Consumer arrogance and word-of-mouth

We investigate the widespread yet under-researched social phenomenon of consumer arrogance—the propensity to broadcast one’s superiority over others in the consumption domain. Building on the theory of positive illusions, we examine how and under what conditions triggering people’s consumer arrogance prompts their positive and negative word-of-mouth communication. In a pilot study and five experiments, we establish that triggering people’s sense of consumer arrogance will increase their word-of-mouth inclinations and behaviors. We show that triggering consumers’ sense of arrogance will result in a greater propensity for word-of-mouth communication than triggering their sense of superiority or desire to brag independently. While most consumers engage in positive word-of-mouth, consumer arrogance fuels both positive and negative word-of-mouth communication. Furthermore, whereas the former stems from self-enhancement needs, negative word-of-mouth communication arises from the needs for both self-affirmation and self-enhancement, especially in a social context. Overall, the results highlight the uniqueness and strategic potential of consumer arrogance as a social phenomenon.