Products as Self-Evaluation Standards: When Owned and Unowned Products Have Opposite Effects on Self-Judgment

Weiss, Liad; Johar, Gita Venkataramani

doi:10.1093/jcr/ucv097

Cited by 71 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Weiss and Johar 2016). Ephemerality is one of the reasons consumers seek out and engage in marketplace performances, as in the case of the Burning Man festival (Kozinets 2002).…”

Section: Ephemeralitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In liquid consumption, consumers may not be interested in appropriation of goods, services, or experiences, and may not be looking to extend the self (Belk 1988). Recent research supports this assertion; for example, consumers tend to avoid identifying with objects they access for temporary use Weiss and Johar 2016). Certainty of a possession granted by legal ownership and appropriation is problematized in borrowing (Jenkins, Molesworth, and Scullion 2014, 137).…”

Section: Consumer Attachment and Appropriationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Liquid Consumption

Bardhi

Eckhardt

2017

Journal of Consumer Research

334

354

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This paper introduces a new dimension of consumption as liquid or solid. Liquid consumption is defined as ephemeral, access based and dematerialized, while solid consumption is defined as enduring, ownership based and material. Liquid and solid consumption are conceptualized as existing on a spectrum, with four conditions leading to consumption being liquid, solid, or a combination of the two: relevance to the self, the nature of social relationships, accessibility to mobility networks, and type of precarity experienced. Liquid consumption is needed to explain behavior within digital contexts, in access based consumption, and in conditions of global mobility. It highlights a consumption orientation around values of flexibility, adaptability, fluidity, lightness, detachment, and speed. Implications of liquid consumption for the domains of attachment and appropriation, the importance of use value, materialism, brand relationships and communities, identity, prosumption and the prosumer, and big data, quantification of the self and surveillance are discussed. Finally, managing the challenges of liquid consumption and its effect on consumer welfare are explored.Liquid consumption, Digital, Access based consumption, Dematerialization, Ephemerality, Bauman 4 In this paper we introduce a new dimension of consumption as solid and liquid. We define liquid consumption as ephemeral, access based and dematerialized, and solid consumption as that which is enduring, ownership based and tangible. The consumer behavior literature to date has focused primarily on solid consumption. Liquid consumption represents a novel concept in consumer behavior necessary to understand the types of consumption-related phenomena related to the digital, access-based practices, and global mobility. It argues for a different logic of consumption, from that of accumulation, appropriation, and celebration associated with solidity, to those practices embodying fluidity, use, access, immediacy, and dematerialization. That is, consumer value moves from appropriation to the acquisition, use and circulation states of the consumption cycle. Liquid consumption also argues for an ephemeral attachment to digital or physical consumption, which is valued temporarily and because of the access it provides, as well as the speed by which it provides access.In developing the concept of liquid consumption, we are inspired by Bauman's (2000; 2007a, b) theorizing of liquid modernity. In it, he uses the metaphor of liquidity to explain how everyday life has moved from being stable and secure to being more uncertain and rapidly changing. We apply a similar logic to the domain of consumption. We are not arguing that solid consumption will be disappearing. Rather, we conceptualize liquid consumption as existing along with solid consumption on a spectrum, and we point out factors which are likely to result in one or the other. Bauman (2000, 2007a, b) also points out that at the societal level, liquidity is rarely beneficial, as more uncertainty and less st...

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“…Weiss and Johar 2016). Ephemerality is one of the reasons consumers seek out and engage in marketplace performances, as in the case of the Burning Man festival (Kozinets 2002).…”

Section: Ephemeralitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Consumer Attachment and Appropriationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Liquid Consumption

Bardhi

Eckhardt

2017

Journal of Consumer Research

334

354

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“…Psychological ownership has value-enhancing consequences, which stem from an association of a good with the self and/or categorization of the good as “MINE.” Due to psychological ownership, traits associated with the self and positive self-associations are transferred to the good, increasing emotional attachment to the good and enhancing its perception and value (Beggan 1992; Gawronski et al 2007; Weiss and Johar 2016). Explicit categorization of the good as “MINE” appears to reframe the reference point from which it is viewed, changing the evaluation of the good from something that could be gained to something that could be lost.…”

Section: Psychological Ownershipmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Perceived control may be particularly impaired if firms remove actual user control by fixing the manner in which data is collected, accessed, and presented. A shift to experiential consumption of data, however, could increase psychological ownership of that data if firms give consumers more control of its disclosure, display, and delivery, facilitating identification with the data and its consumption (e.g., see their health data as an indicator of “me” rather than “it”; Franke, Schreier, and Kaiser 2010; Weiss and Johar 2016). Internet-enabled devices and wearables could give consumers the ability to “mute” data reporting.…”

Section: Trend 3: Expansion Of Personal Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of Consumption: A Psychological Ownership Framework

Morewedge¹,

Monga²,

Palmatier³

et al. 2020

Journal of Marketing

194

142

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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.

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“…and they identify with the symbolic meaning of these objects via the psychological feeling of ownership (Weiss & Johar, 2016). Third, having a sense of home makes people feel secure and comfortable.…”

Section: For Reviews)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Preferences for car sharing services: Effects of instrumental attributes and psychological ownership

Paundra

Rook

Dalen

et al. 2017

Journal of Environmental Psychology

112

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Car sharing services gain momentum as a potential alternative to various modes of transportation, including privately owned cars. This trend goes hand in hand with a renewed interest in the sharing economy, which has as essential premise that product ownership is of minor relevance. Using an online experiment, this study investigates if individual differences in psychological ownership influence the effects of well-known instrumental car attributes (price, parking convenience, and car type) on people's intention to select a shared car. Results confirmed that instrumental attributes generally impact preferences for car sharing services, and that a low psychological ownership may lead to a higher preference for a shared car under specific circumstances. This suggests that not only instrumental car attributes, but also psychological disposition, specifically psychological ownership, of potential customers need to be taken into consideration when developing measures to stimulate car sharing services in society.

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Products as Self-Evaluation Standards: When Owned and Unowned Products Have Opposite Effects on Self-Judgment

Cited by 71 publications

References 43 publications

Liquid Consumption

Liquid Consumption

Evolution of Consumption: A Psychological Ownership Framework

Preferences for car sharing services: Effects of instrumental attributes and psychological ownership

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