Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Dining alone? Solo consumers’ self-esteem and incidental similarity

Dining alone? Solo consumers’ self-esteem and incidental similarity Though social trends are driving consumers toward solo consumption of various services, many are reluctant to do so. There is little guidance for service providers as to how to effectively induce solo consumption. This study aims to examine the joint effect of self-esteem and an incidental similarity cue (e.g. a person’s initials) on anticipated satisfaction with with a solo consumption experience to fill this gap.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a two-factor (incidental similarity cue and self-esteem) quasi-experimental design to test the hypotheses. The respondents read a scenario depicting a solo service consumption experience and completed scales that measured perceived fit with the service context and anticipated satisfaction with the experience.FindingsResults indicate that, in the absence of an incidental similarity cue, self-esteem has a positive effect on solo consumers’ perceived fit. In the presence of such a cue, however, self-esteem has a minimal impact on perceived fit. Furthermore, perceived fit mediates the effect of self-esteem on anticipated satisfaction when the cue is absent.Originality/valueThe authors’ findings suggest that promoting incidental similarities with consumers may not be an efficient strategy to attract solo consumers. Conversely, service providers wishing to induce solo consumption may benefit from situationally increasing self-esteem among potential solo consumers. The current research advances the authors’ understanding of the effect of an incidental similarity cue and self-esteem in the context of a growing social trend of solo consumption. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Services Marketing Emerald Publishing

Dining alone? Solo consumers’ self-esteem and incidental similarity

Download PDF
10 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/dining-alone-solo-consumers-self-esteem-and-incidental-similarity-sZ0uFk1gFB
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
© Emerald Publishing Limited
ISSN
0887-6045
DOI
10.1108/jsm-06-2017-0213
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Though social trends are driving consumers toward solo consumption of various services, many are reluctant to do so. There is little guidance for service providers as to how to effectively induce solo consumption. This study aims to examine the joint effect of self-esteem and an incidental similarity cue (e.g. a person’s initials) on anticipated satisfaction with with a solo consumption experience to fill this gap.Design/methodology/approachThis study used a two-factor (incidental similarity cue and self-esteem) quasi-experimental design to test the hypotheses. The respondents read a scenario depicting a solo service consumption experience and completed scales that measured perceived fit with the service context and anticipated satisfaction with the experience.FindingsResults indicate that, in the absence of an incidental similarity cue, self-esteem has a positive effect on solo consumers’ perceived fit. In the presence of such a cue, however, self-esteem has a minimal impact on perceived fit. Furthermore, perceived fit mediates the effect of self-esteem on anticipated satisfaction when the cue is absent.Originality/valueThe authors’ findings suggest that promoting incidental similarities with consumers may not be an efficient strategy to attract solo consumers. Conversely, service providers wishing to induce solo consumption may benefit from situationally increasing self-esteem among potential solo consumers. The current research advances the authors’ understanding of the effect of an incidental similarity cue and self-esteem in the context of a growing social trend of solo consumption.

Journal

Journal of Services Marketing – Emerald Publishing

Published: Nov 5, 2018

Keywords: Self-esteem; Incidental similarity; Solo dining; Solo service consumption

References

  • Inequity in social exchange
    Adams, J.S.
  • Increasing implicit self-esteem through classical conditioning
    Baccus, J.R.; Baldwin, M.W.; Packer, D.J.
  • The need to belong: desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation
    Baumeister, R.F.; Leary, M.R.
  • Does high self-esteem cause better performance, interpersonal success, happiness, or healthier lifestyles?
    Baumeister, R.F.; Campbell, J.D.; Krueger, J.I.; Vohs, K.D.
  • Hate dining solo? Site offers a solution
    Becker, J.
  • The predictive validity of multiple-item vs single-item measures of the same constructs
    Bergkvist, L.; Rossiter, J.R.
  • A neurophysiological assessment of consumers’ emotional responses to service recovery behaviors: the impact of ethnic group and gender similarity
    Boshoff, C.
  • The locus of choice: personal causality and satisfaction with hedonic and utilitarian decisions
    Botti, S.; McGill, A.L.
  • Examining ethnic identity and self-esteem among biracial and monoracial adolescents
    Bracey, J.R.; Bamaca, M.Y.; Umana-Taylor, A.J.
  • Name letter branding: valence transfers when product specific needs are active
    Brendl, C.M.; Chattopadhyay, A.; Pelham, B.W.; Carvallo, M.
  • Self-esteem and direct versus indirect forms of self-enhancement
    Brown, J.D.; Collins, R.L.; Schmidt, G.W.
  • Amazon’s mechanical Turk: a new source of inexpensive, yet high-quality, data?
    Buhrmester, M.; Kwang, T.; Gosling, S.D.
  • Singles eat out more: the economics daily
  • What a coincidence! The effects of incidental similarity on compliance
    Burger, J.M.; Messian, N.; Patel, S.; del Prado, A.; Anderson, C.
  • Person–organization fit, job choice decisions, and organizational entry
    Cable, D.M.; Judge, T.A.
  • Why does dissimilarity matter? Exploring self-categorization, self-enhancement, and uncertainty reduction
    Chattopadhyay, P.; George, E.; Lawrence, S.A.
  • The effect of social exclusion on consumer preference for anthropomorphized brands
    Chen, R.P.; Wan, E.W.; Levy, E.
  • Opinion divergence as a strategy to avoid being miscast
    Cooper, J.; Jones, E.E.
  • Name-letters and birthday-numbers: implicit egotism effects in pricing
    Coulter, K.S.; Grewal, D.
  • A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality
    Deci, E.; Ryan, R.; Dienstbier, R.
  • I like myself but I don’t know why: enhancing implicit self-esteem by subliminal evaluative conditioning
    Dijksterhuis, A.
  • Is there anything more pathetic than a table for one?
    Doucette, E.
  • Reliability and validity of a single-item measure of job satisfaction
    Dolbier, C.L.; Webster, J.A.; McCalister, K.T.; Mallon, M.W.; Steinhardt, M.A.
  • Testing a multidimensional theory of person-environment fit
    Edwards, J.A.; Billsberry, J.
  • Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion
    Eisenberger, N.I.
  • On the persuasiveness of similar others: the role of mentalizing and the feeling of certainty
    Faraji-Rad, A.; Samuelsen, B.M.; Warlop, L.
  • The most American thing there is: eating alone
    Ferdman, R.A.
  • Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die: effects of mortality salience and self‐esteem on self‐regulation in consumer choice
    Ferraro, R.; Shiv, B.; Bettman, J.R.
  • Another indirect tactic of (self-) image management: boosting
    Finch, J.F.; Cialdini, R.B.
  • Solo nation: American consumers stay single
  • Narcissistic illusions in self-evaluations of intelligence and attractiveness
    Gabriel, M.T.; Critelli, J.W.; Ee, J.S.
  • Classroom belonging among early adolescent students: relationships to motivation and achievement
    Goodenow, C.
  • The totalitarian ego: fabrication and revision of personal history
    Greenwald, A.G.
  • Terror management theory and self-esteem: evidence that increased self-esteem reduced mortality salience effects
    Harmon-Jones, E.; Simon, L.; Greenberg, J.; Pyszczynski, T.; Solomon, S.; McGregor, H.
  • Negative consequences of dichotomizing continuous predictor variables
    Irwin, J.R.; McClelland, G.H.
  • The persuasive role of incidental similarity on attitudes and purchase intentions in a sales context
    Jiang, L.; Hoegg, J.; Dahl, D.W.; Chattopadhyay, A.
  • How do I love thee? Let me count the Js: implicit egotism and interpersonal attraction
    Jones, J.T.; Pelham, B.W.; Carvallo, M.; Mirenberg, M.C.
  • Buyer beware of your shadow: how price moderates the effect of incidental similarity on buyer behavior
    Kachersky, L.; Sen, S.; Kim, H.M.; Carnevale, M.
  • The idiosyncratic fit heuristic: effort advantage as a determinant of consumer response to loyalty programs
    Kivetz, R.; Simonson, I.
  • Age differences in mobile service perceptions: comparison of generation Y and baby boomers
    Kumar, A.; Lim, H.
  • Eating alone by design: an entire restaurant with tables for one
    Lanks, B.
  • Self-esteem as an interpersonal monitor: the sociometer hypothesis
    Leary, M.R.; Tambor, E.S.; Terdal, S.K.; Downs, D.L.
  • Does perceived consumer fit matter in corporate social responsibility issues?
    Lee, E.M.; Park, S.Y.; Rapert, M.I.; Newman, C.L.
  • Eating alone? The new American diner flies solo
    Little, K.
  • Person-organization fit, job satisfaction, and turnover intention: an empirical study in the chinese public sector
    Liu, B.; Liu, J.; Hu, J.
  • The drivers of loyalty program success: an organizing framework and research agenda
    McCall, M.; Voorhees, C.
  • Dining alone has never been easier
    McDonald-Gibson, C.
  • Social isolation in America: changes in core discussion networks over two decades
    McPherson, M.; Smith-Lovin, L.; Brashears, M.E.
  • Bivariate median splits and spurious statistical significance
    Maxwell, S.E.; Delaney, H.D.
  • Social exclusion causes people to spend and consume strategically in the service of affiliation
    Mead, N.L.; Baumeister, R.F.; Stillman, T.F.; Rawn, C.D.; Vohs, K.D.
  • Alone but together, autonomous but related: self-construal effects on happiness in social experiences
    Merdin-Uygur, E.; Hesapci, O.
  • Minimal conditions for the creation of a unit relationship: the social bond between birthdaymates
    Miller, D.T.; Downs, J.S.; Prentice, D.A.
  • Why eating out alone doesn’t have to be lonely
    Neimark, J.
  • Personality moderators of reactions to interpersonal rejection: depression and trait self-esteem
    Nezlek, J.B.; Kowalski, R.M.; Leary, M.R.; Blevins, T.; Holgate, S.
  • Open table study reveals rise in solo dining
  • Implicit egotism
    Pelham, B.W.; Carvallo, M.; Jones, J.T.
  • Why Susie sells seashells by the seashore: implicit egotism and major life decisions
    Pelham, B.W.; Mirenberg, M.C.; Jones, J.T.
  • Assessing the validity of implicit egotism: a reply to gallucci (2003)
    Pelham, B.W.; Carvallo, M.; DeHart, T.; Jones, J.T.
  • Inhibited from bowling alone
    Ratner, R.K.; Hamilton, R.W.
  • The C-OAR-SE procedure for scale development in marketing
    Rossiter, J.R.
  • To belong or to self-enhance? Motivational bases for choosing interaction partners
    Rudich, E.A.; Vallacher, R.R.
  • Most Americans are single, and they’re changing the economy
    Schrager, A.
  • Gender and age as moderators in the service evaluation process
    Sharma, P.; Chen, I.S.N.; Luk, S.T.K.
  • The impact of organizational culture and person‐organization fit on organizational commitment and job satisfaction in Taiwan
    Silverthorne, C.
  • Spotlights, floodlights, and the magic number zero: simple effects tests in moderated regression
    Spiller, S.A.; Fitzsimons, G.J.; Lynch, J.G.; McClelland, G.H.
  • Illusion and well-being: a social psychological perspective on mental health
    Taylor, S.E.; Brown, J.D.
  • Hartman eating occasions compass: food & beverage analytics
  • A question of belonging: race, social fit, and achievement
    Walton, G.M.; Cohen, G.L.
  • Masked affective priming by name letters: evidence for a correspondence of explicit and implicit self-esteem
    Wentura, D.; Kulfanek, M.; Greve, W.
  • A recipe for friendship: similar food consumption promotes trust and cooperation
    Woolley, K.; Fishbach, A.
  • Consumer perceptions of price, quality, and value: a means-end model and synthesis of evidence
    Zeithaml, V.A.
  • Online reviews: the impact of power and incidental similarity
    Zhang, L.
  • Online reviews: the role of information load and peripheral factors
    Zhang, L.; Wu, L.; Mattila, A.S.
  • Do we really need multiple-item measures in service research?
    Drolet, A.L.; Morrison, D.G.
  • The relationships of customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, and profitability: an empirical study
    Hallowell, R.
  • Business-unit-level relationship between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: a meta-analysis
    Harter, J.K.; Schmidt, F.L.; Hayes, T.L.
  • Tourists’ satisfaction, recommendation and revisiting Singapore
    Hui, T.K.; Wan, D.; Ho, A.
  • Name letter preferences are not merely mere exposure: implicit egotism as self-regulation
    Jones, J.T.; Pelham, B.W.; Mirenberg, M.C.; Hetts, J.J.
  • Gender differences in self-esteem: a meta-analysis
    Kling, K.C.; Hyde, J.S.; Showers, C.J.; Buswell, B.N.
  • Self-esteem and the intersection of age, class, and gender
    McMullin, J.A.; Cairney, J.
  • Narcissism beyond Gestalt and awareness: the name letter effect
    Nuttin, J.M.
  • Affective consequences of mere ownership: the name letter effect in twelve European languages
    Nuttin, J.M.
  • Good and guilt-free: the role of self-accountability in influencing preferences for products with ethical attributes
    Peloza, J.; White, K.; Shang, J.
  • Seriously, why are we so scared of going to the cinema alone?
    Scott, E.
  • An examination of the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction, and store loyalty
    Sivadas, E.; Baker‐Prewitt, J.L.
  • Relationship between measures of service quality and satisfaction of spectators in professional sports
    Theodorakis, N.; Kambitsis, C.; Laios, A.
  • The impact of value congruence on consumer-service Brand relationships
    Zhang, J.; Bloemer, J.M.