How Your Motives Affect My Consumption: Inferences about Sharer Motives Influence What Viewers Expect from Similar Experiences

When a consumer (a recommender) recommends a product to another consumer (a recommendee), it is not uncommon to learn whether the recommendee chose the recommended option (i.e., accepted the recommendation) or a different option (i.e., rejected the recommendation). Our research examines how rejected recommendations affect recommenders’ subsequent intentions toward the originally recommended product. We find that upon learning one's recommendation was rejected, recommenders are less likely to repurchase or choose the product in the future. This negative effect emerges because recommenders question their knowledge about the recommended product (i.e., self-perceived expertise is reduced). Such questioning is more likely to occur when the recommendee is a close other and less likely to occur when the recommended product is perceived to primarily differ from alternatives due to subjective preferences (i.e., horizontal differentiation is salient). Importantly, this rejected recommendation effect is shown to be distinct from a social proof account. The current research contributes to WOM theory by identifying a novel outcome of recommendation interactions—rejected recommendations—and by demonstrating that this outcome can cause consumers to shift away from a product despite having felt positively enough about the product to recommend it to others.

When consumers share about their consumption experiences, they often receive feedback or attention from others. While prior research has considered consumer responses to positive (i.e., affirming) feedback, the present research considers how consumers respond to feedback that is nondiagnostic of the viewers’ attitudes (i.e., unvalenced attention). Specifically, we demonstrate that consumers derive value from receiving unvalenced attention because this attention is interpreted by sharers as a positive signal regarding their status, boosting their social self-esteem. This enhanced social self-esteem in turn leads sharers to recall their shared experiences more positively and increases retrospective satisfaction. By demonstrating the value that consumers derive from mere, unvalenced attention, we reveal a novel means of increasing satisfaction with experiences after they are consumed and highlight the importance of consumer-to-consumer attention exchange for marketers.