A Literature Review of the Influence of Social Exclusion on Consumer Behavior and Prospects

Abstract

Social exclusion is a common and threatening social experience that affects individual psychology and behavior. In particular, when there are social exclusion cues in the marketing environment, it will have an important impact on consumers’ behavioral decisions. However, in existing studies, the relationship between social exclusion and consumption behavior is still in chaos. Some scholars believe that individuals who experience social exclusion are more inclined to make nostalgic consumption or purchase corresponding products that symbolize group identity. However, other scholars pointed out that individuals who experience social exclusion are more inclined to conspicuous and unique consumption. It can be seen that when consumers are excluded by the society, their behavioral responses will deviate, and consumers will eventually use what kind of consumption behavior to make up for their internal defects. This problem has not been effectively solved. Therefore, this paper takes the social exclusion in consumption as the research object, first elaborates the concept of social exclusion, and then reviews the impact of social exclusion on people’s psychological needs. On this basis, the research status of social exclusion in the field of consumer behavior is summarized, and the consumer behavior generated by the social exclusion is summarized into two kinds of consumer behavior, namely relationship compensation behavior and ability compensation behavior. Finally, the future research direction of the influence of social exclusion on consumption behavior is prospected.