Title	Hiding in the crowd : why and when secrecy spurs consumer conformity
Authors	He, Dongjin
Advisors	Jiang, Yuwei Gorn, Gerald
Degree	Ph.D.
Issue Date	2018
Absctract	This research investigates how the experience of secrecy affects consumers’ consumption behavior. It is hypothesized that the experience of secrecy will increase consumers’ tendency to seek social conformity in their consumption, and this effect will be driven by the motivation to avoid social attention during secret-keeping. Furthermore, this effect is predicted to be moderated by consumers’ perceived self-control capacity, the usage occasion (public vs. private), and the user of the product (self vs. others). Five studies are planned to test these hypotheses.
Subjects	Consumer behavior
Award	2017-18 SCP Dissertation Proposal Competition (Honorable Mention)
Publisher	Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Rights	All rights reserved.