How consumers make unilateral decisions in joint consumption

Abstract

Consumers do not live in a social vacuum, and many of our consumption behaviors involves the participation of others, that is commonly called “joint consumption”. The current research examines how consumers make unilateral decisions for joint consumption (e.g., choosing a shared appetizer for the table or choosing a movie to watch with friends). In this thesis, thirteen studies demonstrate that, compared to when making a decision for their own consumption, consumers are less likely to choose their personal favorite option in making unilateral choices for joint consumption, when preferences are double-blinded (i.e. when decision-makers’ and their co-consumers’ preferences were not known to each other). My research further reveal that one of the main drivers of the observed effect is the self-signaling motive of selflessness. Consistent with this selflessness self-signaling account, I further found that the observed effect weakened or disappeared 1) when they are self-affirmed, 2) when decision makers perceive high self–other similarity, or 3) when self-interest is deemed appropriate in the decision context. I also found that participants’ knowledge of their co-consumers’ preference would impact the effect I observed (Study 2) and after avoiding personal favorite option, participants in the joint consumption condition are not more likely to choose their second-ranked option than those in the individual consumption condition (Study 3). In the current work I mainly focused on the unilateral joint consumption decisions in double-blinded preferences context, future research can be explored in other context (e.g., larger group). My research contributes to the literature on consumers’ joint consumption by introducing the influence of unilateral decisions on joint consumption on consumers’ personal choices. It also extends my understanding of avoiding personal favorite as a novel costly self-signaling behavior in decision making. From the consumers and policy makers’ perspective, my research suggest that it is important to make decision-makers realize that giving up their personal favorites in unilateral decision-making for joint consumption may not necessarily maximize the welfare of their consumption partners. From the marketers’ perspective, marketers could encourage customers to make their own decisions or make a joint decision for joint consumptions.