In today’s technologically connected world, people learn about others’ purchase decisions on social media and review sites, as well as through direct observation. These decisions are perceived as either a choice or a rejection, explain HKUST’s Sang Kyu Park and co-researchers, who ask a critical question: “Does the mere perception of another’s decision as a choice versus as a rejection influence our own behavior?”

Marketers, sales professionals, and social influencers are constantly looking for ways to influence customers’ purchasing decisions. However, research to date has primarily focused on how customers’ own decisions affect their decision-making processes and outcomes, neglecting the influence of other people’s perceived choice or rejection on customers’ purchasing decisions.

To fill this important gap, the researchers examine “the social influence of decision frames” across eight studies involving more than 5,000 participants, including a field study during a livestreaming event hosted by an influencer with over 1.5 million followers. “We propose that rejections are more contagious than choices,” the authors say. “In other words, consumers are more likely to conform to another’s decision if they perceive it as a rejection than if they perceive it as a choice.”

Their findings confirm this hypothesis. “Merely perceiving another’s decision as a choice or rejection,” say the researchers, “can affect consumer choice.” They also shed light on the mechanism underlying this effect, noting that “people are more likely to attribute others’ rejection decisions, relative to equivalent choice decisions, to differences in product quality rather than personal preference.”

This novel study—the first to connect the decision framing literature with the social influence literature—offers marketers and social influencers “an easy and cost-free tactic to influence consumers.” That is, framing other customers’ decisions as rejections of alternative products rather than as a choice of the target product will nudge customers toward choosing the target product.