Identifiable but not identical: Combining social identity and uniqueness motives in choice
Cindy Chan, Jonah Berger and Leaf Van Boven asked how consumers reconcile a wish to identify with a social group and a wish to be unique. Their four studies show consumers pursuing assimilation and differentiation goals at the same time, on different dimensions of a single choice. People who want to signal a group identity conform to the group on attributes strongly tied to it, such as brand, especially in identity-relevant categories like clothing, while a stronger need for uniqueness leads them to pick less popular options within the range the group is associated with. The design examines comparisons both between and within groups, using choices that vary on several dimensions.
Cindy Chan, Jonah Berger and Leaf Van Boven asked how consumers reconcile a wish to identify with a social group and a wish to be unique. Their four studies show consumers pursuing assimilation and differentiation goals at the same time, on different dimensions of a single choice. People who want to signal a group identity conform to the group on attributes strongly tied to it, such as brand, especially in identity-relevant categories like clothing, while a stronger need for uniqueness leads them to pick less popular options within the range the group is associated with. The design examines comparisons both between and within groups, using choices that vary on several dimensions.
Written from the abstract as shown on the RePEc/EconPapers record, read 2026-10-28.
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Chan, C., Berger, J., & Van Boven, L. (2012). Identifiable but not identical: Combining social identity and uniqueness motives in choice. Journal of Consumer Research, 39(3), 561-573. doi:10.1086/664804 https://doi.org/10.1086/664804