Consumers' Need for Uniqueness and the Influence of Persuasive Strategies in E-commerce.

We explore the use of persuasion and need for uniqueness in the continuance intention of e-commerce shoppers. In particular, we examine if Cialdini’s six influence strategies have an effect on the three dimensions of need for uniqueness and if need for uniqueness further influences continuance intention of e-commerce shoppers. To achieve this, we carried out a study of 183 e-commerce shoppers. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), we developed a hypothetical path model using the data from the study. Our results show that the three dimensions of need for uniqueness explain about 22% of the variance in continuance intention of e-commerce shoppers. In addition, scarcity had the highest influence on the three dimensions of need for uniqueness. We further carried out a multi group analysis based on gender. Our results suggest that scarcity influences the decision of females to buy products that are not only unique, but also socially acceptable, while commitment influences males to buy unique and socially acceptable products.