Power and consumer behavior: How power shapes who and what consumers value

• Published in: Journal of consumer psychology Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 352 - 368
• Main Authors: Rucker, Derek D., Galinsky, Adam D., Dubois, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01-07-2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Agentic orientation; Architecture; Business administration; Cognition; Communal orientation; Consumer behaviour; Consumers; domain_shs.gestion.mark; Humanities and Social Sciences; Power; Psychologists; Research Review; Social hierarchy; Value; Value; Agentic orientation; Communal orientation; Power; Social hierarchy
• ISSN: 1057-7408; 1532-7663
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jcps.2011.06.001

The current paper reviews the concept of power and offers a new architecture for understanding how power guides and shapes consumer behavior. Specifically, we propose that having and lacking power respectively foster agentic and communal orientations that have a transformative impact on perception, cognition, and behavior. These orientations shape both who and what consumers value. New empirical evidence is presented that synthesizes these findings into a parsimonious account of how power alters consumer behavior as a function of both product attributes and recipients. Finally, we discuss future directions to motivate and guide the study of power by consumer psychologists.