Interesting Results
Public versus Private Buying Decisions
People make different choices depending on whether or not others are able to observe their choice. The Journal of Consumer Research published an article1 on a series of experiments that showed that people incorporate greater variety in their selections if other people are able to observe their choices than if no one else will know what they choose. The authors speculate that this is due to a desire to appear more interesting to others. Participants in the experiments were asked to rate how favorably others would perceive their selection, and these ratings were positively correlated with the amount of variety in the selection. These perceptions appear to be accurate. The authors also found that people who choose greater variety are perceived by others as more exciting, fun, open-minded, well-rounded, and flexible.
1 Ratner, Rebecca and Barbara Kahn (2002), “The Impact of Public versus Private Consumption on Variety-Seeking Behavior”, Journal of Consumer Research, 29(2), 246-257.