Customers’ psychological ownership toward the third place

Abstract

Do people feel psychological ownership toward a third place other than homes as the first place and workplaces as the second place? The present study proposes a research model integrating three characteristics of the third place including customer participation, place attachment, and psychological ownership, and tests six hypotheses derived from the research model, which is based on social identity theory and attachment theory. Communication, concentration, and self-expressiveness as characteristics of the third place have a positive influence on customer participation. Customer participation has a direct positive influence on psychological ownership as well as indirectly through place attachment.