Herd behaviour along the consumer buying decision process - experimental study in the mobile communications industry

Digital Business

Dr. Nataša Pavlović-Höck¹ 

[1] Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nuremberg Germany, Lange Gasse 20 90403, Nürnberg, Germany;

关键词: Herd behavior;    information source;    buying decision process;    mobile communications industry;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

With the dissemination of web technologies, the transparency of other people's opinions has increased tremendously, thus the possibilities of observing other consumers' decisions have also risen. Consumers may take a shortcut to follow a herd — according to which people discount their own information to imitate others. Nonetheless, despite a large body of literature exploring the topics of herd behaviour, little is known about it in the context of the individual decision-making phases before, during, and after buying. This study, examines consumers' decisions in the context of mobile communications products, using a survey experiment. The findings show that subjects use the information from others as cues in making buying decisions, whereby the influence decreases along the buying process and in the post-buying phase, where people no longer seem to follow the herd. Additionally, recommendations of other consumers exert a stronger influence on subject choices than those of experts. Finally, friends seem to influence consumers' choices more than social networks.

【 授权许可】

Unknown