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August 20, 2013
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Journal of Consumer Research
Ahead of Print Highlights


Bidirectional Dynamics of Materialism and Loneliness: Not Just a Vicious Cycle

Rik Pieters

This research is the first to test the hypothesis that consumers face a "material trap" in which materialism fosters social isolation which in turn reinforces materialism. It provides evidence that materialism and loneliness are engaged in bidirectional relationships over time. Importantly, loneliness contributes more to materialism than the other way around. Moreover, materialism's contribution to loneliness is not uniformly vicious but critically differs between specific subtypes of materialism. That is, valuing possessions as a happiness medicine or as a success measure increased loneliness, and these subtypes also increased most due to loneliness. Yet seeking possessions for material mirth decreased loneliness and was unaffected by it. These findings are based on longitudinal data from over 2,500 consumers across 6 years and a new latent growth model. They reveal how materialism and loneliness form a self-perpetuating vicious and virtuous cycle depending on the materialism subtype.

DOI: 10.1086/671564
Electronically published July 11, 2013

Balancing the Basket: The Role of Shopping Basket Composition in Embarrassment

Sean Blair
Neal J. Roese

When consumers anticipate feeling embarrassed by a purchase, they often purchase additional products to mitigate the threat. Nonembarrassing additional purchases do not necessarily attenuate anticipated embarrassment but may, paradoxically, exacerbate it instead. When additional purchases do attenuate anticipated embarrassment, they can do so independently of their effect on the salience of the embarrassing product. Five experiments provide converging evidence that additional purchases attenuate (vs. exacerbate) anticipated embarrassment to the extent that they are perceived to counterbalance (vs. complement) the undesired identity communicated during purchase. These results contrast with the traditional explanation for this strategy, which holds that additional purchases mitigate embarrassment because they compete with the embarrassing product for observers' attention. This research contributes to a more precise understanding of consumer coping and impression management by identifying shopping basket composition as an important factor in purchase embarrassment.

DOI: 10.1086/671761
Electronically published July 18, 2013

"Wii Will Rock You!" The Use and Effect of Figurative Language in Consumer Reviews of Hedonic and Utilitarian Consumption

Ann Kronrod
Shai Danziger

Figurative language in advertising affects product attitudes positively across contexts. In contrast, the use and effectiveness of figurative language in consumer-generated content is context specific, because of conversational norms unique to this form of communication. Consumer reviews containing more figurative language lead to more favorable attitudes in hedonic, but not utilitarian, consumption contexts, and conversational norms about figurative language govern this effect. Reading a review containing figurative language increases choice of hedonic over utilitarian options. Finally, consumers use figurative language more when sharing experiences about hedonic than utilitarian consumption, and review extremity influences figurative language use only in reviews of hedonic consumption. The studies highlight the critical role of conversational norms in interpreting and creating user-generated content.

DOI: 10.1086/671998
Electronically published July 25, 2013

Harmonization Processes and Relational Meanings in Constructing Asian Weddings

Thuc-Doan T. Nguyen
Russell W. Belk

Using multimethod data on wedding consumption, this research highlights the pursuit of harmonization as a dynamic and never-ending process that can happen within individuals, between human beings, and among different entities in the world. While prior research on harmony has treated the construct as a core value of Chinese culture or a set of abstract principles that guide consumer behavior, the focus here is on how harmonization happens, the conditions under which harmonization is either promoted or defeated, and the benefits resulting from harmonization that keep people involved in the process of creating it. This examination of Vietnamese weddings demystifies the myth that Asian consumers sacrifice individual preferences and bow to collective interests, explains how face influences Asian consumer behavior, and provides an extension of Richins's categories or levels of consumption meaning.

DOI: 10.1086/671464
Electronically published July 11, 2013



 


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