| THE INFLUENCE OF REFERENCE GROUP ON PURCHASE DECISION: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY IN CHINA Matthew, Tingchi Li, Sanjay Nadkarni & Simon Yuen Sheung Man Issue 31 (Vol. 16, No. 1), June 2006, pp. 53-66. China has undisputedly emerged as an economic powerhouse with a burgeoning middle class, thereby making it a booming market of FMCG and service industries. However, little is known in terms of the purchasing patterns and consumer behavior against this backdrop of China��s economic assent. In reference to this context, this study investigates two types of reference group influence on purchase decisions across four product categories. Indeed, there are other factors that predispose consumers to be influenced by reference group, such as consumer characteristics, group characteristics and situation. The findings of this study suggest that the reference group has stronger informational influence on public luxury purchase decision than on public necessity, private luxury and private necessity purchase decision. Moreover, informational influences of reference group on the four types of product are all stronger than normative influence. |