Social-Class Differences in Consumer Choices: Working-Class Individuals Are More Sensitive to Choices of Others Than Middle-Class Individuals

The present research shows that,when making choices,working-class americans are more affected by others’ opinions than middle-class americans due to differences in independent versus interdependent self-construal. experiment 1 revealed that when working-class americans made decisions to buy products,they were more influenced by the choices of others than middle-class americans. in contrast,middle-class americans were more likely to misremember others’ choices to be consistent with their own choices. in other words,working-class americans adjusted their choices to the preference of others,whereas middle-class americans distorted others’ preferences to fit their choices. supporting our prediction that this social-class effect is closely linked to the independent versus interdependent self-construal,we showed that the differences in self-construal across cultures qualified the social-class effects on choices (experiment 2). moreover,when we experimentally manipulated self-construal in experiment 3,we found that it mediated the corresponding changes in choices regardless of social class. © 2016,2016 by the society for personality and social psychology,inc.