The effects of political ideology and brand familiarity on conspicuous consumption of fashion products

Abstract

ABSTRACT From the lens of conspicuous consumption, this research examines the interactive effect of brand logo size and political ideology on consumers’ intentions toward fashion products. Specifically, in a series of four studies, we address how consumer political ideology influences intentions toward items displaying smaller, inconspicuous logos versus larger, conspicuous logos for unfamiliar and familiar brands. We show that liberal consumers are more likely to prefer a large (rather than small) logo when a brand is unfamiliar. We suggest that liberals’ greater desire for product uniqueness elevates their risk propensity, which in turn increases preference for conspicuous consumption when familiarity with a brand is low. We show that this effect occurs only for unfamiliar brands; when brand familiarity is high (i.e. a popular or well-known brand), consumer political ideology reverses consumer preference for conspicuous consumption, replicating prior work. Our results suggest that, by manipulating their logo size, new brands may effectively target consumers based on their political ideology.