Advice taking across social class: Why (and when) high‐ SES consumers are more likely to take advice from marketplace agents

Abstract The present research investigates whether consumers of low or high socioeconomic status (SES) are more likely to take advice from marketplace agents. Across five studies (and an additional three in the Methodological Details Appendix), including an analysis of the World Values Survey, and across a range of different advice taking contexts, we find that high‐SES consumers are more likely to take the advice of marketplace agents compared to low‐SES consumers. We demonstrate that this is due to differences in the sources through which high and low‐SES consumers form judgments of trustworthiness, leading high‐SES consumers to perceive advisors as generally more trustworthy, increasing the likelihood that they take their advice. However, these differences are attenuated under two conditions: First, when providing an external trustworthiness cue, differences in advice taking between low‐ and high‐SES consumers are reduced. Second, shifting attention away from the agent and toward one's own product needs and preferences attenuates the effect. This work makes important theoretical contributions regarding how low‐ and high‐SES consumers differ in their propensity to take advice and carries important consumer well‐being implications, particularly for the low‐SES consumer.