Abstract

Purpose: This research examines how people react to nonconforming behavior such as entering a luxury boutique wearing gym clothes rather than an elegant outfit or wearing red sneakers in a professional setting. Nonconforming behaviors, as costly and visible signals, can act as a particular form of conspicuous consumption and lead to a positive inference of status and competence in the eyes of others. Research design, data, and methodology: A series of studies demonstrate that people confer higher status and competence rather than conforming individuals using 2-way ANOVA through employees in luxury stores and students at university. Results: According to the empirical studies, observers who witness the nonconformity behavior have positive inferences of status and competence rather than conformity behavior. These positive inferences derived from signals of nonconformity are moderated by individual differences in prior knowledge and regulatory focus. Conclusions: Through three empirical studies, observers who witnessed role-breaking in prestigious and professional situations found that the individuals who performed the nonconformity behavior had higher status and competence rather than conformity behavior. Even in Korea, a collectivist culture, observers who witnessed nonconformity behavior showed that they gave higher evaluations to the people who behaved informally.