A study has revealed that consumers tend to 'treat' themselves with unique presents more out of pride than their hard work put into achieving a milestone.
The authors said that they have found that consumers who attribute feelings of pride to their unique character traits, rather than, how hard they worked to accomplish something, are more likely to feel 'special', hence, are more likely to seek out unique options rather than conform to the choices of others.
The authors, Xun (Irene) Huang (Sun Yat-sen University), Ping Dong (University of Toronto), and Anirban Mukhopadhyay (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology), have suggested that brands offering unique products should use terms like "you're special" to emphasize consumer uniqueness, but the brands with more mainstream products could use taglines like "you've worked hard" to appeal to feelings of achievement and accomplishment.
On a personal level, these results could help consumers identify their source of pride and recognize why they might be spending too much money on luxury products.
The authors concluded that by extending the understanding of the factors driving conformity, they have deepened their knowledge about the causes and consequences of pride and have showed that what seem to be subtly different types of pride could actually produce very different outcomes.
This study is published in the Journal of Consumer Research.
