Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Date of Degree

2-2024

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph.D.

Program

Business

Advisor

Ana Valenzuela

Committee Members

Lauren G. Block

Sankar Sen

Diogo Hildebrand

Andrea Bonezzi

Subject Categories

Marketing

Keywords

smartphone use, consumer risk taking, consumer-technology interactions, social decision making, social cognition, need for affiliation, digital marketing, mobile retailing

Abstract

Consumers are often faced with decisions that carry a degree of social risk, with uncertain outcomes that could impact their social standing. Examples include choosing the ideal outfit to wear to an upcoming party or selecting a gift to give to a friend. Given the prevalence of smartphones in consumer decision making, I investigate the effect of smartphone use on social risk taking. Across seven studies, I find that smartphone use, relative to the use of other devices, results in a lower propensity to make socially risky decisions. I propose that smartphone use, by increasing the salience of one’s social relationships, decreases the need for affiliation and lowers the perceived benefits associated with social risk taking. This effect holds across a variety of consumption and social media scenarios. The findings contribute to the literature on consumer risk taking and consumer-technology interactions. They also offer practical insights for digital marketing and mobile retailing strategies.

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