• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.17 no.8
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• pp.422-434
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• 2017

The influence of information on other's preference on one's attitude formation can vary with consumer's uniqueness motive and product attributes. When high-CNFU individuals are given the information on the preference of others toward an experience attribute, the uniqueness aspect of their self-identity is aroused. As conforming to others' preference causes concern that their uniqueness-related self-esteem is threatened, they contrast away from the majority. On the other hand, they form their attitude toward search attributes regardless of the preference of others. In contrast, for low-CNFU individuals, knowing the majority's choice of experience attributes does not arouse the uniqueness aspect of their self-identity and not threaten their self-esteem. Thus, they tend to conform to the majority regardless of the type of product attributes. This study suggests whether or not the attribute signals the identity of a person as another criterion that distinguishes experience and search attributes. The results imply that when targeting a consumer with a strong desire for uniqueness, it would be more effective for a company to develop features that are not popular.