Extending the psychological profile of market mavenism

Abstract

This paper describes a study in the psychology of market mavenism, the consumer tendency to become especially involved in the marketplace. The purpose was to investigate empirically associations with the important consumer characteristics of innovativeness, status consumption, and need for uniqueness. The findings support the notion that market mavenism is due less to the demographic characteristics of consumers as it is more a socially constructed phenomenon. Global innovativeness, status consumption, and creative choice counterconformity explained more variance in market mavenism than did demographics. Theoretically, these findings enrich our knowledge of the psychology of market mavens by suggesting some motivations for their behavior. Practically, marketing strategies can be fine-tuned to appeal more effectively to this important segment of consumers by appealing to mavens' willingness to try new things, to their need for uniqueness, and to their willingness to seek social status through consumption. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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