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Charts and demand: Empirical generalizations on social influence

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  • Maecker, Olaf
  • Grabenströer, Nadja Sophia
  • Clement, Michel
  • Heitmann, Mark

Abstract

Social influence on consumer behavior has long been a subject of academic research in various scientific fields. According to research by Salganik, Dodds, and Watts (2006), music demand is a function of social influence between consumers. Market concentration tends to increase when information on demand becomes publicly available. In addition, stochastic agglomeration caused by social influence decreases the predictability of market success. These heavily cited findings challenge traditional market research and provide important insights on the impact of social media and sales charts. We test the stability of their results by replicating the study on music demand in a slightly different setting. We further investigate the generalizability of findings by probing other product categories and different phases of purchase decisions, i.e., interest, consideration, and actual demand. Across all categories and across all dependent variables, we are able to replicate the direction of the effects. We do, however, consistently obtain smaller effect sizes than reported in the original paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Maecker, Olaf & Grabenströer, Nadja Sophia & Clement, Michel & Heitmann, Mark, 2013. "Charts and demand: Empirical generalizations on social influence," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(4), pages 429-431.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ijrema:v:30:y:2013:i:4:p:429-431
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijresmar.2013.08.001
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    1. Menezes, Mozart B.C. & da Silveira, Giovani J.C. & Guimarães, Renato, 2018. "Estimating demand variability and capacity costs due to social network influence: The hidden cost of connection," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 197(C), pages 317-329.
    2. Lynch, John G. & Bradlow, Eric T. & Huber, Joel C. & Lehmann, Donald R., 2015. "Reflections on the replication corner: In praise of conceptual replications," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 333-342.
    3. Cheah, Isaac & Phau, Ian & Kea, Garick & Huang, Yu An, 2016. "Modelling effects of consumer animosity: Consumers' willingness to buy foreign and hybrid products," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 184-192.
    4. Yi, Jisu & Lee, Youseok & Kim, Sang-Hoon, 2019. "Determinants of growth and decline in mobile game diffusion," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 363-372.
    5. Kalia, Prateek & Zia, Adil & Kaur, Kulvinder, 2023. "Social influence in online retail: A review and research agenda," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1034-1046.
    6. Mishra, Sita & Shukla, Yupal & Malhotra, Gunjan & Arora, Vibha, 2023. "Investigating the impact of consumers’ patriotism and ethnocentrism on purchase intention: Moderating role of consumer guilt and animosity," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(4).

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