Effect Of Global Social Identity On Consumers’ Financial Risk Taking

Globalization is influencing every part of the world and,as a result,an increasing number of consumers now exhibit characteristics of global identities,which in turn influence their judgments and decisions.Globalization has also boosted the economic development around the world,thus significantly increasing the level of people’s income.As a result,consumers’ financial management needs are gradually increasing.Therefore,the present study would explore the effect of global social identity,as a starting point,on consumers’ financial risk taking.Across 3 studies,this research illustrates how regulatory focus mediates the effect of global social identity on consumers’ financial risk taking.Through questionnaire,study 1 showed that consumers with an accessible global identity(vs local social identity)will be more risk taking in their financial choices.The local-global social identity was manipulated in study 2 which examined the result of study 1 again and tested the mediation of regulatory focus.This experiment indicated that individuals whose global social identities(vs local social identities)were activated were more accessible tend to be in promotion focusing guidance,which in turn cause them to be more financial risk-seeking.Based on study 1 and study 2,study 3 demonstrated that consumers were more persuaded by the financial products which coincide with the identity appeal of the advertisement.Specifically,consumers were more persuaded when the low-risk financial product coincide with local identity appeal(vs.global social identity appeal)of an ad.And consumers were more persuaded when the high-risk financial product coincide with global identity appeal(vs.local social identity appeal)of an ad.The current research reveals the mechanism of the influence of the global social identity on the financial risk taking.Though this research,we make significant contributions to the literature and marketing practice.First,the study extends the outcome variable of local-global social identity to the financial risk taking,which enrich the theoretical research in relevant area.It can effectively guide the managers to suit their measures to the degree of their target customers’ global identity.Second,this research extends understanding of financial risk taking by identifying regulatory focus as the mediator.This study can guide marketers to activate consumers’ temporary local or global social identity and then promote financial products according to their regulatory focus.