Psychological Ownership Research Articles

"Let's embark on a joint health journey" - How Boundary Negotiating Artifacts Influence Patients' Psychological Ownership in Chronic Care

CSCW and HCI research has a standing discourse on boundary negotiating artifacts and psychological ownership. Both concepts are attributed the potential to address the spreading chronic disease pandemic and rising healthcare costs. While CSCW has attended only to boundary negotiating artifacts to study patient-provider collaboration, the psychological ownership discourse primarily focuses on the perception of ownership over digital objects. Despite studies in both discourses reporting promising results, the concepts have been studied separately. Accordingly, the ways boundary negotiating artifacts relate to psychological ownership in healthcare interactions remain unclear. In this research-through-design study, we evaluate the Digital Companion as a technology-based boundary negotiating artifact. Our field study with 27 patients shows how the Digital Companion fosters psychological ownership in weight management by bridging domains and closing the loop between patient self-management and medical support in consultations. By understanding how boundary negotiating artifacts foster psychological ownership, we gain deeper insights into how patients assume and share ownership of their therapy plans. Our analysis uncovers the emergence of perceived shared ownership as BNAs create concordance between patients and physicians.

Flow, job performance and psychological wellbeing: the role of psychological ownership and trust in the ICT work place

Purpose This paper, drawing on self-enhancement theory and from employee perspective, aims to develop and validate an integrative theoretical model that centers on the trust–psychological ownership (PO) link to investigate information and communications technology (ICT) employee work outcomes. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey with PLS-SEM analysis of 424 employees in ICT industry in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, reports that all of 10 hypotheses are empirically supported. Findings PO is found to be an important driver of employee flow, job performance and psychological wellbeing. Moreover, it is posited that trust acts a moderator of the relationship between flow experience and job performance, and between job performance and psychological wellbeing. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this paper is among the first to affirm that trust in work environment serves as both an enabler for PO and a moderator for the relationship between flow experience–job performance as well as between job performance–psychological wellbeing path. The study also affirms that flow state plays a mediating role in the PO–job performance path, and that job performance acts as a mediator in the flow experience–psychological wellbeing sequence. Finally, new evidence expectedly highlights the positive impact of job performance, a short-term work outcome, on psychological wellbeing, a long-term work outcome.

The effect of tokenized rewards on customer loyalty programs

This work investigates customer responses to the tokenization of hotel loyalty programs. Drawing on self-enhancement theory, Study 1 investigates the effect of reward type (i.e. control vs tokenized reward) on customers' perceptions of the reward (i.e. economic value, program attractiveness) and their behavioral intentions towards the hotel (i.e. switching intentions, recommendation intentions). Findings highlight reward novelty and psychological ownership as two mediators of the above relationships. Study 2 replicates these effects in a cryptocurrency owner context. Study 3 examines the effect of the hotel's type (i.e. luxury vs budget) on the reward type-customer responses relationship. We showcase that tokenized rewards generate a more favourable attitude towards loyalty programs and that they remain an effective customer acquisition strategy for high-end hotels.

Patterns of host territoriality and implications for P2P accommodation guest experience

Peer-to-peer (P2P) accommodation hosts exhibit diverse territorial behaviors in their interactions with guests. Combinations of these behaviors can distinctly affect guest experience. Using latent profile analysis, this paper identified subpopulations of P2P accommodation guests who share common perceptions of host territoriality. Results from three studies consistently revealed a trio of host territoriality patterns: low-territorial, access-limiting, and intrusive, which were differentially associated with guest experiences, including host evaluation, satisfaction, and revisit intention. Guests who experienced the access-limiting or intrusive pattern reported significantly less favorable attitudes toward their hosts and overall experiences, compared with those who experienced the low-territorial pattern. Psychological ownership and perceived control were found to mediate the influence of host territoriality patterns on guest experience. The findings of this research provide robust insight into the heterogeneity of host territoriality and shed light on service provision in P2P accommodation.

Choice, Psychological Ownership, and Option Valuation

ABSTRACTIn the past few decades, there have been concerns of a possible “choice overload effect” in that the provision of more (vs. less) choice might decrease choice satisfaction as it increases the difficulty of selecting an option among many. However, beyond choice satisfaction, there are other outcomes of offering more choices worth investigating. We examine another potential outcome of offering more choices. The results from four experiments suggest that offering more choice increases the chooser's valuation of the chosen option, relative to offering less choice. This is because offering choice increases the chooser's psychological ownership of the chosen option, a premise derived from prior conceptualizations of choice as fostering control. Thus, we extend theoretical understanding of the consequences of offering choice beyond satisfaction, while at the same time offer implications for marketers interested in understanding the benefits—in addition to the potential harms—of offering choice for consumers.

Psychological Ownership of Avatars in the Metaverse: Its Key Antecedents and Outcomes

ABSTRACTThis study developed and tested a model exploring the antecedents and outcomes of psychological ownership of avatars in the metaverse, considering the moderating role of virtual currency acquisition methods. Using data from 252 ZEPETO users and Partial Least Square‐Structural Equation Modeling (PLS‐SEM), the study found that the ability to control, intimate knowledge, and invest in self significantly enhances psychological ownership of avatars, which extends to virtual products. Notably, the reward system (versus direct purchase) for acquiring virtual currency amplified this ownership extension, and the transference of psychological ownership from avatars to virtual products significantly influenced the intention to purchase corresponding real‐world products. The study underscores the interplay between virtual and real‐world dynamics, highlighting the impact of digital activities on real‐world consumer behavior.

The Unclear Positioning Strategy: Useful Unclear Positioning in the Market

Unclear positioning is often seen as a flaw in marketing strategies, yet it can be beneficial for products like watches, cars, and luxury items that serve both practical and status-symbol functions. These products can be positioned ambiguously to appear as high-end offerings. This article examines the utility of unclear positioning by addressing four key areas: (1) the specific aspects of a product's positioning that can remain ambiguous, (2) the types of products that can benefit from unclear positioning, (3) the consumer psychology underlying unclear positioning, and (4) the potential application of unclear positioning strategies in emerging markets. This research provides valuable insights for companies in developing effective market positioning strategies, utilizing case studies and statistical analysis to demonstrate the efficacy of unclear positioning. This article shows product with high quality and mix attribution, come from companies with the already had regional and brand image can be benefit from the unclear positioning, since consumers are drawn to products that help them obscure their social status, offering them a sense of higher psychological ownership and happiness.

Feeling like owners: the impact of high-performance work practices and psychological ownership on employee outcomes in employee-owned companies

ABSTRACT A central finding of scholarship on employee ownership (EO) is that EO has the strongest impacts on employee outcomes when implemented with other management practices that are typically associated with high-performance work systems (HPWS). However, our explanations for why these complementary practices matter remain underdeveloped. In this paper, we examine whether the extent to which employees feel like owners, using the construct of psychological ownership (PO), mediates the impact of three HPWS practices on four employee outcomes in a dataset of 881 employees in nine companies with employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) in the United States. Our findings support our core argument that these practices make it more likely that employees will feel like owners, which in turn leads to positive impacts on employee outcomes. More specifically, we find that the extent to which employees perceive that they have influence, are engaged as owners through information sharing and business literacy training, and receive high quality communications about EO are positively associated with PO, and that PO is positively associated with organizational commitment, turnover intention, voice behavior, and helping behavior. We discuss the theoretical, management, and policy implications of our analysis and findings.

Optimizing healthcare employee performance: a serial mediation model.

The study investigates the serial mediation of psychological ownership and workplace innovation in the nexus between organizational leadership and employee performance among healthcare workers in Ghana. Six hundred and thirty-seven samples were selected using convenience sampling technique. The data gathered using self-reported questionnaire were analyzed using SEM-PLS. The findings reveal that organizational leadership directly improves healthcare employee's psychological ownership, workplace innovation and employee performance. Psychological ownership and workplace innovation separately and serially mediate the relationship between organizational leadership and healthcare employees' performance. The study highlights the significant influence of organizational leadership, psychological ownership and workplace innovation on the performance of healthcare employees. Healthcare organizations ought to allocate resources toward leadership development strategies to foster a favorable work atmosphere that promotes innovation and enables employees to assume ownership of their tasks and contribute to continuing enhancement, ultimately leading to enhanced performance. This research is a pioneering study on serial mediation of psychological ownership and workplace behavior in the association between organizational leadership and performance in healthcare settings in Ghana.

The Mediator Role of Psychological Ownership in the Effect of Perceived Managerial Support on Individual Work Performance: A Research in the Health Care Sector

The study aimed to determine the mediator role of psychological ownership in the relationship between nurses' perceived managerial support and individual work performance. The descriptive and cross-sectional study sample included Osmaniye provincial and district hospital nurses. A mixed analysis, including both quantitative (n=414) and qualitative (n=23) analysis methods, was used for the study. While the quantitative data were tested using the Structural Equation Model (SEM), content analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. According to the findings, it was concluded that psychological ownership partially mediated the effect of perceived managerial support on individual work performance.

Green voices in digital spaces: exploring the impact of knowledge sharing on sustainable engagement and eWOM in tourism

PurposeThis study explores the dynamics of companies’ green knowledge sharing (GKS) within the tourism sector, focusing on its influence on green electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) intention via the mediation of tourists’ green engagement behaviour. Additionally, the study considers the moderating effects of green destination psychological ownership and perceived injunctive norms of green self-expression online on the pathway from green knowledge sharing to tourists’ green engagement behaviour to green eWOM.Design/methodology/approachThe primary dataset, consisting of 902 valid responses obtained through time-lagged surveys administered to environmentally conscious tourists, was analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) by PROCESS package for R.FindingsFindings indicate that green destination psychological ownership enhances the mediation effect of tourists’ green engagement behaviour on green eWOM intention, reinforcing the sense of personal investment and belonging among tourists. Conversely, perceived injunctive norms of green self-expression online moderate this pathway by shaping the social norms and acceptability of green behaviours online.Practical implicationsTo effectively spread green knowledge, tourism businesses should focus on enhancing tourists' psychological ownership of green destinations and align their communications with the perceived norms of green expression online. This strategy not only deepens tourists' environmental commitment but also stimulates active participation in spreading sustainable practices.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the green marketing literature by revealing how intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors interact to influence green engagement and eWOM intention in the tourism industry, aiding marketers in strategically fostering green value co-creation and enhancing sustainable practices through targeted green knowledge sharing.

The Effects of Organizational Culture and Employees’ Promotive Psychological Ownership on Their Security Policy Compliance Intention

The Effects of Organizational Culture and Employees’ Promotive Psychological Ownership on Their Security Policy Compliance Intention

Can Multi-Sensory Affordance Mitigate the Shortcomings of Metaverse offerings?

ABSTRACT This study explores consumer attitudes and purchase intentions for Metaverse offerings, focusing on gaming avatars and platforms, through affordance theory. Analyzing data from 478 consumers with structural equation modeling and artificial neural networks, the research shows that presence based on anthropomorphism and interactivity enhances positive attitudes and purchase intentions. However, unmet psychological ownership needs and perceptions of artificial scarcity diminish these effects. Multi-sensory affordance compensates for these negative impacts, improving attitudes and purchase intentions. Offering a novel conceptualization of avatar affordances, this study addresses literature gaps and provides practical insights for developers to enhance user engagement and monetize Metaverse goods.

Interrelations of broad-based employee stock compensation, organisational justice perception, and psychological ownership

ABSTRACT Psychological ownership is one of the most important mechanisms through which broad-based share compensation leads to positive employee attitudes and behaviours. Despite the implications of broad-based share compensation for employees’ perceptions of organisational justice (OJ), little academic attention has been paid to the relationship of share compensation, justice perception, and psychological ownership. This study focuses on this understudied link and examines if broad-based employee stock ownership can make a difference in employee attitudes such as psychological ownership and perceived organisational justice, and their relationships. This study analysed the surveys of workers from employee-owned companies (the National ESOP Employee Survey) and a comparison group from Amazon’s MTurk to examine the association between antecedents of psychological ownership and justice perception, and the differences made by broad-based share compensation.

How perceived value of augmented reality shopping drives psychological ownership

PurposeThis study proposes a framework that demonstrates how the perceived value of augmented reality (AR) shopping influences the formation of psychological ownership of product and technology. The mediating role of flow experience and the moderating role of perceived control are identified.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey study recruiting 480 participants who experienced AR shopping was conducted to test the hypotheses.FindingsFunctional value is negatively related to psychological ownership of product and technology whereas emotional value shows opposite effects. Flow experience mediates the relationships between functional/emotional value and psychological ownership of product and technology. Perceived control moderates the relationship between emotional value and flow experience, as well as the relationship between functional/emotional value and psychological ownership of product and technology.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest the importance of AR’s functional and emotional values in developing psychological ownership of product and technology. To mitigate the negative effect of functional value, AR designers should focus on creating emotionally engaging apps that induce a flow experience, thereby enhancing psychological ownership. Furthermore, AR apps should be designed to empower users with a sense of control in the AR experience.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the AR and psychological ownership literature. It introduces a model that can explain both the formation of psychological ownership of product and psychological ownership of technology, thereby expanding the current understanding. By adding perceived values as antecedents of psychological ownership, it enriches the psychological ownership literature. Moreover, it enhances the flow experience literature by demonstrating the role of flow experience in the formation of psychological ownership of product and technology.

Decent work and work fulfilment: The mediating role of work engagement and the moderating role of psychological ownership

This study explores the well-being (engagement) and work fulfilment of 628 blue-collar workers as outcomes of decent work, based on the Psychology of Working Theory and its target group. It takes a positive preventative approach and demonstrates the motivational role of work engagement and psychological ownership in contributing to the work fulfilment of blue-collar workers experiencing decent work. Data was collected from a South African-owned trailer manufacturing company. The results show a positive relationship between decent work and work fulfilment, with work engagement mediating this relationship. Additionally, psychological ownership positively moderates the relationship between decent work and work engagement. This study adds insights into the underlying mechanism (work engagement) that elucidates how decent work relates to work fulfilment. This study sheds light on how decent work contributes to work fulfilment through work engagement. Furthermore, suggesting that this relationship is stronger for blue-collar workers with higher levels of psychological ownership.

Psychological Ownership and Organizational Commitment of Millennial Employees in the COVID-19 Pandemic: An Analysis of the Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction

This study investigates the relationship between psychological ownership and organizational commitment of millennial employees working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study also examines the mediating role of job satisfaction in the effect of psychological ownership on organizational commitment. Using a data set of 255 Vietnamese millennial employees, the partial least squares-structural equation model results indicated that millennial employees had a positive perception of psychological ownership and organizational commitment during this crisis. The impact of psychological ownership on organizational commitment through the mediating role of job satisfaction is demonstrated. This study serves as a scientific reference for operational and managerial decisions in organizations with millennial employees.

Access mode of consumption and psychological ownership: exploring the role of self-product connection

PurposeDrawing upon extended-self theory, this research aims to understand how different access modes of consumption and product type influence consumers' perceptions of self-product connection and sense of individual and collective ownership.Design/methodology/approachTwo experiments assessed the impact of access modes (temporary vs permanent) and product types (tangible vs intangible) on individual and collective psychological ownership (IPO and CPO) as well as the mediating role of self-product connection in these relationships.FindingsTemporary access reduces IPO compared to permanent access. Moreover, self-product connection mediates the relationship between access modes and both IPO and CPO. Product type significantly moderates the degree of psychological ownership, with intangible products having a notable influence on the impacts of access modes on IPO and CPO.Practical implicationsUnderstanding the nuances of access-based consumption and its effects on psychological ownership can inform marketers and businesses in designing more effective strategies for product offerings and access modes. Highlighting self-product connection can aid in cultivating stronger consumer relationships and loyalty in access-based consumption contexts.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the existing literature on consumer access-based consumption by shedding light on the changing dynamics of material possessions and the psychological mechanisms underlying ownership perceptions in access-based models.

Home and psychological well‐being in global consumer mobility

AbstractHome is typically understood as a singular place that provides a sense of groundedness, belonging, and well‐being. Yet, this singular notion of home is challenged in global mobility, where consumers live and travel across borders and relocate internationally frequently. We expect globally mobile consumers to experience multiple and multilayered notions of home with significant psychological consequences for their sense of well‐being, ownership, and identity. In a qualitative study of 40 globally mobile consumers, we examine what it means to have multiple homes and how consumers cope with it. We identified four types of home that coexist in global mobility: emotional home, home away from home, base of operation, and home on the road. These types are characterized by different degrees of permanence and serve different psychological benefits that are at times in opposition or complementary (respectively, belonging and ontological security, functioning and psychological ownership, productivity, and flexibility). We also explored how this home portfolio provokes emotional, social, and cognitive consequences with which globally mobile consumers cope through strategic use of marketplace resources.

Effects of coaches' authentic leadership on athletes' training competition satisfaction: The mediating roles of psychological ownership and athlete engagement

Coaching leadership greatly impacts athletes’ mental health and wellbeing. Although research shows a positive link between authentic leadership and athlete satisfaction, studies on specific subdimensions are limited. This study examines the influence of authentic leadership on athlete engagement and performance, utilizing a conditional process model to explore the mediating effects of psychological ownership and athlete engagement. A survey of 381 athletes (274 male, 107 female; Mage = 19.98; SD = 2.48) from team and individual sports found that perceived authentic leadership positively correlates with training competition satisfaction, psychological ownership, and athlete engagement. Structural equation modeling revealed that psychological ownership and athlete engagement significantly mediate this relationship. Thus, authentic leadership directly and indirectly enhances athletes’ satisfaction.