When the Need for Affiliation Heightens Consumers’ Susceptibility to Persuasion Tactics

Two experiments tested whether social exclusion increases consumers’ susceptibility to advertising strategies that appeal to the need to belong. Socially excluded (vs. socially accepted) participants appeared to be more vulnerable to social proof tactics, arguably because those consumers were on the hunt for social connection. Indeed, tactics that did not connote social connection (e.g., expert endorsement) were moot. The present work reveals how one of humans’ most fundamental motivations, the need to affiliate, influences consumers’ vulnerability to marketing tactics, thereby contributing to a growing body of knowledge on social motivations driving consumer behavior.