The Effect Of Self-facial Similarity In Online Purchase Intention

Self-facial similarity refers to a certain degree of visual similarity between selfface and another’s face in terms of component information and overall shape,and it can induce stronger self-awareness.Previous studies suggested that individuals generally preferred and trusted self-similar peoples compared with self-dissimilar one out of implicit egotism and self-service motivations.With the rapid development of ecommerce,the influencing factors of online purchase intention come increasingly to become hot topic at present study.The preference of recommenders of product is an important factor affecting consumers’ intention to buy.However,so it remains unclear whether the similarity with the faces of recommenders and consumers will affect purchase intention of consumers.Previous study suggested that individuals preferred products recommended by the people who have higher professionalization compared with by the people who have lower professionalization.Meanwhile,the individuals of high narcissism have stronger self-awareness than ones of low narcissistic,which may affect self-face similarity.Therefore,we aimed to investigate whether online purchase intention of consumers with different levels’ narcissism divided into high and low groups through NPI,would be influenced by consumer’s facial similarity with recommender and professionalization of recommender.A 2(similarity: 50% self-similar vs.0% self-similar)× 2(professionalization: expert vs.netizen)× 2(narcissism group: upper narcissism group vs.lower narcissism group)mixed design was adopted in study 1.Similarity and professionalization as within-subject variables,and with narcissism as a between-subject variable.In the context of a health products advertising,participants were required to report their reliability score and purchase intention of the product after viewing a photo of a professional recommender(expert/netizen)and product information.The picture showed either a face morphed with novel face(0% similar)or a face morphed(50% similar)with the face of participant.Present studies suggested that participants generally liked the products introduced by recommenders who are 50% similar with themselves more than those introduced by recommenders who are 0% similar with themselves,as suggested by a significant main effect of similarity.Meanwhile,a significant main effect of professionalization was observed,with demonstrated individuals preferred to trust products recommended by experts compared with the ones recommended by netizen.An interaction of similarity × professionalization × narcissism was also observed.Further analysis showed that effect of similarity on the upper narcissism group is larger than on the lower narcissism group for both preference and purchase intention in expert condition,whereas this difference between both narcissism groups was not found in netizen condition.Moreover,the effect of similarity was greater in expert condition compared with netizen condition in the upper narcissism group.In contrast,this interaction wasn’t observed in the lower narcissism group.A 2(similarity: 50% self-similar vs.0% self-similar)× 2(social status: upper vs.lower)× 2(narcissism group: upper narcissism group vs.lower narcissism group)mixed design was adopted in study 2.Similarity and social status as within-subject variables,and with narcissism as a between-subject variable.We ranked the recommenders and the participants according to the health knowledge contest.The status of recommenders is either upper or lower than the participants.Present studies suggested that participants generally liked the products introduced by recommenders who are 50% similar with themselves more than those introduced by recommenders who are 0% similar with themselves,as suggested by a significant main effect of similarity.Meanwhile,a significant main effect of social status was observed,which indicated individuals preferred products recommended by upper social status recommenders compared with the ones recommended by lower social status.Meanwhile,an interaction of similarity × status × narcissism was also observed.Further analysis showed compared with the upper narcissism group,the lower narcissism group preferred products recommended by upper status recommenders similar with themselves,but hated products recommended by upper status recommenders with selfsimilar to themselves.The possible reason is that the similarity of self-faces brings a strong effect of selfreference to the individual.Individuals prefer products recommended by highly similar recommenders out ofc implicit egotism and self-service motivation.Especially,upper narcissists pay more attention to self-related social status and self-reference effect than lower narcissists for prove the positive self,which leads to higher implicit egotism when upper narcissists face recommenders of different social status.The present results prove the important role of self-awareness in the purchase process,which provides a new way for the study of consumer motivation and even persuasion effect.