Identity signaling and product domains. Journal of Consumer Research 34 (2): 121–134.
Berger, J., and C. Heath. 2008. Who drives divergence? Identity signaling, out-group dissimilarity, and the abandonment of cultural tastes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 95 (3): 593–607.
Berger, J., and L. Rand. 2008. Shifting signals to help health: Using identity signaling to reduce risky health behaviors. Journal of Consumer Research 35 (3): 509–518.
Berger, J., and M. Ward. 2010. Subtle signals of inconspicuous consumption. Journal of Consumer Research 37 (4): 555–569.
Brough, A.R., J.E. Wilkie, J. Ma, M.S. Isaac, and D. Gal. 2016. Is eco-friendly unmanly? The green-feminine stereotype and its effect on sustainable consumption. Journal of Consumer Research 43 (4): 567–582.
Chang, D.R., J. Jang, H. Lee, and M. Nam. 2019. The effects of power on consumers’ evaluation of a luxury brand’s corporate social responsibility. Psychology and Marketing 36 (1): 72–83.
Chartrand, T.L., and J.L. Lakin. 2013. The antecedents and consequences of human behavioral mimicry. Annual Review of Psychology 64: 285–308.
Chartrand, T. L., Maddux, W. W., Lakin, J. L. 2005. Beyond the perception-behavior link: The ubiquitous utility and motivational moderators of nonconscious mimicry. The New Unconscious, pp. 334–361.
Confente, I., and W. Kucharska. 2021. Company versus consumer performance: Does brand community identification foster brand loyalty and the consumer’s personal brand? Journal of Brand Management 28: 8–31.
Das, M., M. Habib, V. Saha, and C. Jebarajakirthy. 2021. Bandwagon vs snob luxuries: Targeting consumers based on uniqueness dominance. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 61: 102582.
Dreze, X., and J.C. Nunes. 2009. Feeling superior: The impact of loyalty program structure on consumers’ perceptions of status. Journal of Consumer Research 35 (6): 890–905.
Erjansola, A.M., J. Lipponen, K. Vehkalahti, H.M. Aula, and A.M. Pirttilä-Backman. 2021. From the brand logo to brand associations and the corporate identity: Visual and identity-based logo associations in a university merger. Journal of Brand Management 28: 241–253.
Escalas, J.E., and J.R. Bettman. 2005. Self-construal, reference groups, and brand meaning. Journal of Consumer Research 32 (3): 378–389.
Fast, N.J., D.H. Gruenfeld, N. Sivanathan, and A.D. Galinsky. 2009. Illusory control: A generative force behind power’s far-reaching effects. Psychological Science 20 (4): 502–508.
Fazli-Salehi, R., I.M. Torres, R. Madadi, and M.Á. Zúñiga. 2021. Multicultural advertising: The impact of consumers’ self-concept clarity and materialism on self-brand connection and communal-brand connection. Journal of Business Research 137: 46–57.
Galinsky, A. D., Rucker, D. D., Magee, J. C. 2015. Power: Past findings, present considerations, and future directions. In M. Mikulincer, P. R. Shaver, J. A. Simpson, & J. F. Dovidio (Eds.), APA handbooks in psychology. APA handbook of personality and social psychology: Interpersonal relations (Vol. 3, pp. 421–460). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/14344-000
Greenberg, D., E. Ehrensperger, M. Schulte-Mecklenbeck, W.D. Hoyer, Z.J. Zhang, and H. Krohmer. 2020. The role of brand prominence and extravagance of product design in luxury brand building: What drives consumers’ preferences for loud versus quiet luxury? Journal of Brand Management 27: 195–210.
Guinote, A. 2017. How power affects people: Activating, wanting and goal seeking. Annual Review of Psychology 68: 353–381.
Hornsey, M.J., and J. Jetten. 2004. The individual within the group: Balancing the need to belong with the need to be different. Personality and Social Psychology Review 8 (3): 248–264.
Jebarajakirthy, C., and M. Das. 2021. Uniqueness and luxury: A moderated mediation approach. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 60: 102477.
Kauppinen-Räisänen, H., P. Björk, A. Lönnström, and M.N. Jauffret. 2018. How consumers’ need for uniqueness, self-monitoring, and social identity affect their choices when luxury brands visually shout versus whisper. Journal of Business Research 84: 72–81.
Ki, C.W.C., L.M. Cuevas, S.M. Chong, and H. Lim. 2020. Influencer marketing: Social media influencers as human brands attaching to followers and yielding positive marketing results by fulfilling needs. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 55: 102133.
Kulesza, W., Z. Szypowska, M.S. Jarman, and D. Dolinski. 2014. Attractive chameleons sell: The mimicry-attractiveness link. Psychology and Marketing 31 (7): 549–561.
Lammers, J., D. Dubois, D.D. Rucker, and A.D. Galinsky. 2013. Power gets the job: Priming power improves interview outcomes. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 49 (4): 776–779.
Lee, J., A. Aggarwal, H. Rafieian, and D. Korschun. 2020. Do consumers use tip** to monitor service? Role of power and embarrassment. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 56: 102159.
Loughran Dommer, S., V. Swaminathan, and R. Ahluwalia. 2013. Using differentiated brands to deflect exclusion and protect inclusion: The moderating role of self-esteem on attachment to differentiated brands. Journal of Consumer Research 40 (4): 657–675.
Lynn, M., Snyder, C. R. 2002. Uniqueness seeking. Handbook of positive psychology, pp. 395–410.
Martin, N., and K. Morich. 2011. Unconscious mental processes in consumer choice: Toward a new model of consumer behavior. Journal of Brand Management 18 (7): 483–505.
Millar, M., A. Fink-Armold, and A. Lovitt. 2020. Disease salience effects on desire for affiliation with in-group and out-group members: Cognitive and affective mediators. Evolutionary Psychology 18 (3): 1474704920930700.
Miller, S.L., J.K. Maner, and D.V. Becker. 2010. Self-protective biases in group categorization: Threat cues shape the psychological boundary between “us” and “them.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 99 (1): 62.
Ordabayeva, N., and D. Fernandes. 2018. Better or different? How political ideology shapes preferences for differentiation in the social hierarchy. Journal of Consumer Research 45 (2): 227–250.
Prentice, C., X.Y. Han, L.L. Hua, and L. Hu. 2019. The influence of identity-driven customer engagement on purchase intention. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 47: 339–347.
Raimondo, M.A., E. Cardamone, G.N. Miceli, and R.P. Bagozzi. 2022. Consumers’ identity signaling towards social groups: The effects of dissociative desire on brand prominence preferences. Psychology and Marketing 39 (10): 1964–1978.
Rios, K., S.C. Wheeler, and D.T. Miller. 2012. Compensatory nonconformity: Self-uncertainty and low implicit self-esteem increase adoption and expression of minority opinions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 48 (6): 1300–1309.
Rozenkrants, B., S.C. Wheeler, and B. Shiv. 2017. Self-expression cues in product rating distributions: When people prefer polarizing products. Journal of Consumer Research 44 (4): 759–777.
Rucker, D.D., D. Dubois, and A.D. Galinsky. 2011. Generous paupers and stingy princes: Power drives consumer spending on self versus others. Journal of Consumer Research 37: 1015–1029.
Rucker, D.D., A.D. Galinsky, and D. Dubois. 2012. Power and consumer behavior: How power shapes who and what consumers value. Journal of Consumer Psychology 22 (3): 352–368.
Ruvio, A., Y. Gavish, and A. Shoham. 2013. Consumer’s doppelganger: A role model perspective on intentional consumer mimicry. Journal of Consumer Behaviour 12 (1): 60–69.
Shin, E., and J.E. Lee. 2021. What makes consumers purchase apparel products through social shop** services that social media fashion influencers have worn? Journal of Business Research 132: 416–428.
Shin, J., and Y.K. Seock. 2022. The new face of mimicry consumption: Understanding the mediating role of social media. International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education 15 (3): 430–439.
Tafarodi, R.W., T.C. Marshall, and H. Katsura. 2004. Standing out in Canada and Japan. Journal of Personality 72 (4): 785–814.
Tanner, R.J., R. Ferraro, T.L. Chartrand, J.R. Bettman, and R.V. Baaren. 2008. Of chameleons and consumption: The impact of mimicry on choice and preferences. Journal of Consumer Research 34 (6): 754–766.
Tata, S.V., S. Prashar, and S. Gupta. 2020. An examination of the role of review valence and review source in varying consumption contexts on purchase decision. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 52: 101734.
Tost, L.P., F. Gino, and R.P. Larrick. 2012. Power, competitiveness, and advice taking: Why the powerful don’t listen. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 117 (1): 53–65.
Touré-Tillery, M., J. Steinmetz, and B. DiCosola. 2022. Feeling judged? How the presence of outgroup members promotes healthier food choices. Psychology and Marketing 39 (8): 1504–1510.
Van Baaren, R.B., R.W. Holland, K. Kawakami, and A. Van Knippenberg. 2004. Mimicry and prosocial behavior. Psychological Science 15 (1): 71–74.
Vignoles, V.L., X. Chryssochoou, and G.M. Breakwell. 2000. The distinctiveness principle: Identity, meaning, and the bounds of cultural relativity. Personality and Social Psychology Review 4 (4): 337–354.
Wang, Y., and D.R. John. 2019. Up, up, and away: Upgrading as a response to dissimilar brand users. Journal of Marketing Research 56 (1): 142–157.
Warren, C., and M.C. Campbell. 2014. What makes things cool? How autonomy influences perceived coolness. Journal of Consumer Research 41 (2): 543–563.
White, K., and J.J. Argo. 2011. When imitation doesn’t flatter: The role of consumer distinctiveness in responses to mimicry. Journal of Consumer Research 38 (4): 667–680.
White, K., and D.W. Dahl. 2007. Are all out-groups created equal? Consumer identity and dissociative influence. Journal of Consumer Research 34 (4): 525–536.
White, K., J.J. Argo, and J. Sengupta. 2012. Dissociative versus associative responses to social identity threat: The role of consumer self-construal. Journal of Consumer Research 39 (4): 704–719.
Yan, L., H.T. Keh, and J. Chen. 2021. Assimilating and differentiating: The curvilinear effect of social class on green consumption. Journal of Consumer Research 47 (6): 914–936.
Yang, D., X. Lei, L. Hu, Y. Sun, and X. Yang. 2022. Brand stigmatization: How do new brand users influence original brand users? Journal of Brand Management 30: 77–94.
Zhang, G., C.L. Wang, J. Liu, and L. Zhou. 2023. Why do consumers prefer a hometown geographical indication brand? Exploring the role of consumer identification with the brand and psychological ownership. International Journal of Consumer Studies 47 (1): 74–85.
Zheng, X., J. Xu, and H. Shen. 2022. To be respected or liked: The influence of social comparisons on consumer preference for competence-versus warmth-oriented products. International Journal of Research in Marketing 39 (1): 170–189.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Natural Science Foundations of China research grant (No.72302027, 72372057) and the Humanities and Social Science Research Project of Chongqing Education Commission (No. 22SKGH215), Research Institute on Brand Innovation and Development of Guangzhou. The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on previous versions of this article.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Jiang, X., Deng, F., Yao, Q. et al. Better or different? How mimicry by social groups shapes consumers’ preference for differentiated brands. J Brand Manag (2024). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-024-00354-z
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-024-00354-z