Evolution of Consumption: A Psychological Ownership Framework

Abstract

Technological innovations are creating new products, services, and markets that satisfy enduring consumer needs. These technological innovations create value for consumers and firms in many ways, but they also disrupt psychological ownership––the feeling that a thing is “MINE.” The authors describe two key dimensions of this technology-driven evolution of consumption pertaining to psychological ownership: (1) replacing legal ownership of private goods with legal access rights to goods and services owned and used by others and (2) replacing “solid” material goods with “liquid” experiential goods. They propose that these consumption changes can have three effects on psychological ownership: they can threaten it, cause it to transfer to other targets, and create new opportunities to preserve it. These changes and their effects are organized in a framework and examined across three macro trends in marketing: (1) growth of the sharing economy, (2) digitization of goods and services, and (3) expansion of personal data. This psychological ownership framework generates future research opportunities and actionable marketing strategies for firms aiming to preserve the positive consequences of psychological ownership and navigate cases for which it is a liability.

Marketing Thinking and Doing

“…A shared focus on marketing problems—the marketing phenomenon—can help overcome many natural differences between academics and practitioners. For example, Morewedge et al (2021) raise the problem that digital offerings tend to weaken consumers’ sense of psychological ownership. In response, Jim Griffin (2021), a digital music consultant, suggests a problem of interest to both music marketers and scholars that arises when a fan with a sense of psychological ownership behaves in a way that is at odds with the law (e.g., shares digital offerings that they do not own).…”

Leveraging Artificial Intelligence in Marketing for Social Good—An Ethical Perspective

“…Increasing levels of emotional/social intelligence and humanization of AI are related to anthropomorphism (Epley et al, 2007 ; Kim et al, 2019 ; Waytz, Cacioppo, et al, 2010 ; Waytz, Gray, et al, 2010 ) as well as mind perception of and attribution of experience/warmth and agency/competence to AI (e.g., Choi et al, 2020 ; Fiske et al, 2007 ; Gray et al, 2007 ; Waytz, Cacioppo, et al, 2010 ; Waytz, Gray, et al, 2010 ). Intense use of and interaction with human-like AI could lead to psychological ownership and emotional attachment (e.g., Morewedge, 2021 ; Morewedge et al, 2021 ; Shu & Peck, 2011 ). Both psychological phenomena might have detrimental psychological effects if AI deployment gets out of control and/or overreliance occurs.…”

Special Issue: The Implications of Something Different: Bright Side, Dark Sides and the Unexpected

“…Innovations emerge when consumers, firms or markets do something different. From marketer-driven technological disruptions (Hargadon and Douglas 2001), to consumers using existing products in unexpected ways (Martin and Schouten 2014), to fundamentally changing the way products are viewed (Grewal et al 2020; Morewedge et al 2021; Puntoni et al 2021), new markets emerge when ecosystem actors pivot to unexpected spaces. While routines create comfort and stability (Phipps and Ozanne 2017, Wilk 2009), it is when something different occurs that bright sides, dark sides and the unexpected can emerge.…”