Your Political Ideology Influences Your Purchasing Decision

Shopping online is a very convenient way to purchase goods, whether it’s ready-to-eat food, groceries, clothes, shoes, gadgets, and other items that you need and want. However, with the multiplicity of brands and models available in the online market, consumers may have a tough time making a sound purchasing decision.

Making a Wise Purchasing Decision

Fortunately, websites like Dintest provide shoppers with informative reviews on various products to make online shopping much easier for you, whether it’s choosing the right robotic vacuum cleaner, an energy-efficient air cooler, the most reliable router, or perhaps a top-quality grass trimmer. With such reviews and buying guides, you will surely end up with the proper product that will match your needs.

When it comes to purchasing a good or product, you aren’t simply satisfying or fulfilling a certain need or want, but you are making a statement as well. Consciously or subconsciously, your purchasing choice is a kind of self-presentation.

Self-presentation is a manner or a behavior wherein one reveals or displays to others some qualities they have or information about themselves. And what you purchase does just that. But, one’s purchasing decision doesn’t only rely on their style or taste, study shows that even political ideologies are a factor.

Political Ideology Influences Purchasing Decision

For instance, research shows that a consumer’s political ideology could influence a purchasing decision. As per the report, conservatism directs towards consumers purchasing products “that demonstrate that they are better than the others” as conservatives like to communicate their dominance. On the other hand, liberalism causes consumers to make purchases “that demonstrate their distinctiveness or individuality from the others” as liberals choose to communicate their uniqueness. This is according to Nailya Ordabayeva from Boston College and Daniel Fernandes from the Catholic University of Portugal.

This result is derived from a succession of studies wherein the researchers started with a simple one. Here, 169 university students disclosed their political ideology. They then chose two mug designs that featured the logo of the university but one mug had the phrase “Just Better” whereas the other mug with the phrase “Just Different.” In this study alone, it was reported that conservatives went for the “Just Better” mug, whilst liberals picked the “Just Different” mug.

At the end of the series of research, they concluded that political ideology is a distinct predictor of purchasing or shopping behavior which functions independently from a consumer’s income and socio-economic status.