Social influence during public crises: Weekly dynamics and adaptive patterns of conformity to the collective following the COVID-19 outbreak.

ABSTRACT: Regional collectivism has been observed to contribute to better coping with public crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study poses a reverse question: Does the eruption of public crises increase people's conformity to the collective? To answer this question, we analyzed real-world transactions on Taobao (the largest e-commerce platform in China), each with a purchase decision and a list of candidates considered before purchasing. Conformity to the collective was measured using two indicators: whether the decision-maker opted for the A) most-sold and B) best-rated options within the candidate option set. The results reveal that both conformity variables were significantly higher in the 10 wk subsequent to January 19, 2020 (when the nationwide COVID-19 crisis erupted in China), than i

SUBMITTER: Ge X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12207513 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature