Are We All Equal in the Face of Social Comparison? The Moderating Role of Consumer Values: A Structured Abstract

Abstract

Magazines and advertisements depicting ideal bodies are inescapable today. The way consumers compare themselves with these images may lead to negative consequences, such as low self-esteem (Ferreira, Gouveia, and Duarte 2013) and eating disorders (Corning et al. 2006). However, some consumers compare themselves with this “ideal” beauty more often than others (Gibbons and Buunk 1999). For example, Buunk and Dijkstra (2011) show that gender affects the frequency with which people engage in social comparison, with women comparing themselves more often than men. Extant research also focuses on personality traits to explain differences in the frequency with which consumers compare themselves with others (Schneider and Schupp 2014). For example, neuroticism seems to be a potential antecedent of social comparison frequency (Van der Zee et al. 1998). Beyond personality traits, this chapter proposes and demonstrates that personal values can explain the frequency with which consumers engage in social comparison. Through three studies, we show that people with a strong need for power and achievement—two personal values associated with the quest for social status, success, prestige, and control (Schwartz 2012)—compare themselves more often than those with little need for these values do. We also show that power and achievement values not only affect the frequency with which consumers engage in comparison, but also increase the intensity of the consequences of social comparison. Marketers and public authorities can use need for power and achievement minimization to decrease the impact of unhealthy social comparisons while retaining the positive marketing results associated with exposition to such advertising.