Lead by Example? Custom-Made Examples Created by Close Others Lead Consumers to Make Dissimilar Choices

Prior to customizing for themselves, consumers often encounter products customized by other people within their social network. Our research suggests that when encountering a custom-made example of an identity-related product created by an identified social other, consumers infer this social other was motivated to express uniqueness. After making this inference, consumers are also motivated to express uniqueness, particularly when the example...