Consumer Self Research Articles

I think I can, I think I can; A qualitative investigation of celebrity endorsement and meaning transfer’s role in building consumer self confidence

ABSTRACT While prior research has highlighted the use of product purchases to build one’s self-confidence or has highlighted the ability of a celebrity endorsement to increase consumers’ confidence in their purchase of the product or the quality of the endorsed product, work that delineates the specific types of confidence that celebrity endorsement may provide consumers is scant. Leveraging the meaning transfer theory, this paper employs qualitative research design and draws on grounded theory methodology to examine consumers’ use of celebrity meanings through the consumption of celebrity-endorsed products to build confidence. The paper provides new insight into consumers’ use of celebrity meanings in constructing the self. Three forms of celebrity-evoked self-confidence emerged: validation, performance ability, and social insurance. While the first two are used to strengthen self-confidence, the third confidence is a form of feeling protected or safe. These findings add novel insight into consumers’ uses of celebrity-endorsed products.

Building consumer–brand relationships in the channel-mix era. The role of self–brand connection and product involvement

PurposeIn the channel-mix era, the customer journey involves combining channels during all the stages of the decision-making process, such that creating and maintaining relationships with consumers poses a challenge to retailers. This work aims to explore what role brands play in this issue by analyzing what impact the perceived benefits of brand channel-mix have on consumer self–brand connection (SBC) and what their effect is in enduring consumer–brand relationships (i.e. future channel-mix use and word of mouth [WOM]). This paper also explores the moderating role of product involvement in these relations.Design/methodology/approachThe authors carried out a personal questionnaire with a sample of 288 consumers who were recruited after leaving one of the stores of a clothing brand that is a successful example of distribution channel management.FindingsInsofar as consumers perceive channel-mix benefits, SBC will be higher and (or as a result) their future intentions with the brand will be more intense. In addition, the results show that product involvement moderates the relationship between SBC and channel-mix use intention and WOM.Originality/valueThis work contributes to channel-mix, relationship marketing, brand and product involvement literature by analyzing how customers may be retained in the channel-mix era through brand management and by considering product category involvement. This study merges brand and product variables to explore their impact on relationship marketing within channel-mix behaviors.

Residential mobility or mobile residentiality? Exploring the effects of place stability and variety in consumer psychology

AbstractEstablishing a new residence is a life‐changing event with a significant impact on people's psychology and behavior. However, digitalization, the sharing economy, and flexible working conditions have made it easier for people to move, and some people have even abandoned the concept of a permanent residence and adopted a new lifestyle—“mobile residentiality”—in which they seek residence only rarely and temporarily. This article explores the effects of place stability and variety on the consumer's self and identity, social relationships and networks, and personal and societal well‐being.

Extending Diderot unities: How cosmetic surgery changes consumption

AbstractConsumers engage in transformative practices such as cosmetic surgery to shape a new self that satisfies personal and social expectations. Yet, we lack an understanding of how cosmetic surgery and the consequent changes to a consumer's self affect their consumption practices. Building on Diderot unities we explore how cosmetic surgery influenced consumption practices of 10 female consumers postcosmetic surgery. Prior work on Diderot unities suggests that it is a new object inspiring the consumption of additional objects. Extending the notion of Diderot unities, we posit that also a new self brings changes in the constellation of consumption objects. Specifically, cosmetic surgery, the self, and material consumption practices are tied together by an expanded view of Diderot unities as not only involving people and objects, but also adding experiences. A newly surgically enhanced person perceives an imbalance between the assemblage of their self and self‐expressive objects. This imbalance sets off a series of purchases to restore balance by acquiring possessions and experiences that match their new magnificent self. Purchases extend to areas such as fashion objects, grooming objects and experiences, as well as experiences related to personal well‐being, vacation and leisure.

To What Extent Should Emerging Brands Maintain Distinctiveness in the Global Market? The Effect of Brand Isomorphism Level on Brand Evaluation

Extensive research on global branding has mainly adopted a behavioral perspective (e.g., consumer information processing, self and identity theory, and consumer culture theory). This study focuses on the dual tradeoff between distinctiveness and conformity with their mainstream peers for emerging brands in the global marketplace from a legitimacy perspective. Building on the optimal distinctiveness theory, this study investigates the effect of brand isomorphism level on brand evaluation by several empirical studies. Results indicate that brand evaluation shows an inverted U-shaped trend of rising first and then declining as the degree of isomorphism increases. Furthermore, this study also explores the contingent condition of our proposed effect by introducing a moderator of cognitive distance, which demonstrates consumers higher in cognitive distance should perceive more conformity to be legitimate relative to consumers lower in the cognitive distance in the global marketplace. Implications for theory and the practice of this work are discussed.

Green consumption: strategic retail considerations and consumer confidence

ABSTRACT A substantial number of studies has investigated consumer purchase intentions associated with green products. Yet most of this literature lacks clarity on feasible directions for promoting responsible consumption, which is increasingly important based on the growing recognition of green consumption. This study has explored the influence of green product price and quality perceptions, via the mediating effects of consumer self-confidence (CSC) and consumer protection confidence (CPC), on the decision to purchase such products. This study uses existing consumer self-confidence and protection confidence measures, to examine their relevance to green product purchasing. Australia was used as the case study for collecting and analysing data via structural equation modelling, to produce a conceptual model that demonstrates the associations of price and quality with purchase intent mediated by consumer self and protection confidence. The findings indicate that green product quality and price perceptions and consumer self-confidence are associated with purchase intention. The results can benefit marketing practitioners and retailers, highlighting the extent they can increase consumers’ responsible consumption. They also set the theoretical foundation for additional studies on how consumer self-confidence affects green product consumption and demonstrates how green purchase intent can be strategically improved.

How Self-Expressive Brands Influence Brand Love and Brand Advocacy: A Study on Social Media

One of reasons of consumer selects a particular brand is to develop their "self" and show it to the public or even to achieve their identity goals (Escalas and Bettman, 2003). Fournier (1998) also stated that a brand is able to reflect important aspects of individual's identity and express the significant aspect of their "self". The term to express this phenomenon is self-expressive brands. Because of the existence of the brand's ability to express consumer's self, so consumer will select particular brand far beyond its functional benefit (McDonald and Wilson, 2011). Keywords: self-expressive brand, brand love, brand advocacy, social media

The Role of Self-Construal and Competitiveness in Consumers’ Self-Brand Connection with Domestic vs. Foreign Brands

The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of self-construal (independence vs. interdependence) traits on consumer self and communal brand connection for domestic local and foreign global brands. The results showed that, while interdependent consumers report a higher self and communal brand connection for domestic local (and not for foreign global) brands, trait competitiveness has a favorable impact on self (and not communal) brand connection. The results also showed that independence did not have an impact on brand connection for either domestic local or foreign global brands. From our findings, we propose a new trait taxonomy of interaction-based traits including independence, interdependence, and competitiveness.

Shifting from autograph to Selfie: consumer self in the Facebook world

The recent revolution of information technology has diffused Facebook widely among consumers, and it has a considerable impact on consumer self and modern marketing communication. Purpose of this study is to investigate the acceptance and impact of dematerialized Facebook possessions on consumer extended self. The theoretical foundation of Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and extended self were used to develop the hypotheses of the study. The current study is based on primary data collected through a self-administered questionnaire, among a sample of 327 Sri Lankan undergraduates. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLSSEM) was used to estimate the path coefficients and test the hypotheses developed in the study. Findings reconfirmed the original TAM relationships, enabling the use of TAM in identifying the predictors for accepting dematerialized Facebook possessions. Moreover, findings revealed that dematerialized Facebook possession usage extended consumer self. Theoretical and practical implications of these study and directions for further research are discussed.

Being hybrid: a conceptual update of consumer self and consumption due to online/offline hybridity

ABSTRACTEmergent mobile technologies are dramatically and rapidly changing not only the way we consume but also the way we live. In theory, it is becoming harder and harder to keep pace with the changes already embodied in practice. First, this paper aims to reduce the gap between theory and practice by introducing online/offline hybridity both as a new kind of hybridity and a universal contemporary human condition. Second, it presents the concept of hybrid space as a new frame of reference, as an overarching conception of our everyday. Third, it proposes the necessary micro-level updates regarding consumer self and consumption due to these changes in perspective. Fourth, it concludes by introducing privatescapes as a new global flow of shared private content with a significant impact on consumer behaviour.

Materialism, cosmopolitanism, and emotional brand attachment: The roles of ideal self-congruity and perceived brand globalness

This study investigates how materialism and cosmopolitanism affect emotional brand attachment, a key driver of consumer brand equity. Further, it sheds light onto the contingent role of ideal self-congruity and perceived brand globalness in such relationships. The study uses a cross-sectional online survey of consumers of electronic brands in a market of major economic importance, China, where global brands of domestic and foreign origin engage in head-to-head competition. Based on data on 623 consumer-brand relationships, the study shows that materialism and cosmopolitanism are positively associated with emotional brand attachment when brands are high in ideal self-congruity, i.e., when they reflect an aspirational, idealized view of the consumer's self. Further, the study shows that materialists (but not cosmopolitans) show emotional attachment to brands perceived as global, even when such brands are low in aspirational value. The study uncovers two new antecedents of emotional brand attachment and presents implications for managers making segmentation and brand strategy decisions.

The effects of creating shared value (CSV) on the consumer self–brand connection: Perspective of sustainable development

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to shed light on the self–brand connection by analyzing two relationships: first, the effects on the self–brand connection of the association in a consumer's mind between the corporate strategy known as creating shared value (CSV) and brands that deploy this strategy; second, the effects on the self–brand connection of the association between corporate competence and brands. The paper examines whether the authenticity with which a firm deploys the CSV strategy (and markets products that are perceived as authentic) has a positive effect on the formation of self–brand connections among consumers. A company that manufactures eco‐friendly products and implements a CSV strategy as a means of managing its operations ethically was chosen as the research subject. A total of 1500 consumers participated in the survey. The study found that consumers' perceptions of the associations of CSV and corporate competence with the brand under study are closely related to the self–brand connection. Such associations can also generate self‐identification with a brand as well as brand loyalty. The authenticity of CSV activity and related products was found to play a critical role in the formation of consumer attitudes such as perception of sustainable development.

스포츠스타 브랜드이미지-소비자 자아 일치성과 스포츠스타 속성이스포츠스타브랜드에 대한 사랑과 소비자 행복에 미치는 영향

스포츠스타 브랜드이미지-소비자 자아 일치성과 스포츠스타 속성이스포츠스타브랜드에 대한 사랑과 소비자 행복에 미치는 영향

Me, myself, and Ikea: Qualifying generic self-referencing effects in brand judgment

The present research extends previous work on the latent tendency to be attracted to objects, events and entities that are associated with the self by demonstrating when and how generic self-referencing brand names influence brand judgment. In five studies we hypothesize and find that using pronouns in brand names that refer to the consumer's self (i.e., ‘I’ or ‘my’ as in ‘iTunes’ or ‘MySpace’) produces an attraction effect and promotes favorable brand responses. The strength of the effect hinges on the extent to which the consumer's self-view is positive. In addition, we test a logical extension of the effect and show that attraction turns into avoidance when consumers' acute self-view is negative, particularly for products for which the association with the consumer's self is more salient, i.e., self-expressive products.

‘Being TED’: The university intellectual as globalised neoliberal consumer self

This article focuses on the ways that modern American universities are engaged in the process of articulating new producing and consuming subjects. It argues that the image of the engaged ‘media celebrity’ intellectual, as presented in the TED Talk model, has become a cultural ideal that reconciles a deeper contradiction in the academy. Through a complex process, university faculty and students are assimilated into the globalised lifestyle and the identity of cosmopolitans by participating in a social space that is at once an upscale shopping mall and at the same time a high tech corporate research park. This global elite is forged first out of individuals who make it through the university and then secondly out of those university students who successfully excel under the twin pressures of elite production and consumption. Most student, faculty and universities fall short of this ideal. But by watching TED talks they can aspire to this fantasy ideal through the image of the media celebrity intellectual.

Determining Key Factors in Consumer Evaluation of an Airport

Proposing Persuasion Knowledge as the Antecedent of Consumers’ Self-Confidence during a Complex Purchase Decision Alet C Erasmus, Sunė Donoghue, Lizelle Fletcher Abstract The investigation referred to consumers’ purchase of a fairly complex household product focusing on consumers’ persuasion knowledge as a possible indication of consumers’ self-confidence, a personal characteristic that has largely been neglected in consumer behaviour literature to date. The sample comprised 461 experienced consumers who were recruited across a major urban area in a Third-world context. An adapted version of the 2009 Consumer Self Confidence (CSC) scale of Loibl and co-workers was used to confirm the underlying constructs associated with CSC aiming to specifically endorse consumers’ persuasion knowledge as antecedent of CSC. Because a four-point scale was used, the researchers had to use anunweighted least squares procedure (ULS) to estimate the parameters during structural equation modelling, aiming to acquire acceptable goodness of fit indices (>0.9). Scale items were validated and confirmatory factor analysis was used to check the dimensions of the scale as well as the proposed path diagram prior to more comprehensive statistical analyses. SEM involved two parts, firstly a measurement model was compiled to confirm the items and to examine the relationships between the latent variables, followed by the design of the structural model that indicates the influence between the latent variable. Findings confirmed persuasion knowledge (PK) as an antecedent of CSC. Evidence of the positive influence of age and education level on consumers’ PK sanctions the positive influence of consumer socialization. Findings have multiple implications in terms of the ways in which industry and retail convey complex information to consumers, and how vulnerable consumers can be empowered in a market place. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jmm.v3n2a3

Sensory modulation and post meal distress at Royal Melbourne Hospital Eating Disorders Specialist Unit

Sensory modulation utilises sensory input from external senses (vision, taste, smell, hearing and touch) and internal senses (vestibular, proprioceptive and deep pressure touch), along with abdominal breathing. It has been shown to help with stress reduction, relaxation, emotional regulation and symptom management of adolescent consumers and elderly consumers. An exploratory method was used to evaluate if Sensory Modulation had an impact on reducing post meal distress in adult consumers suffering from eating disorders. The data was collected from inpatient eating disorder consumers. There ranged between five and eight consumers per group per week. The Sensory Modulation Group ran once a week for forty five minutes over a ten week period. The Sensory Modulation Consumer Self Rating Tool was used to rate the consumer mood before and after Sensory Modulation was implemented. It was found that Sensory Modulation utilised after a meal reduced post meal distress by 10%-20%. With increased implementation on the inpatient unit, Sensory Modulation allows inpatient consumers to find a sensory modality that works for them that they can utilise in the community to manage post meal distress.

Tasting the Ethical: Vegetarianism as Modern Re-Enchantment

There is, as Andrew Rowan dubs it, a "constant paradox" in the way we treat, relate to, and consume animals in our everyday lives (Arluke and Sanders 4). This paper examines this paradox in relation to the rise of vegetarianism as a new taste and consumer culture in the West. The first part of the paper, drawing upon Bourdieu, argues that vegetarian "taste" is fundamentally a social practice linked to class and gender. It then offers a preliminary theoretical sketch of the sociological drivers and consequences of vegetarianism in latemodernity, drawing on social theory. Having established the theoretical framework, the second part of the paper turns to an empirical analysis of the moral motivations and experiences of a selection of Australian bloggers. The key argument is that the bloggers narrate vegetarianism as a taste practice that entangles self-care with a larger assemblage of non-human responsibility that works to re-enchant a demoralised consumer modernity.

Fashion savvy II: 타인의 부정적 평가에 대한 두려움, 자아존중감과 의복구매 자신감이 fashion savvy에 미치는 영향

Abstract The purpose of this study was to test the determinants of fashion savvy. As determinants, this study examined fear of negative evaluation by others and self esteem as subject-related variables and consumer confidence in fashion decisions as the product-related variable. It was hypothesized that fear of negative evaluation and self esteem influence fashion savvy both directly and indirectly through consumer confidence in fashion decisions. Data were gathered by surveying university students in Seoul metropolitan area, using convenience sampling, and 311 questionnaires were used in the statistical analysis. In analyzing data, factor analysis and path analysis were conducted. Tests of the hypothesized path show that one factor of fear of negative evaluation and self esteem influence fashion savvy directly and indirectly through consumer confidence in fashion decisions. More specifically, ‘fear of negative impression and judgment’ factor negatively influences ‘marketing literacy’ and ‘consumer self- efficacy’ of fashion savvy, whereas self-esteem positively influences ‘consumer self-efficacy’ of fashion savvy. In addition, consumer confidence in fashion decisions influences all six factors of fashion savvy. The implications of these findings and suggestions for future study are also discussed. Keywords: fashion savvy(패션 세비), fear of negative evaluation by others(타인의 부정적 평가에 대한 두려움), self esteem(자아존중감), consumer confidence in fashion decisions(의복구매 자신감)

Dispelling the collective myth of Chinese consumers: a new generation of brand‐conscious individualists

PurposeThe unprecedented increase in brand development among one of the fastest‐growing consumer markets, the new generation of Chinese consumers, compels a greater understanding of the psychological factors that were largely stereotyped to be collective and homogeneous. Grounded in self‐congruity theory, the primary purpose of this study is to understand the joint impact of Chinese consumers' self‐ and gender consciousness on their ensuing brand perceptions. This study aims to critically explore the process that underlies the aforementioned relationships with consumers' need for uniqueness and brand consciousness.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey using consumer panel data was conducted in three “tier‐one” cities in the People's Republic of China. The focus on these cities coincided with the competitive density of retail brands, and resulted in 302 respondents in the population of interest. The data were analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM).FindingsSelf‐ and gender consciousness do impact brand consciousness indirectly through Chinese consumers' need for uniqueness. Contrary to expectations, the study finds that self‐consciousness has a negative direct impact on brand consciousness, while gender consciousness does not have a direct impact on brand consciousness. Furthermore, brand consciousness leads to positive brand perceptions, including brand attitudes, brand loyalty, and willingness to pay a price premium.Practical implicationsThe research provides an in‐depth understanding of self‐congruity in Chinese consumers' brand perceptions. The research findings can be used to formulate brand positioning and promotion strategies for brand managers.Originality/valueThe study integrates extant theories in gender schema and self‐congruity to understand brand perceptions in light of self‐ and gender consciousness. To date, no research has explored this relationship. Furthermore, the study discusses the role of consumers' need for uniqueness as a process that underlines the relationship between consumer self‐ and gender consciousness, and brand perceptions in terms of brand consciousness, brand attitude and loyalty and willingness to pay a price premium.