“Tell her she's wrong!” Triangulation as a spousal influence strategy

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to focus on a spousal influence strategy that has not been investigated previously by consumer researchers: triangulation. Triangulation is the process by which a third‐party is enlisted to intervene and convince the other spouse; this person can be a friend, a relative, or one or more of the couple's children. Design/methodology/approach – A survey questionnaire was completed by 192 couples who were asked to evaluate their own and their mates' influence strategies in four different purchase decisions. Findings – It was found that, in general, men tend to triangulate more frequently than women. Men triangulate most frequently during a vacation decision. Less frequently, triangulation was found regarding a new residence place, followed by Saloon furnishing and TV set. Women tend to triangulate most frequently in a new residence place, followed by a vacation. Regarding all of the third persons which comprised this strategy, with the exception of “ask our child/children”, men reported a significantly greater tendency to ask a third person to influence. Conversely, women reported a significantly greater tendency to ask the child/children to influence their husbands. The longer the marital relationship, the less the use of triangulation strategy among men. Practical implications – Advertising messages for products that are purchased by a joint decision can encourage or discourage triangulation. If there is a reason to expect that triangulated persons would have a positive attitude toward the product, the message would be more effective if it encourages triangulation, and vice versa. Originality/value – Findings documented in the paper shed light on the triangulation strategy, a hitherto unexplored aspect in consumer behavior literature. Consumer researchers should take into account the influence of close friends and relatives that might play a role in couple purchase decision processes.