theories of social inequality
Socially Embedded Consumer Transactions: For What Kinds of Purchases Do People Most Often use Networks?
Author(s): Paul DiMaggio and Hugh Louch
Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 63, No. 5 (Oct., 1998), pp. 619-637
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657331 .
Accessed: 08/03/2014 20:49
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SOCIALLY EMBEDDED CONSUMER TRANSACTIONS:
FOR WHAT KINDS OF PURCHASES DO PEOPLE
MOST OFTEN USE NETWORKS?*
Paul DiMaggio
Hugh Louch
Princeton University
Princeton University
Why and to what extent do people make significant purchases from people with whom they have prior noncommercial relationships? Using data from the economic sociology module of the 1996 General Social Survey, we document high levels of within-network exchanges. We argue that transacting with social contacts is effective because it embeds commercial exchanges in a web of obligations and holds the seller 's network hostage to appropriate role performance in the economic transaction. It follows that within-network exchanges will be more common in risky transactions that are unlikely to be repeated and in which uncertainty is high. The data
Author(s): Paul DiMaggio and Hugh Louch
Source: American Sociological Review, Vol. 63, No. 5 (Oct., 1998), pp. 619-637
Published by: American Sociological Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2657331 .
Accessed: 08/03/2014 20:49
Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp .
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.
.
American Sociological Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to
American Sociological Review.
http://www.jstor.org
This content downloaded from 218.199.103.33 on Sat, 8 Mar 2014 20:49:54 PM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
SOCIALLY EMBEDDED CONSUMER TRANSACTIONS:
FOR WHAT KINDS OF PURCHASES DO PEOPLE
MOST OFTEN USE NETWORKS?*
Paul DiMaggio
Hugh Louch
Princeton University
Princeton University
Why and to what extent do people make significant purchases from people with whom they have prior noncommercial relationships? Using data from the economic sociology module of the 1996 General Social Survey, we document high levels of within-network exchanges. We argue that transacting with social contacts is effective because it embeds commercial exchanges in a web of obligations and holds the seller 's network hostage to appropriate role performance in the economic transaction. It follows that within-network exchanges will be more common in risky transactions that are unlikely to be repeated and in which uncertainty is high. The data
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