When Quitting Feels Like Giving Up: Self-Signaling in Retention Choice

Abstract

While recent research has demonstrated that consumers sometimes choose options to construct and communicate their identity, these findings have generally focused on the symbolic content of the option, and have largely ignored the structural aspects of the choice and self. This article investigates two structural properties that may affect the motivation to self-signal, and thereby influence choice. First, self-concept clarity - the extent to which someone feels clear and certain about who they are - is a structural aspect of the self-concept that can affect a consumer’s motivation to self-signal. Second, how a choice is structured - to retain versus to acquire the same good - triggers different levels of focus on identity attributions, even when the content of the choice (i.e. the item itself) is fixed. We propose that low self-concept clarity (versus high self-concept clarity) will increase a consumer’s relative preference for options that facilitate positive self-attributions, and that these effects will be strongest when the choice is framed as a retention (versus acquisition) decision. We examine these proposals in the increasingly important context of the decision to continue or forgo a service that is currently not being consumed (e.g. continuing to pay for an unused online magazine subscription), and conclude with a discussion of the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings.