Cheng, Y. H., Kao, T. D., Chuang, S. C., and Chen, S. H. 2013. The Effect of Regulatory Focus on Conformity Behavior. NTU Management Review, 24 (1): 207-232. https://doi.org/10.6226/NTURM2013.JUL.C18
Yin-Hui Cheng, Associate Professor, Department of International Business, National Taichung University of Education
Danny T. Kao, Professor, Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling, National Hsinchu University of Education
Shih-Chieh Chuang, Professor, Department of Business Administration, National Chung Cheng University
Shu-Hui Chen, Marcom Specialist, Audrey Taiwan
Abstract
This article examines the influence of regulatory focus on conformity. Three experimental
situations are developed to examine the effect. Experiment 1 reveals that regulatory focus
influences conformity, with the effect being more obvious under a prevention-focused
condition, in which people conform more strongly with others, than under a promotionfocused
condition. In Experiment 2, the effect of regulatory focus on conformity is mediated
by informational influences and normative influences. The results of Experiment 3 show that
under a high cognitive load, the effect of regulatory focus on conformity disappears.
Keywords
conformityregulatory focuscognitive load