The Curse of Similarity: When and How Similarity Induces Persuasion Reactance

Salesperson-customer similarity can positively or negatively affect persuasiveness. Consumers more likely to take a recommendation from a dissimilar (vs. similar) salesperson when purchasing a familiar product, but the reverse is true when purchasing an unfamiliar product. Four experiments and secondary data confirm these opposing effects.



Citation:

Suntong QI, Xianchi Dai, Man Ching Canice Kwan, and Robert S. Wyer (2021) ,"The Curse of Similarity: When and How Similarity Induces Persuasion Reactance", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 49, eds. Tonya Williams Bradford, Anat Keinan, and Matthew Matthew Thomson, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 273-274.

Authors

Suntong QI, The Chinese university of Hong Kong
Xianchi Dai, The Chinese university of Hong Kong
Man Ching Canice Kwan, The Open University of Hong Kong
Robert S. Wyer, University of Cincinnati



Volume

NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 49 | 2021



Share Proceeding

Featured papers

See More

Featured

Compatibility Theory

Ioannis Evangelidis, Bocconi University, Italy
Stijn M. J. van Osselaer, Cornell University, USA

Read More

Featured

How Eyes Pull on the Heartstrings: Averted Eye Gaze Enhances Narrative Transportation and Self-Brand Connection

Ngoc To, University of Houston, USA
Vanessa Patrick, University of Houston, USA

Read More

Featured

Cohesion or Coercion? Why Coordinated Behavior Backfires in Marketing Contexts

Noah VanBergen, University of Cincinnati, USA

Read More

Engage with Us

Becoming an Association for Consumer Research member is simple. Membership in ACR is relatively inexpensive, but brings significant benefits to its members.