Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing

E‐formity: consumer conformity behaviour in virtual communities

JungKun Park Richard Feinberg
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JungKun Park Richard Feinberg, (2010),"E#formity: consumer conformity behaviour in virtual communities",
Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, Vol. 4 Iss 3 pp. 197 - 213
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E-formity:
E-formity: consumer conformity consumer
behaviour in virtual communities behaviour
JungKun Park
College of Technology, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA, and 197
Richard Feinberg
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA Received November 2009
Revised March 2010
Accepted March 2010
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Abstract
Purpose – The paper aims to explore the structure of both normative and informational consumer
conformity in an online virtual community. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a
conceptual model of e-formity in virtual communities.
Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected online from consumers who belonged to at
least one virtual community. A total of 2,000 customers were drawn from a list of online consumer
panels maintained by an online research company. Overall, 14.8 percent of those invited replied to the
survey and were analyzed with structure equation modelling.
Findings – The results from the analysis indicate that both dimensions of conformity are distinct
and have separate antecedents. Normative consumer conformity is influenced by internal consumer
characteristics, whereas informational consumer conformity is related to external virtual community
characteristics.
Research limitations/implications – Although this paper found evidence for e-formity, the full
nature and scope of e-formity must be held to the classic findings of experimental versions of
conformity research. There are broad implications for e-formity in consumer behaviour and retailing.
Retailers or manufacturers must realize that virtual communities and consumers’ e-formity behaviour
are a valuable source of helping or hurting the sale and promotion of their products.
Practical implications – At the very least, the influence of e-formity suggests that it is crucial for
them to monitor closely the purposeful and nonpurposeful influences these virtual communications
may have.
Originality/value – Given the scarcity of literature in the online conformity research area, this paper
shows conformity in virtual communities does not change its influences on consumers’ behaviour.
As in the studies of traditional communities, e-formity has found influence on virtual communities
within two aspects. Virtual communities not only have inherited the social functions of traditional
communities, but also have differences in antecedents.
Keywords Electronic commerce, Virtual organizations, Communities, Consumer behaviour
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
As the internet becomes one of the major social interacting tools, it is substantial and
necessary to facilitate more understanding in consumers’ behaviour in virtual communities.
In the original conformity paradigm (Asch, 1953), conformity was studied in a closed
and intimate setting where subjects were forced to make decisions in the context of the Journal of Research in Interactive
decisions of others in their immediate environment. From that humble experimental Marketing
Vol. 4 No. 3, 2010
start, conformity has become a paradigm of social influence and has been used to explain pp. 197-213
and predict consumer and social behaviour. Consumer conformity is defined as q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
2040-7122
compliance with group norms, susceptibility to group influence, and behavioural DOI 10.1108/17505931011070578
 JRIM changes in consumption behaviour due to a reference group (Burnkrant and Cousineau,
4,3 1975; Boush et al., 1993; Lascu and Zinkhan, 1999). While conformity has been studied
across a range of consumer behaviour contexts (Allen, 1965; Pendry and Carrick, 2001;
Venkatesan, 1966), online consumer conformity appears relatively unexamined.
The internet has opened up a door for new forms of conforming influences.
Consumers now communicate on a global scale and share information in a way that was
198 not previously possible. With the emergence of internet communication, consumers now
have more access to interact with others in different ways. For example, a survey by
Nielsen and NetRatings (Bausch and Han, 2006) reported that social networking web
sites showed 47 phercent growth year over year. About 45 percent of internet users are
social networking users (Bausch and Han, 2006). Online chatting, forums, blogs, online
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games, and instant messaging are new forms of communities in which consumers can
share and communicate common interests and common goals, and influence others.
This new virtual community is a meaningful place for marketers too. According to
Inside Research (2007), network research spending was forecasted to be $69 million in
2008 as compared to $40 million from the previous year. Online (virtual) communities
have the potential to reshape the nature and scope of how consumers learn about,
understand, form opinions about, and process information of products and services
for their decision making. These new forms of communication, a form of social influence
we call e-formity (internet conformity), deserves study.
Consumer conformity has two distinct dimensions of social influence: normative and
informational (Deutsch and Gerard, 1955). Normative consumer conformity refers to the
conforming of behaviour to be in line with the perceived expectations of other consumers,
for example, shopping for or purchasing certain products because a consumer wants to fit
in with his or her own social group. Informational consumer conformity involves
conforming to others’ purchase beliefs and decisions because of their knowledge and
expertise. Consumers conform informatively not to fit in, but to be accurate and correct in
their own purchase decisions. The primary purpose of this paper is to develop and test a
conceptual model of online conformity in virtual communities within two dimensions:
informational and normative.

WOM in virtual communities

A substantial body of research indicated that word-of-mouth (WOM) had a significant
impact on consumer decision making process. Early studies attributed this impact
to normative social influences (Asch, 1953; Kelman, 1958; Stafford, 1966; Venkatesan,
1966). However, subsequent research suggests that the informational aspect of social
influence may also have influences on purchasing behaviour (Mangold et al., 1999).
WOM was often regarded as related to consumers’ satisfaction or dissatisfaction with
previous purchasing experience (Blodgett et al., 1997; Richins, 1983). Consumers engage
in WOM to satisfy their personal information needs (Bloch et al., 1986). Research has
investigated the impact of negative WOM communication on consumers’ attitude and
behaviours (Bone, 1995; Mangold et al., 1999; Bickart and Schindler, 2001).
Consumer decision making is a type of problem-solving activity; thus, the consumer
needs information to evaluate options (Solomon, 1994). When consumers are exposed to
information in a community, they evaluate, use, and store the information, and if they need
information, they will find new information or use the information that has been stored.
 Information about consumer decisions comes from three sources: the seller, other E-formity:
consumers, and other neutral sources (Markin, 1974). consumer
Consumers are influenced by a variety of social networks, including but not limited to
family, friends, acquaintances, neighbours, and social partners (Reingen et al., 1984). One behaviour
particularly powerful form of social networking is WOM. WOM is defined as “the informal
communication directed at other consumers about ownership and characteristics of
particular goods and services and/or their sellers” (Westbrook, 1987). A substantial body 199
of research has shown that WOM has a significant impact on consumer purchasing
behaviour (Bone, 1995). Early studies attributed this impact to normative social influences
(Stafford, 1966; Venkatesan, 1966). However, subsequent research suggests that the
informational aspect of normative influence may also have a substantial impact on
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purchasing behaviour (Mangold et al., 1999). WOM sets itself apart from other forms of
communication, such as advertising, because of its capability to spread from person
to person.
The existence of virtual communities has opened the gates for eWOM (Anderson,
1999). In virtual communities people are interconnected in a way that was not
previously possible. And these virtual communities have very easy access to direct
communication allowing consumers to post their experiences of products and services.
WOM (eWOM) in virtual communities is not comparable to traditional WOM’s
face-to-face communication in respect to the effect, speed, and spread of its range.
First, the recipients of traditional WOM are limited to the reference groups of the
information source, while the recipients of eWOM are the users of the web sites from all
over the world and are not limited to those the information source knows personally.
Second, the duration of traditional WOM is limited to the period of time when it is
spoken, while the duration of eWOM is not limited until the texts are deleted.
A consumer exposed to eWOM is able to access a stranger’s opinion (from anywhere in
the world), at any time, potentially forever.
Rheingold (1994) defined “virtual community” as “social aggregations that emerge
from the net when enough people carry on [. . .] public discussions long enough, with
sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace”
(Fischer et al., 1996; Kozinets, 1999; Wang et al., 2002). There is an assortment of
possibilities for types of virtual communities, including but not limited to, bulletin
boards, newsgroups, discussion groups, e-mail lists, and web pages that are organized
around communities (e.g. Myspace, Facebook, epinions) or have sections that create
communities (e.g. hp.com, sonystyle.com). There are several distinct differences
between offline communities and virtual communities (Tambyah, 1996). Consumers
are able to access and provide global information on the internet any time of the day.
The anonymity of online discourse means that it may be more uninhibited and blunt
compared to in-person verbal communication. On the other hand, unless consumers are
making assumptions about personality, age, and expertise there are no visual cues that
help consumers establish the credibility of the source of the communication.
Virtual communities have the ability to empower consumers. Consumers are able to
create their own web site to inform other consumers about their product encounters.
Web sites creating negative eWOM are published to steer consumers away from
particular brands or companies (www.wal-martsucks.com/; www.starbuckssucks.com
as examples). Regardless of whether or not the claims are true, they are available and
open for any surfer. The main point is that virtual communities may have an impact
 JRIM on how consumers behave by virtue of conformity pressure. Hennig-Thurau and
4,3 Walsh (2004) developed five motives for why consumers use virtual communities as a
source of opinions. The motives are: gathering information regarding products or
services, socially comparing how others’ opinions measure up to their own opinions,
community belongingness, the possibility of monetary reward, or simply learning
how certain products function. Buying behaviour and communication behaviour were
200 shown to be influenced by virtual communities. Consumers were most likely to change
their buying behaviour if they were motivated by a need to obtain information about
buying a product. WOM communication behaviour was most likely to be altered if
consumers accessed the virtual community to learn about a product.
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Off/online consumer conformity

Previous studies in influences of offline conformity varied in dimensions of conformity.
Some studies focused on normative conformity (Clark and Goldsmith, 2005; Mandrik
et al., 2005), some focused on informational conformity (Wooten and Reed II, 1998), and
not many focused on both dimensions (Mangleburg et al., 2004). Conformity was
supported on its influence on behavioural decision process in some experimental studies
(Venkatesan, 1966; LaTour and Manrai, 1989). Later studies mostly used empirical
methods to evaluate consumers’ attitude change (Clark and Goldsmith, 2005; Mandrik
et al., 2005). Since the virtual community provides the members emotional connections
and belongingness as a social network, such interpersonal influences are expected to
exist and further influence the group members’ attitude toward topics. In this study,
both dimensions of conformity are hypothesized.
Given the increasing ubiquity of virtual communities and the potential power of
these communication channels to influence consumer behaviour, it is also important to
determine what leads to consumer e-formity. What consumer and virtual community
characteristics are involved in both normative and informational consumer e-formity?
In the traditional social psychological sense, consumer conformity is the propensity
for an individual to comply with the group norm (Burnkrant and Cousineau, 1975).
In the consumption context, it would be the propensity to comply with a group norm
concerning consumer products (Boush et al., 1993; Lascu and Zinkhan, 1999). The
purpose of this study is to explore the dynamics of how normative and informational
conformity transpires within an online consumer setting.

Normative conformity
Marketers know and understand that all consumers are not alike. Self-esteem is one of
the psychological conditions found to determine susceptibility to conformity influence:
a person with low self-esteem conforms more than a person with high self-esteem.
Self-esteem is related to confidence. Consumers’ level of knowledge is also related to
greater conformity (Lascu et al., 1995; Cialdini and Goldstein, 2004):
H1. There is a negative relationship between self-esteem and online conformity
motivation.
In addition to self esteem, consumer involvement has been found to determine
conformity. High involvement means high risk in decision making and has been
found to increase conformity (Grossman and Wisenblit, 1999; Witt and Bruce, 1970)
These studies show that the more involved a consumer is with a product, the more
 likely he/she is to be interested in the judgments of others. Their own knowledge and E-formity:
interest in a particular product or service motivate the need to search for outside consumer
information and input:
behaviour
H2. There is a positive relationship between personal involvement and online
conformity motivation.
Conformity motivation involves consumers’ general tendency to be swayed by the 201
views of a referent group. In this case, the referent group is a virtual community. It is a
pre-existing personality characteristic that plays a role in consumer conformity among
other forms of group conformity and influence. We would expect that this type of
motivation would be closely linked with normative consumer conformity:
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H3. There is a positive relationship between online conformity motivation and

normative consumer e-formity.
Figure 1 shows a conceptual model of the paths leading to normative consumer
conformity. While self-esteem and involvement are expected to be indirectly related to
normative consumer conformity, conformity motivation is expected to be directly
related to normative consumer conformity.

Informational conformity
A sense of belongingness to a group creates a more cohesive environment (Kim et al.,
2004). Witt (1969) and Alvaro and Crano (1997) assert that little or no sense of
belongingness to a group will elicit little or no trust in a group setting. These studies
suggest that the more a consumer feels a part of the virtual community, the more likely
they are to see that group as trustworthy:
H4. There is a positive relationship between sense of belongingness to the virtual
community and perceived virtual community trustworthiness.
The perceived expertise of a virtual community is a vital component of whether
a consumer will adhere to the group norms in terms of informational conformity.

E-formity
Self esteem
_
Normative
Conformity consumer
motivation conformity
+
Involvement +

Sense of
belongingness + Informational
Community
consumer
trustworthiness
conformity Figure 1.
+
Community Conceptual model for
+
expertise consumer e-formity
 JRIM The more expert the virtual community appears to be the more likely consumers
4,3 are to comply with the social norms of that group (Burnkrant and Cousineau, 1975).
What is important in this relationship is whether the consumer attributes the knowledge
or opinions of the virtual community to actual expertise or to some other motive, such as
the desire to fit in or provide socially acceptable information:
H5. There is a positive relationship between perceived virtual community
202 expertise and perceived virtual community trustworthiness.
Trust is important in relationships because it allows the free flow of information,
without reservation. Consumer relationships are no exception. Results from a study
looking at the relationship between sources of information about products and consumer
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conformity found a positive correlation between the two (Boush et al., 1993). The nature
of online virtual communities makes trust an even more pronounced influencer, since
consumers often decide to conform to the opinions and recommendations of strangers
they cannot see:
H6. There is a positive relationship between perceived virtual community
trustworthiness and informational consumer e-formity.
A conceptual model of the proposed paths leading to informational consumer
conformity is shown in Figure 1. While perceived sense of belongingness and perceived
community expertise is believed to impact informational consumer conformity
indirectly, perceived community expertise is thought to influence informational
consumer conformity directly.

Method
Scale development
The hypotheses were tested using a scale developed to measure informational
and normative consumer e-formity, general conformity motivation, perceived virtual
community sense of belongingness, overall self esteem, consumer involvement with
products or services, perceived virtual community expertise, and perceived virtual
community trustworthiness. A sense of belongingness used a three-item scale
(Kember and Leung, 2004); virtual community expertise used a ten-item scale, which
initially included consumer expertise measure (Kleiser and Mantel, 1994), self-esteem
(Blascovich and Tomaka, 1991), involvement (Traylor and Joseph, 1984), conformity
motivation (Ridgeway, 1978), community trustworthiness (Briggs et al., 2002), and two
modified dimensions of conformity (Bearden et al., 1990) for e-formity in virtual
community environments: normative and informational (see the Appendix, Table AI).
The scale of all measurements used a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (strongly
disagree) to 7 (strongly agree).
For the item lists, exploratory factor analysis was performed to check factorial
structures. Each eight constructs showed factor loadings greater than 0.50, satisfying
the recommendation of Hair et al. (1995). A three-step item purification procedure was
employed to develop questions that were valid and reliable for this study. The first step
was applied by computing inter-item correlations for each of the items at a significant
correlation coefficient at the 0.01 level. This procedure resulted in one item being
dropped from the normative consumer conformity scale, one item being dropped from
the perceived virtual community trustworthiness scale, and five items being dropped
 from the self-esteem scale. Item purification resulted in reliable scales, with Cronbach’s E-formity:
alpha levels ranging from 0.81 to 0.94.
consumer
Sample and data collection behaviour
Data were collected online from consumers who were at least 18 years of age and belong
to at least one virtual community. A total of 2,000 customers were drawn from a list of
online consumer panels maintained by an online research company. An e-mail invitation 203
containing the survey’s hyperlink was sent to each of the potential respondents.
The survey asked consumers to think about the most recent experience they had online
about a product or service that was discussed within a virtual community to which they
belonged. Respondents rated their involvement with the product or service, their sense
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of belongingness to the virtual community, the expertise of the virtual community,

and the trustworthiness of the virtual community. Self-esteem and conformity
motivation measures were also gathered, as well as general online normative and
informational consumer conformity levels.
Overall, 14.8 percent of those invited replied to the survey. A total of 117 (39 percent)
respondents indicated that they did not belong to a virtual community. The remaining
179 (61 percent) respondents did belong to a virtual community. Demographic
characteristics for the entire sample are reported in Table I.

Results
In order to understand the construction of consumer e-formity behaviour, each mediating
role of conformity motivation and perceived community trustworthiness was examined
with two antecedents, self esteem/involvement and sense of belongingness/community
expertise, respectively. AMOS was used to analyze the proposed measurement and
structural models. Structural equation modelling is used for the purposes of evaluating the
proposed causal relationships among the variables simultaneously.

Virtual community
Virtual community nonmembers
members (n ¼ 179) (n ¼ 117)
Variable N Percent N %

Gender
Male 70 39 44 38
Female 109 61 73 62
Age * (years)
18-24 13 7 1 1
25-39 70 39 37 31
40-59 78 44 64 55
60 or older 18 10 15 13
Income
Less than $10,000 4 2 3 3
$10,000-24,999 5 3 4 3
$25,000-39,999 22 12 12 10
$40,000-59,999 40 22 23 20 Table I.
$60,000-100,000 53 30 40 34 Demographic
More than $100,000 55 31 35 30 characteristics of virtual
community members
Note: *p , 0.05 and nonmembers
 JRIM The models were first assessed using fit measures to determine whether the model fit the
4,3 data. Both the normative and informational models of consumer conformity fit the data
relatively well (Table II). Additional fit measures for both models either approached or
exceeded the recommended cut-off of 0.90. Root mean square error of approximation
(RMSEA) values were acceptable.
Table III provides the standardized coefficients for both the normative and
204 informational consumer conformity models. All three hypotheses included in the
normative consumer conformity model were supported by the data. H1 stated that there
would be a negative relationship between self-esteem and conformity motivation
(2 0.17, p , 0.05), therefore supporting H1. The proposed positive relationship between
involvement and conformity motivation was also as expected (0.55, p , 0.01), providing
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support for H2. H3 suggests that normative consumer conformity is indirectly impacted
by self-esteem and involvement and directly impacted by general conformity
motivation. The standardized coefficient (0.92, p , 0.01) supports H3, which implies
that consumer characteristics have a significant relationship with normative consumer
conformity or possible collinearity problems.
The informational model also shows support for all three hypotheses. H4 was
confirmed, demonstrating a positive relationship between perceived sense of
belongingness to the virtual community and perceived trustworthiness of the virtual
community (0.32, p , 0.01). The perceived expertise of the virtual community was also
positively related to the perceived trustworthiness, thus confirming H5. The perceived
trustworthiness was, in turn, positively related to informational consumer conformity
(0.78, p , 0.01), providing support for H6.

Discussion
A study was completed to illuminate if there is a version of conformity that we call
e-formity. Based on traditional conformity research, a test was developed for a model of

x2 GFI TLI CFI RMSEA

Table II.
Fit measures for Normative model 547.64, df ¼ 295, p , 0.001 0.81 0.91 0.92 0.06
normative and Informational model 541.24, df ¼ 248, p , 0.001 0.81 0.89 0.90 0.07
informational consumer
conformity models Notes: GFI, goodness of fit index; CFI, comparative fit index; TLI, Tucker-Lewis index

Normative Standardized Informational Standardized

parameters coefficients CR parameters coefficients CR

CM-SE 20.17 * - TR-SB 0.32 * * -

CM-IN 0.55 * * - TR-EX 0.64 * * -
NCC-CM 0.92 * * - ICC-TR 0.78 * * -
Table III.
Standardized coefficients Notes: *p , 0.05; * *p , 0.01; CM, conformity motivation; SE, self-esteem; IN, involvement;
for normative and NCC, normative consumer conformity; TR, perceived trustworthiness of the virtual community;
informational consumer SB, perceived sense of belongingness to the virtual community; EX, perceived virtual community
conformity models expertise; ICC, informational consumer conformity; CR, critical ratio
 informational and normative e-formity. Both were supported. First, there was support E-formity:
for the general notion that virtual communities are arenas of social influence and impact consumer
on consumer decision-making. The results indicate that the concept of offline conformity
communities could be extended to online conformity (i.e. e-formity), but differently, behaviour
without an actual traditional social contact, but with a written text created by
community members. Results for the normative and informational online consumer
conformity models provide evidence that each is related to and influenced by separate 205
constructs. While normative consumer conformity is impacted by conformity
motivation and indirectly by self-esteem and involvement, informational consumer
conformity is impacted by virtual community trustworthiness and indirectly by sense of
belongingness and virtual community expertise. Normative and informational
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consumer conformity are separate dimensions that have separate determinants.

Normative consumer conformity, which involves conformity for the purpose of
becoming part of or being accepted by a group, is influenced mainly by pre-existing
characteristics of the consumer. Informational consumer conformity, on the other hand,
is related mainly to qualities inherent in the virtual community itself.
Further evidence for the robustness of the two proposed models is provided by
predicting normative consumer conformity using the external virtual community
characteristics as well as predicting informational consumer conformity using the
internal consumer characteristics. More specifically, if we specify self-esteem,
involvement, and conformity motivation as antecedents of informational consumer
conformity, the relationship becomes much weaker compared with predicting
normative consumer conformity (standardized coefficients ¼ 0.29 vs 0.92,
respectively). Similarly, using perceived sense of belonging, perceived expertise, and
perceived virtual community trustworthiness to predict normative consumer
conformity, the results show a relationship of a much smaller magnitude compared
with predicting informational consumer conformity (standardized coefficients ¼ 0.24
vs 0.78, respectively). Internal consumer characteristics drive normative consumer
conformity, while more external virtual community characteristics drive informational
consumer conformity.
A closer look at the standardized path coefficients shows that although all paths for
both models are significant, some are relatively stronger than others. Normative
consumer conformity is shown to be strongly related to consumers’ conformity
motivation (0.92, p , 0.01). That same conformity motivation, however, is impacted
differently by self-esteem and product or service involvement. Although self-esteem is
found to decrease as conformity motivation increases, as predicted (2 0.17, p , 0.05),
product or service involvement appears to have a stronger relationship with conformity
motivation (0.55, p , 0.01). Consumers’ feelings about themselves does seem to impact
whether they will feel motivated to conform, although their own level of product or
service involvement may be even more important in determining whether or not they
will feel motivated to comply.
Similarly, informational consumer conformity is strongly related to the perceived
virtual community trustworthiness (0.78, p , 0.01). The perceived trustworthiness,
however, is impacted differently by perceived sense of belongingness to the virtual
community and perceived virtual community expertise. Sense of belongingness is
significantly and positively related to community trustworthiness (0.32, p , 0.01), while
community expertise is also significantly and positively related to community
 JRIM trustworthiness (0.64, p , 0.01). It may be that although consumers are more prone to
4,3 believing a virtual community is trustworthy if they feel they belong, the expertise of the
community still plays a stronger role when determining how trustworthy the community
is. Finally, this study has demonstrated that normative consumer conformity may have
separate antecedents compared with informational consumer conformity.
Applying conformity in virtual communities does not change its influences on
206 consumer’s behaviour. As in the studies of traditional communities, e-formity has found
to influence on virtual communities within two aspects. Virtual communities not only
have inherited the social functions of traditional communities, but also have differences
in antecedents. As conformity is one of the market mavens’ psychological influences
that increase consumers’ intention to purchase a certain product (Clark and Goldsmith,
Downloaded by ONDOKUZ MAYIS UNIVERSITY At 04:32 13 November 2014 (PT)

2005), the study indicates informational or normative influences occurred in e-formity

through virtual communities. Since it is known that informational and normative
influences have different antecedents and that they contribute to conformity differently,
the results of this study indicate that it is important to continue to study them
separately as well.
Consumers read and assess information in virtual communities and make
judgments of applicability, accuracy, and credibility. The upside is that consumers now
have information about products and services that they never had before. They do not
have to be dependent on retailers who have a vested interest in selling them something.
At the same time, they may never be sure what to make of the information. Do they
accept it blindly or evaluate the source and its credibility. If internet communication
operates like in-person communication the rules that affect persuasion should also
apply and these deserve testing and illumination. This paper only looked at the
existence and operation of e-formity: the internet’s version of conformity, but more
research must be conducted in order to understand e-formity better. By setting up
brand-oriented virtual communities or working with virtual community operators,
retailers could help product-involved consumers to share the information they want and
thus increase the likelihood of purchase as well as consumers’ brand loyalty. Studies
have shown that retailers are more likely to provide more specialized service/product
and more likely to improve their service/product through brand-oriented virtual
communities, and, in turn, lead to better customer-retailer relationship and loyalty
(Wang et al., 2002). Other than implications on business, when applied to education and
healthcare, normative and informational conformity in virtual communities may also
be beneficial.
Although this paper found survey evidence for e-formity, the full nature and scope of
e-formity must be held to the classic findings of experimental versions of conformity
research that were started by Asch (1953). There are broad implications for e-formity in
consumer behaviour and retailing. Retailers or manufacturers must realize that virtual
communities and consumers’ e-formity behaviour is a valuable source of helping or
hurting the sale and promotion of their products. At the very least, the influence of
e-formity suggests that it is crucial for them to monitor closely the purposeful and
nonpurposeful influences these virtual communications may have. In the future we will
be seeing Chief Social Media officers whose job it is to orchestrate companies’ social
media presence through virtual communities to maximize positive effects on consumers’
decision-making processes.
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Scale Items a
Appendix
Informational I often consult others in the virtual community to help choose the best alternative available 0.81
consumer If I have little experience with a product/service, I often ask the virtual community about it
conformity I frequently gather information from the virtual community about a product/service before I buy
Normative If I want to be like someone in the virtual community, I often try to buy the same brands that they buy 0.91
consumer It is important that others in the virtual community like the products and brands I buy
conformity I rarely purchase the latest fashion styles until I am sure the virtual community approves of them
I often identify with others in the virtual community by purchasing the same brands they purchase
When buying products/services, I generally purchase those brands that I think the virtual community would
approve of
I like to know what brands and products make good impressions on the virtual community
If other people can see me using a product/service, I often purchase the brand the virtual community expects me
to buy
I achieve a sense of belonging by purchasing the same products and brands that the virtual community
purchases
General How elegant and attractive a product is as important as how well it works 0.89
conformity It is important that the virtual community think well of my online presence
motivation When I am unsure how to act in the virtual community, I try to do what others are doing
The virtual community members and I try to buy the same brands
If I were to buy something expensive, I would worry about what the virtual community would think of me
I buy brands that would make me look good in front of the virtual community
When I buy the same things the virtual community members buy, I feel closer to them
Perceived virtual I feel a sense of belonging to my virtual community 0.83
community sense I am able to relate to the virtual community
of belongingness I feel that I have established a relationship with the virtual community
Overall self-esteem I feel that I am a person of worth, at least on an equal basis with each other 0.91
I feel that I have a number of good qualities
I am able to do things as well as most other people
I take a positive attitude toward myself
On the whole, I am satisfied with myself
(continued)

reliability coefficients
behaviour

Scale items and alpha

E-formity:
consumer

Table AI.
211
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4,3

212
JRIM

Table AI.
Scale Items a

Consumer When other people see me using this product/service, they form an opinion of me 0.87
involvement with You can tell a lot about a person by seeing what brand of this product/service s/he uses
product or service This product/service helps me express who I am
This product is “me”
Seeing somebody else use this product/service tells me a lot about that person
When I use this product/service, others see me the way I want them to see me
Perceived virtual The virtual community members enjoy learning about the product/service I sought advice about 0.94
community expertise The members of the virtual community are knowledgeable about the product/service
The members of the virtual community are familiar with almost all existing brands of the product/service
The virtual community members search for the latest information on this product/service before purchasing
The virtual community members’ knowledge of this product/service helps them to understand very technical
information about it
The virtual community members can recognize almost all brand names of this product/service
The members of the virtual community keep current on the most recent developments of this product/service
Virtual community members use their knowledge of this product/service to verify that advertising claims are in
fact true
Virtual community members can recall product-specific attributes of this product/service
Virtual community members can recall brand-specific attributes of the various brands of this product/service
Perceived virtual The advice from the virtual community came from a knowledgeable source 0.89
community There were comments from other users on the site
trustworthiness I did not have to wait long for advice from the virtual community
The virtual community site was easy to use
I felt involved in the way the virtual community site tried to find appropriate advice
The virtual community site was interactive
Using the virtual community site helped me make the right decision
I trusted the virtual community advice
I am knowledgeable about the subject area I was looking for advice about
 About the authors E-formity:
JungKun Park, PhD, is an Associate Professor of E-commerce at the College of Technology
(HDCS), University of Houston (USA). He received his Master’s Degree in Economics in consumer
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Doctoral Degree in Retailing and Consumer behaviour
Behaviour at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. His research appeared in many academic
journals. Dr Park’s major research area is technology and consumer behaviour covering
electronic, mobile, and ubiquitous commerce consumer behaviour. JungKun Park is the
corresponding author and can be contacted at: jpark21@central.uh.edu 213
Richard Feinberg, PhD, is a Professor of Consumer Psychology at the Department of
Retailing and Consumer Sciences, Purdue University (USA) and the Director of Centre for
Customer Driven Quality. He received his Doctoral Degree in Consumer Psychology at the
University of Oklahoma. His research appeared in many academic journals, newspapers, and
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trading journals. Dr Feinberg’s major research area is customer relationship management.

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