SOCIAL INFLUENCE ON CONSUMERS ’ PURCHASING BEHAVIOR AND RELATED MARKETING STRATEGY-- A CROSS – NATION COMPARATIVE STUDY

This paper describes an empirical study investigating the difference of reference group influences on consumer behavior in cell phone purchasing decisions between the cell phone users in the U.S. and China. Specifically, three types of reference group influence (informational influence, utilitarian influence, and value-expressive influence) are examined in this study. The data for this study are collected from a web-based questionnaire survey with over 200 participants in each country. The preliminary results indicate that there are significant differences in the cell phone consumer purchasing patterns in terms of those social reference group influences, due to differences in some fundamental cultural and social traditions between the U.S. and China. Based on the results of this study, managerial insights and practical implications for marketing strategies in the cell phone market are recommended accordingly