We investigated the antecedents of volunteer behavior within a hierarchical model of motivation and personality. In Study 1, we developed measures of altruism and volunteer orientation and combined them with three additional traits to predict a set of volunteer behaviors. In Studies 2 and 3, we added six functional motives for volunteering identified by Clary et al. (1998) to the model. Across the 3 studies, the traits of altruism, the need for activity, and the need for learning were consistent predictors of volunteer orientation. In Studies 2 and 3, the measure of volunteer orientation was a significant predictor of the functional motives and of volunteer behaviors. Furthermore, the motive to help others was positively related to volunteering behaviors, and the motive of self‐enhancement was negatively related to them. Overall, the results support the proposal that functional motives act like motivated reasons for acting and reside at the surface level in a hierarchical model of personality.

AbstractMindsets—or implicit theories—are the beliefs people have about the nature of human characteristics. This article applies mindset theory and research to the field of consumer behavior. Specifically, we suggest how a fixed or growth mindset may shape consumer product preferences, acceptance of brand extensions, trust recovery following product failures, as well as the effectiveness of advertising and marketing campaigns. We argue that people with a fixed mindset are more likely to seek products and brands in line with their goals to burnish their self‐image and demonstrate their positive qualities, while people with a growth mindset seek products that help them pursue their goals to improve and learn new things. Thus, products and brands may serve important self‐enhancement functions—encouraging consumers to reinforce or expand core aspects of their identity. We also suggest that brands and companies can project a fixed or growth mindset. In turn, these organizational mindsets should shape consumers' expectations of, and relationships with, products, brands, and companies.

Extant research suggests that consumers can become emotionally attached to consumption objects, including brands. However, a scale to measure the strength of consumers’ emotional attachments to brands has yet to be devised. We develop such a scale in Studies 1 and 2. Study 3 validates the scale's internal consistency and dimensional structure. Study 4 examines its convergent validity with respect to four behavioral indicators of attachments. Study 5 demonstrates discriminant validity, showing that the scale is differentiated from measures of satisfaction, involvement, and brand attitudes. That study also examines the scale's predictive validity, showing that it is positively associated with indicators of both commitment and investment. The limitations of the scale and the boundary conditions of its applicability are also discussed.

Online social networks have become extremely popular, but what drives sharing through these channels? We demonstrate that one of the most popular features of online social networks, microblogging (e.g., tweeting or sharing Facebook status updates), is driven in part by its undirected nature. Microblogging allows people to simultaneously express themselves to a large number of potential communication partners without having to address anyone in particular. As a result, this communication channel is particularly valued when people feel socially apprehensive; it allows them to reach out without having to impose communication and potentially bother anyone in particular. These findings shed light on one reason why people use online social networks and provide insight into the value of undirected communication.

AbstractThe present paper proposes a customer–brand relationships model and empirically tests the following: (1) brand–self distance and brand prominence as representing customers' attachment–aversion relationships (AA Relationships) with a brand, (2) key distinguishing differences between the AA Relationships measure and other alternative relationship measures (i.e., brand attachment, emotional valence and brand attitude strength) based on a set of dependent variables, (3) three key determinants of the AA Relationships and the underlying process between the AA Relationships and behavioral intentions and actual brand behaviors, and (4) customer age as moderating the customer–brand relationships specified in the nomological model of the AA Relationships. The results offer strong support for the unique and important contribution of the AA Relationships model as representing consumers' relationship valence with a brand and its salience.

This article discusses the need for more satisfactory implicit measures in consumer psychology and assesses the theoretical foundations, validity, and value of the Implicit Association Test (IAT) as a measure of implicit consumer social cognition. Study 1 demonstrates the IAT's sensitivity to explicit individual differences in brand attitudes, ownership, and usage frequency, and shows their correlations with lAT‐based measures of implicit brand attitudes and brand relationship strength. In Study 2, the contrast between explicit and implicit measures of attitude toward the ad for sportswear advertisements portraying African American (Black) and European American (White) athlete–spokespersons revealed different patterns of responses to explicit and implicit measures in Black and White respondents. These were explained in terms of self‐presentation biases and system justification theory. Overall, the results demonstrate that the IAT enhances our understanding of consumer responses, particularly when consumers are either unable or unwilling to identify the sources of influence on their behaviors or opinions.

Two conceptualizations of innovativeness are operationalized and related to the new product adoption process. Multi‐item scales designed to measure consumer independent judgment making (i.e., the degree to which an individual makes innovation decisions independently of the communicated experience of others) and consumer novelty seeking (i.e., the desire to seek out new product information) are developed and tested on adult consumers. Tests of the hypothesized effects of these traits show that consumer novelty seeking is positively related to early stages of the adoption process (i.e., actualized novelty seeking and new product awareness), whereas consumer independent judgment making is only associated with later stages of the adoption process (i.e., new product trial). The implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are also discussed.

Product knowledge has been recognized as an important factor in the research on consumer decision making. It has also been acknowledged that there are different types of knowledge. In this article, we examine the impact of three types of knowledge—subjective knowledge, objective knowledge, and usage experience—on selected aspects of consumer decision making. Effects are examined within the context of an electronic shopping scenario in which subjects selected a VCR brand based on brand and attribute information that could be accessed through a personal computer. Results indicate that, consistent with real‐world experience, the three types of knowledge are correlated with each other. However, their effects on attribute importances, information search, and perceived decision outcomes vary by level and type of knowledge. We discuss these effects and their implications for future research.

AbstractEmotional antecedents of schadenfreude—joy experienced when observing another's downfall—were investigated in a status consumption context. Across 3 studies, status product failure produced schadenfreude and led to intentions to spread negative word‐of‐mouth (studies 1, 2), and increased negative affect and overall negative attitudes toward the status brand (study 3). Furthermore, studies 1 and 2 suggest that envy (particularly of social attention) can lead to schadenfreude by transmuting into hostile emotions. Finally, these studies suggest that schadenfreude in a consumption context can be precipitated by factors such as degree of target advantage and flaunting of the status product.

AbstractConsumers and companies frequently integrate products with lifelike photographs of people, animals, and other entities. However, consumer responses to such products are relatively unknown. Drawing on magical thinking and moral psychology, we propose that, due to a photograph's lifelike resemblance to its referent, consumers believe that photo‐integrated products embody the depicted entity's underlying essence. As such, in cases where consumption compromises the product's integrity (e.g., food, disposable goods), people are less likely to consume photo‐integrated products because doing so is perceived as destroying the depicted entity's essence, which elicits moral discomfort. In contrast, when the photographic image remains intact through consumption, as is the case with durable goods (e.g., magnets), people increase consumption of photo‐integrated products relative to products without photo integration, consistent with their popularity in the marketplace. We highlight two strategies to promote more positive outcomes for managers and consumers alike: (1) choose images of entities whose essence destruction is perceived as less immoral, and (2) increase the durability of the product so the depicted entity's essence is preserved through consumption.