Are self-confident consumers more or less relationship prone? Evidence from two research contexts
(R2021-104359)

AUTHORS

Ksenia Golovacheva, Saint Petersburg State University, Graduate School of Management; Maria Smirnova, Saint Petersburg State University, Graduate School of Management

KEYWORDS

consumer relationship proneness; consumer self-confidence; behavioral loyalty

ABSTRACT

Building long-term consumer-brand relationships continues to be one of the main challenges for business. Notwithstanding business efforts, consumers have different predispositions towards staying loyal. However, the individual difference antecdedents of relationship proneness are not well understood in the extant literature. The current study explores the role of consumer self-confidence dimensions as antecedents of relationship proneness. Two studies in different consumption settings have been conducted to test the role of three consumer confidence types in shaping relationship proneness. The results indicate a systematic pattern of influence of information acquisition confidence and marketplace interaction confidence on consumers’ tendency to stay loyal; as well as confirm the positive role of relationship proneness in stimulating longer relationships with business and decreasing the number of brands used.

REFERENCES

This work was supported by the Saint Petersburg State University [grant number 48953055].