Self-control Or Indulgence?The Impact Of Social Comparison On Consumer Behavior

In the past 20 years,Chinese society has ushered in unprecedented rapid development,but it has also brought about some “development problems”,such as social differentiation,the excessive gap between the rich and the poor;Moreover,the changes in social media and advertising methods(such as the emergence of the “squint chain”)have amplified this gap,and a large number of companies are trying to exploit consumers' anxiety by setting idealized models in advertising,thus stimulating consumers to improve themselves.But in the context of class solidification and the popularity of " Buddhist-style",does this kind of artificial comparison discrepancy really have a positive impact?Most of the previous studies have viewed the impact of social comparison on consumer behavior from either negative or positive perspective.To a certain extent,it's one-sidedness and lack direct evidence of its impact on consumer self-control behavior.Therefore,based on social comparison theory and self-regulation theory,the current research takes goal-focus as the breakthrough to explore the influence of comparison discrepancy on consumers' self-control behavior.And through the design of empirical research,we explore the influence of social comparison on consumers' self-control behavior under different goal-focus in study 1;And then we use two different dependent variable measurement methods,conducting two studies to explores the mediation mechanism of this effect in study 2;Finally,we explore the moderation effect of self-acceptance,and further validates the entire research model to enhance the reliability of the study in study 3.Through data analysis,the following conclusions can be drawn:(1)The way of goal-focus will affect the effect of the comparison object on the consumer's self-control behavior;In the case of process-focus,consumers who compare with superior others show a higher willingness to selfcontrol;The opposite effect shows in the case of results-focus;(2)Self-efficacy plays a mediating role in this effect;(3)Self-acceptance plays a moderation role in this effect;More specifically,in the case of high self-acceptance level,the interaction effect of social comparison and goal-focus is no longer significant.No matter which way ofgoal-focus is token,comparison discrepancy would significantly improve consumers' self-control tendency.The conclusion of this research proves that using different ways to perceive comparison objects will have different effects on consumers' self-control behavior.This research integrates the positive and negative effects of social comparison,enriching the existing research results,and providing a way to weaken the social comparison threats,helping consumers maintain a positive mental health state and activity level,and providing reasonable and feasible strategies for companies to better use social comparison as marketing methods.