Compliance with a Request in Two Cultures: The Differential Influence of Social Proof and Commitment/Consistency on Collectivists and Individualists
Abstract
University students in Poland and the United States, two countries that differ in individualistic-collectivistic orientation, indicated their willingness to comply with a request to participate without pay in a marketing survey. Half were asked to do so after considering information regarding their own history of compliance with such requests, whereas the other half were asked to do so after considering information regarding their peers’ history of such compliance. This was designed to assess the impact of two social influence principles (commitment/consistency and social proof, respectively) on participants’ decisions. As expected, although both principles were influential across cultures, the commitment/consistency principle had greater impact on Americans, whereas the social proof principle had greater impact on Poles. Additional analyses indicated that this effect was due principally, but not entirely, to participants’ personal individualistic-collectivistic orientations rather than to the dominant individualistic-collectivistic orientation of their cultures.
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In the context of mortality salience, where social connections are threatened, anthropomorphic products become vital channels for re-establishing social ties and a sense of belonging.
“In the context of mortality salience, where social connections are threatened, anthropomorphic products become vital channels for re-establishing social ties and a sense of belonging [30].”
From Anthropomorphic Design in Mortality Salience Situations: Exploring Emotional and Non-Emotional Mechanisms Enhancing Consumer Purchase Intentions (2024) · cites this paper as [30]
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- Authors
- Cialdini, R. B., Wosinska, W., Barrett, D. W., Butner, J., & Gornik-Durose, M.
- Affiliations
- Arizona State University (US)
- University of Silesia, Poland
- Corresponding author
- Cialdini, Robert B.
- Venue
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 1999-10
- Volume
- 25
- Issue
- 10
- Pages
- 1242-1253
- ISSN
- 0146-1672 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-7433
- OpenAlex
- W1971119872
- Cited by
- 458
- References
- 6
- Citations by year
- 2026: 21 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 89 · 2023: 26 · 2022: 34 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 23 · 2017: 27 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 20 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 14 · 2012: 12
- FWCI
- 20.37
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Psychology of Social Influence
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Cultural Differences and Values
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Social and Intergroup Psychology
- Keywords
- compliance, social influence, social validation, individualism-collectivism, cross-cultural comparison, cultural orientation, peer influence, Poland, United States
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