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Beyond merely satisfying customers, companies are increasingly striving to build deeper and more meaningful customer relationships characterized by strong customer-company identification. However, whereas previous research has solely focused on symbolic drivers of identification, it remains unclear whether, when, and how managers can build on core functional company characteristics (i.e., quality, innovativeness, and price) to establish customer–company identification. The present study addresses these questions by developing a theoretical framework based on theoretical notions of social identity theory and the cue diagnosticity framework. Evidence from two field studies and one experimental study shows that functional company characteristics are not effective in creating customer–company identification per se, but that their influence depends on whether they match with a self-definitional need that is important to the customer (i.e., self-continuity, self-distinctiveness, or self-enhancement). The findings also reveal the underlying mechanism of this contingency by showing that a self-definitional need fosters customer–company identification because it strengthens the symbolic value of a matching functional characteristic. By identifying specific characteristic–need matches, this research offers novel insights into how managers can leverage functional company characteristics in their targeting and communication efforts to establish meaningful long-term relationships with customers.

This paper investigates how positive affect experienced during consumption can increase consumers’ psychological ownership for consumed brands. Across five studies, the authors show that consumers who experience positive affect while they consume a brand develop stronger feelings of ownership for this brand. The effect holds for both actual and imagined consumption of real and fictitious brands from various product categories. In line with an account of affect attribution, we find that the effect is contingent on product consumption rather than mere exposure, and that it occurs in particular for brands with an affective positioning. Moreover, results corroborate the role of psychological ownership as a facilitator of consumer responses that signal commitment to brands. The findings entail novel implications for research on affect, psychological ownership and branding.

Despite increasing interest in warmth and competence as fundamental dimensions in consumers’ evaluation of service providers, prior research remains ambiguous about which dimension is more important. The current study develops a nomological framework that clarifies this ambiguity and explains whether, when, and why warmth or competence takes precedence for different outcomes in customer-service provider relationships. Combined evidence from field and laboratory studies support the notion of an asymmetric dominance, which suggests that warmth is dominant in driving outcomes that capture relational aspects (e.g., customer-company identification), whereas competence is dominant in driving outcomes that capture transactional aspects of the customer-service provider relationship (e.g., share of wallet). The findings provide first insights into the underlying mechanisms that drive this asymmetric dominance by demonstrating that relational and capability concerns mediate this process. Moreover, the current investigation identifies novel moderators that offer managers help in identifying service contexts (people vs. object care) and customer segments (differing in process and outcome service goals) for which investing in warmth or competence is more promising. Overall, displaying competence is particular effective in driving customer attraction and current operating performance, whereas displaying warmth is better suited to establish strong emotional bonds and drive customer retention.

Previous findings have provided indications that experience of COVID-19 illness of self and other affect mental health unfavorably. However, prior studies do not satisfactorily differentiate according to severity of COVID-19 illness or social proximity, which are both hypothesized to be relevant factors for increased psychological burden. This study provides an in-depth examination of the impact of Covid-19 experience of self and other on mental health, considering illness severity as well as proximity to the infected person (self, close and distant network). It used data on an older population (50+ years) from 28 European countries (n > 40 000 persons) surveyed in summer of 2021 using the Survey of Health and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Aside from bivariate analyses, a logistic regression model was computed to test the effects of illness severity by personal proximity over and above other stressors of life in the pandemic. Severity of illness was shown to be a contributor to psychological burden increase with the strongest effects among persons who reported own illness experiences or experiences in the close network. Regression analysis confirmed the impact of severe Covid-19 experience in self, close and distant relations. Moreover, even a less severe course impacted burden unfavorably when experienced in the own person and more distant relations. These results prove troubling. Psychological burden is impacted by infection, with experiences in self or close persons being strongest, while even ‘lighter' experiences in the distant network also have an unfavorable effect, emphasizing the need to gain control of the present pandemic.

Prior research on the use of scent in advertising has shown that scent can enhance the memorability of and engagement with an ad. However, can scenting an ad also change the way consumers perceive and react to the advertised product? This research provides new insights for this question and demonstrates an additional facet of scent: its ability to physically represent the essence of a target product and thus induce a sense of proximity. Through six studies, the authors show that scented ads enhance consumers’ sense of proximity of the advertised product and consequently increase product appeal. In line with the proposed visceral nature of the effect, this effect holds even for unpleasant scents but is contingent on the scent’s ability to represent the advertised product. The effect is weakened when the product is physically close. The findings of this research have implications for when and why firms should use scented ads.

Like Cinderella, many repurposed products involve a biographical transformation, from a tattered past identity (e.g., an old airbag) to a product with a valuable but different new identity (e.g., a backpack made from an airbag). In this article, the authors argue that marketers should help customers infer such product stories by highlighting the products’ tattered past identities. Three field experiments and four controlled experiments show that making a product’s past identity salient boosts demand across a variety of repurposed products. This is because past identity salience induces narrative thoughts about these products’ biographies, which in turn allows customers to feel special. Results also suggest that this strategy of past identity salience needs to be particularly well-crafted for products with easily discernible past identities. These findings highlight a promising new facet of storytelling (i.e., stories that customers self-infer in response to minimal marketer input); create new opportunities for promoting products with a prior life; and deliver detailed guidance for the largely unexplored, growing market for upcycled and recycled products.

Old-age loneliness is a global problem with many members of the scientific community suspecting increased loneliness in the elderly population during COVID-19 and the associated safety measures. Although hypothesized, a direct comparison of loneliness before and during the pandemic is hard to achieve without a survey of loneliness prior to the pandemic. This study provides a direct comparison of reported loneliness before and during the pandemic using 1:1 propensity score matching (PSM) on a pre- and a peri-pandemic sample of elderly (60C years) individuals from Lower Austria, a county of Austria (Europe). Differences on a loneliness index computed from the short De Jong Gierveld scale were found to be significant, evidencing that loneliness in the elderly population had in fact risen slightly during the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated safety measures. Although the reported loneliness remained rather low, this result illustrated the effect of the “new normal” under COVID-19. As loneliness is a risk factor for physical and mental illness, this result is important in planning the future handling of the pandemic, as safety measures seem to have a negative impact on loneliness. This work confirms the anticipated increase in loneliness in the elderly population during COVID-19.

Digital surveillance methods, such as location tracking apps on smartphones, have been implemented in many countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, but not much is known about predictors of their acceptance. Could it be that prosocial responsibility, to which authorities appealed in order to enhance compliance with quarantine measures, also increases acceptance of digital surveillance and restrictions of privacy? In their fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world communicated that self-isolation and social distancing measures are every citizen’s duty in order to protect the health not only of oneself but also of vulnerable others. We suggest that prosocial responsibility besides motivating people to comply with anti-pandemic measures also undermines people’s valuation of privacy. In an online research conducted with US participants, we examined correlates of people’s willingness to sacrifice individual rights and succumb to surveillance with a particular focus on prosocial responsibility. First, replicating prior research, we found that perceived prosocial responsibility was a powerful predictor of compliance with self-isolation and social distancing measures. Second, going beyond prior research, we found that perceived prosocial responsibility also predicted willingness to accept restrictions of individual rights and privacy, as well as to accept digital surveillance for the sake of public health. While we identify a range of additional predictors, the effects of prosocial responsibility hold after controlling for alternative processes, such as perceived self-risk, impact of the pandemic on oneself, or personal value of freedom. These findings suggest that prosocial responsibility may act as a Trojan horse for privacy compromises.

Marketing engaging consumers' senses has been growing in importance, however in this context little attention has been paid to the most effective marketing tool at the point of sale: the packaging. By means of an experiment, this study explores whether and how scented packaging influences product attractiveness and its purchase intentions. The results suggest that using scent for packaging can indeed enhance product-related reactions and intentions. Yet, the effect is observed just for product categories for which scent is primary product attribute.

Vor allem beim Aufbau einer emotionalen Beziehung zwischen Marke und KonsumentInnen nehmen Pronomen eine wichtige Rolle ein. In diesem Beitrag analysieren wir das Potential des Einsatzes von Possessivpronomen in Slogans anhand ausgewählter Best-Practice Beispiele. Unter Berücksichtigung von Literatur zu psychologischem Besitz zeigen wir, dass der jeweilige Unternehmenskontext, die Art und Weise wie Pronomen eingesetzt werden können beeinflusst und dass sich ein sinnvoller Einsatz auf mehr als eine Marke beziehen kann.

As there is only limited understanding of how customer relationships that are characterized by customersatisfaction differ from those that are characterized by customer-company identification, this study investigates how bothrelationship concepts differ in their drivers and considers crucial self-definitional needs for engendering customer-companyidentification, and additionally examines how both concepts differ in their consequences when companies face complex markets.

Everyone holds personal information about others. Each person’s privacy thus critically depends on the interplay of multiple actors. In an age of technology integration, this interdependence of data protection is becoming a major threat to privacy. Yet current regulation focuses on the sharing of information between two parties rather than multiactor situations. This study highlights how current policy inadequacies, illustrated by the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, can be overcome by means of a deeper understanding of the phenomenon. Specifically, the authors introduce a new phenomenological framework to explain interdependent infringements. This framework builds on parallels between property and privacy and suggests that interdependent peer protection necessitates three hierarchical steps, “the 3Rs”: realize, recognize, and respect. In response to observed failures at these steps, the authors identify four classes of intervention that constitute a toolbox addressing what can be done by marketers, regulators, and privacy organizations. While the first three classes of interventions address issues arising from the corresponding 3Rs, the authors specifically advocate for a fourth class of interventions that proposes radical alternatives that shift the responsibilities for privacy protection away from consumers.

Purpose Cause-related marketing (CRM) is a sales strategy that is used to improve the success of a product by including a donation to a charitable cause in its price. While marketers can present CRM donations to consumers as either absolute amounts or percentages, the predominant practice in marketing is to use the latter. As the influence of such presentation formats is not well understood, the purpose of this paper is to systematically examine their effects while taking into account the numerical ability (numeracy) of the consumers. Design/methodology/approach In two experiments, the presentation format of the donation amounts (absolute vs percentage) were manipulated and individual differences in numeracy were measured. The product type (hedonic vs utilitarian) and sales price were varied. We found this effect for high and low price levels and for hedonic and utilitarian products. Findings The results of both experiments consistently supported the hypothesis presented in this paper that for people with lower numeracy, their purchase intentions were higher when absolute donation amounts were presented. We found this effect for high and low price levels and for hedonic and utilitarian products. Originality/value The present paper shows that the current practice of presenting donations in percentages is inferior to presenting donations in absolute amounts because a large number of consumers have trouble interpreting percentages appropriately. Therefore, it indicates that the default option for marketing managers should be to present donations in absolute amounts for hedonic and utilitarian products with low and high prices.

Jeder Einkauf verfolgt einen spezifischen Zweck und ist in eine spezifische soziale Situation (z.B., Einkauf mit anderen) eingebettet. Verwendungsanlässe und situative Faktoren variieren während des Einkaufs über Personen hinweg und dennoch wurde bisher vorwiegend die Person als zentrale Erklärungsvariable für die Wahl verschiedener Markenarten, Herstellermarken versus Handelsmarken, gewählt. In drei Studien beleuchten wir welchen Einfluss KonsumentInnen der Macht der Situation zuschreiben. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass sowohl die konkrete Situation während des Einkaufs als auch der antizipierte Verwendungsanlass deutlichen und demographisch robusten Einfluss auf die Präferenz zwischen Hersteller- und Handelsmarken nehmen. Folglich plädieren wir für eine Aufnahme der Situation als entscheidenden Prädiktor der Markenwahl und diskutieren die resultierenden theoretischen und praktischen Implikationen.

Experiencing ownership is central to what it means to be human and it is central to the functioning of societies. One notion that is inherently tied to ownership is the notion of boundaries around the owned target and between owners and non-owners. These boundaries enable humans to claim, to exert control over and to take responsibility for that which is owned. All of which are necessary to motivate and enable sustainable behaviors. In this contribution I highlight ways in which current societal and technological trends, in particular the fast paced movement towards encompassing digitalization of life, erode the boundaries necessary for the experience of ownership. I further discuss how this erosion may not only hamper feelings of ownership but even go so far as to shift the perception of humans from owners to those being owned; thus, undermining humans perceived capability as responsible agents. In response, I suggest a necessary transformation in terms of digital boundaries and empowerment, potentially taking the shape of digital blueprints and agents.

Continued enjoyment of any good or system requires sustainable behavior. This holds in particular in the context of the environment. We currently use more resources than the environment is able to reproduce. Ways to instigate pro-environmental behaviors are needed. In this chapter we suggest that instigating psychological ownership may be a successful mechanism for triggering behaviors that help maintain the environment. We argue that psychological ownership helps combat most systematic barriers to sustainability and discuss potential mechanisms for instigating psychological ownership for abstract and ubiquitous systems such as the environment. We conclude with a discussion about implications for sustainability at large.

In the age of information everything becomes mined for the nuggets giving rise to it: data. Yet, who these new treasures do and should belong to is still being hotly debated. With individuals often acting as the source of the ore and businesses acting as the miners, both appear to hold a claim. This chapter contributes to this debate by analyzing whether and when personal data may evoke a sense of ownership in those they are about. Juxtaposing insights on the experience and functions of ownership with the essence of data and practices in data markets, we conclude that a very large fraction of personal data defies the logic and mechanisms of psychological possessions. In the canon of reasons for this defeat, issues of data characteristics, obscuring market practices, and data’s mere scope are center stage. In response, we propose to condense the boundless collection of data points into the singularized and graspable metaphor of a digital blueprint of the self. This metaphor is suggested to grasp the notion of personal data. To also enable consumers to effectively manage their data, we advocate adopting a practice commonly used with plentiful assets: the establishment of personal data agents and managers.

Die psychologische Erfahrung von Besitz ist für Menschen und deren Gesellschaften zentral. Grundthemen, die mit Besitz verbunden sind, sind die Erfahrung und das Ausüben von Kontrolle und das Übernehmen von Verantwortung. Basis für die Entwicklung von psychologischem Besitz ist die Erarbeitung und das Begreifbarmachen von Objekten. In diesem Beitrag wird die These vorgebracht, dass gegenwärtige gesellschaftliche und technologische Entwicklungen diese Basis zunehmend untergraben und es zu einer graduellen Verschiebung oder Auflösung der Grenze zwischen besitzendem Subjekt und besessenem Objekt kommt. Da diese Grenze für die Besitzausübung notwendig ist, plädiert dieser Beitrag letztlich dafür, diese als selbstverständlich erachtete Grenze neu zu beleuchten.

Financial decisions are a frequent occurrence within households. Depending on characteristics of the relationship between household members, the situation, and the concrete decision object, decisions can either be made jointly by multiple members of the household or individually by one member. This chapter outlines the four types of financial decisions (spending, saving and credit use, investment, money management) and identifies key parameters that are specific to and guide each of these decisions. The parameters that matter for a decision vary depending on whether a decision is being made individually or jointly. To understand the theoretical and practical implications of a decision it is, thus,necessary to understand whether or not a decision is being made jointly. We delve into this question by empirically assessing observed parental as well as intended own financial decision profiles; thus capturing possible intergenerational and gender influences. Results show a trend towards joint decisions in a household that appears at odds with increased financial autonomy of the spouses, current marketing communication strategies, and research in the field of financial decision making.

Marketing scholars and practitioners emphasize the importance of two benefits associated with the engagement of customers in coproduction: (1) higher profits and (2) better satisfaction of customer needs. However, previous research has neglected to investigate how attributions of these coproduction motives shape customers’ attitudes and behavior towards the firm. In light of this neglect, the authors develop a conceptual framework to investigate how customers’ attributions of profit- and customer need-driven coproduction motives affect important marketing outcomes over time. Results from latent growth analyses of longitudinal data comprising information from more than 12,000 customers show divergent effects of both motive attributions that follow different temporal patterns: Whereas the favorable effects of need-driven motive attributions decrease over time, the detrimental effects of profit-driven motive attributions remain highly persistent. The study further reveals how companies can shape customers’ motive attributions by managing the degree of intensity and freedom of design of coproduction offerings.

Older adults have been shown to avoid negative and prefer positive information to a higher extent than younger adults. This positivity bias influences their information processing as well as decision-making. We investigate age-related positivity bias in charitable giving in two studies. In Study 1 we examine motivational factors in monetary donations, while Study 2 focuses on the emotional effect of actual monetary donations. In Study 1, participants (n = 353, age range 20-74 years) were asked to rate their affect toward a person in need and then state how much money they would be willing to donate to help this person. In Study 2, participants (n = 108, age range 19-89) were asked to rate their affect toward a donation made a few days prior. Regression analysis was used to investigate whether or not the positivity bias influences the relationship between affect and donations. In Study 1, we found that older adults felt more sympathy and compassion and were less motivated by negative affect when compared to younger adults, who were motivated by both negative and positive affect. In Study 2, we found that the level of positive emotional reactions from monetary donations was higher in older participants compared to younger participants. We find support for an age-related positivity bias in charitable giving. This is true for motivation to make a future donation, as well as affective thinking about a previous donation. We conclude that older adults draw more positive affect from both the planning and outcome of monetary donations and hence benefit more from engaging in monetary charity than their younger counterparts. Funding Agencies|National Science Foundations (NSF); Adlerbertska Forskningsstiftelsen; Swedish Research Council; Swedish Research Council for Health; Working Life and Welfare (FORTE)