TÜKETİCİLER NE ZAMAN SÜRÜYE KATILIR? TÜKETİCİ KARAR ALMA STİLLERİ, SOSYAL ETKİ VE ÜRÜN İLGİLENİMİNE İLİŞKİN BÜTÜNLEŞİK BİR MODEL

Abstract

Bu çalışma, tüketicilerin sürü davranışını ne zaman ve neden sergilediklerini, tüketici karar verme stilleri (CDMS) ile bilgiye dayalı ve normatif sosyal etki mekanizmalarını birlikte ele alarak incelemektedir. Ayrıca, giyim tüketiminde ürün ilgileniminin bu ilişkideki düzenleyici rolü araştırılmaktadır. Çalışma, Tüketici Stilleri Envanteri, Sosyal Etki Kuramı ve Detaylandırma Olasılık Modeli (ELM) çerçevesinde, tüketici karar verme stillerini faydacı ve hedonik yönelimler olarak ele almaktadır. Araştırma verileri, yakın dönemde giyim ürünü satın almış 305 tüketiciden Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) aracılığıyla toplanmış ve kısmi en küçük kareler yapısal eşitlik modellemesi (PLS-SEM) yöntemiyle analiz edilmiştir. Elde edilen bulgular hem faydacı hem de hedonik karar verme stillerinin bilgiye dayalı ve normatif sürü davranışı üzerinde anlamlı etkileri olduğunu göstermektedir. Faydacı stiller daha çok belirsizliği azaltmaya ve doğru bilgiye ulaşmaya yönelik bilgiye dayalı sürü davranışını etkilerken, hedonik stiller sosyal onay, kimlik ve trendlere uyum gibi unsurlar yoluyla normatif sürü davranışını daha güçlü biçimde etkilemektedir. Ayrıca, geleneksel ELM var-sayımlarının aksine, ürün ilgileniminin hedonik karar verme stillerinin normatif sürü davranışı üzerindeki etkisini güçlendirdiği görülmüştür. Bu sonuçlar, moda gibi sosyal görünürlüğü yüksek ürün kategorilerinde, ürün ilgileniminin sosyal etkilere duyarlılığı azaltmak yerine artırabileceğini göstermektedir. Çalışma, tüketici sürü davranışının anlaşılmasına yönelik önemli kuramsal ve yönetsel çıkarımlar sunmaktadır.

Keywords

• Tüketici Sürü Davranışı
• Tüketici Karar Verme Stilleri
• Ürün İlgilenimi
• Detaylandırma Olasılık Modeli
• Sosyal Etki

When Do Consumers Herd An Integrative Model of Consumer Decision-Making Styles, Social Influence, and Product Involvement

Abstract

This study investigates when and why consumers engage in herding behavior by integrating consumer decision-making styles (CDMS) with informational and normative social influence mechanisms, while examining the moderating role of product involvement in clothing consumption. Drawing on the Consumer Styles Inventory, Social Impact Theory, and the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM), the study conceptualizes CDMS as utilitarian (cognitive–functional) and hedonic (affective–symbolic) orientations that systematically shape consumers’ reliance on social cues. Survey data were collected via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk) from 305 consumers with recent clothing purchase experience and analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that both utilitarian and hedonic decision-making styles significantly predict informational and normative herding. Utilitarian styles exert a stronger influence on informational herding, reflecting accuracy-driven and uncertainty-reduction motives, whereas hedonic styles more strongly predict normative herding, highlighting the role of social approval, identity expression, and trend conformity. Contrary to traditional ELM assumptions, product involvement signifi-cantly strengthens the effect of hedonic decision-making styles on normative herding, indicating that highly involved consumers in symbolic categories become more sensitive to social norms rather than less. These findings extend herding and persuasion theories by showing that product involvement may strengthen, rather than weaken, socially driven conformity in fashion consumption. The study offers theoretical and managerial implications for understanding consumer herding in socially visible markets.

Keywords

• Consumer Herding Behavior
• Consumer Decision-Making Styles
• Product Involve-ment
• Elaboration Likelihood Model
• Social Influence

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