The Research On The Consumer Propensity To Observe And Its Influence Factors

Consumer behavior occur everyday, such as going to the store, shopping on line and eating breakfast at home. Everyone is a consumer and has to face numerous consumer decision-making everyday. On the other hand, there are so many brands and types of goods in the market, and the features of products become more complex. While the consumer's cognitive abilities and the time, ability and motivation for searching information is limited, even facing the risk of purchasing decisions. In a complex brand environment consumers often want to develop simplifying decision heuristics, such as observing behavior of other consumers, to help them make economic, speedy and accurate decision-making and reduce purchase risk.Although researchers have studied reference groups from various perspectives, very little research has studied consumers'propensity to observe. Simpson, Siguaw and Cadogan(2006) first develop a measure of the consumer propensity to observe, and in their research the concept of consumers'propensity to observe is defined explicitly. From studying reference group to consumers'propensity to observe, provides a new perspective for consumer behavior research. Simpson et al.'s research is an experimental exploration and the research findings should be further verified by others. In this study we introduce the model, and will verify its applicability in the context of Chinese culture, then the findings for comparative analysis with Simpson et al.'s. Finally, according to Chinese cultural characteristics, the model could be modified and be used to study of Chinese consumers'propensity to observe.The model is tested on a sample of Chinese consumers. In this study, we collected 338 questionnaires, via simply sampling and snowball sampling in the form of E-mail and leaflet. And then, the all the hypotheses were tested via the SEM, basing on this datum.Compare hypothesis results of this study with the findings of Simpson et al.. The main conclusions drawn are as follows:1. Risk aversion has an important indirect effect on Chinese consumers'propensity to observe, but no directly effects, which conclusions are the same as study of Western consumers.2. Need for cognitive has neither a direct impact on Chinese consumers'propensity to observe, nor indirect effects, which conclusions are the same as study of Western consumers. 3. Perceived brand choice overload has a significant direct impact on Chinese consumers'propensity to observe, which conclusions are the same as study of Western consumers.4. Consumer self-confidence has neither a direct impact on Chinese consumers'propensity to observe, nor indirect effects, which conclusions have a significant difference from study of Western consumers because of Chinese unique cultural background and collectivist social culture.5. Propensity to conform has a significant direct impact on Chinese consumers'propensity to observe, which conclusions are the same as study of Western consumers.The findings about different consumer behaviors between the Chinese and the West illustrate the differences between Chinese and Western cultures.Finally, the model is modified according to research findings and adapt to Chinese cultural background, which have referential significance for retailers and enterprises. Retailers can take advantage of Chinese consumers'propensity to observe to understand psychology and purchase motivation of consumers better. Then they can take measures to promote product sales, and find a more positive and effective way to solve problems arisen from the lack of consumer confidence and sluggish market environment.