Yoshiko DeMotta

In-Group and Out-Group Influences on the Consumption Behavior of Minority Groups: The Case of Gay Men

This article examines how and why members of a stigmatized minority group respond to in-group and out-group influences in their consumption decisions. Specifically, the authors demonstrate through a field survey that gay men are more [less] likely, compared with their straight counterparts, to conform to influences from in-group [out-group] members. Moreover, the authors show that these patterns are driven by differences across these two groups in both their horizontal and vertical collectivism values. In doing so, this article provides evidence of the influence of coping with continual threats to identity (as are faced by stigmatized minorities) on gay mens cultural values and explores these driving role of these values in gay mens susceptibility to influences from in- and out-groups that go beyond those based on majority–minority status.