Tell Me What You Drink, I’ll Tell You Who You Are: Status and Fashion Effects on Consumer Conformity

ABSTRACT Consumers follow other consumers in the pursuit of social dividends through consumption, to fit in with aspiration groups, and to belong in the group. These are conformity phenomena which is the cognitive process where an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and actions are affected by other people. This study investigates the influence of fashion and status in creating consumer conformity. Two experiments and subsequent logistic regression analyses were carried out with craft beer as an empirical field. The results show that: fashion influences consumption conformity but status is partially supported. In both, the results point to a relevant and non-trivial effect on the choice of the treatment variable. The study expands the evidence of consumption conformity and the practical applicability of the conformity stimulus to create waves of consumption, with aggregation and understanding of the formation of the craft beer consumer market.