ABSTRACT Prior research has examined consumer–product relationships across ownership and access contexts, but less is known about why temporary access may lead consumers to use products harshly or excessively. This research develops fear of ephemerality as an additional psychological mechanism explaining why abusive product use may be more likely in temporary access than ownership contexts. We focus on abusive product use, which refers to harsh use or overuse that can harm the product or consumer, and compare abusive usage behaviors toward consumer‐owned products and consumer‐accessed products. Drawing on self‐preservation and self‐destruction theories within the extended‐self framework, the present research employs both field data collection and experimental evidence. We find that accessed products, compared to owned products, are more prone to abusive use. This pattern is consistent with a fear‐based shift from self‐preservation toward self‐destruction when the temporary nature of access becomes salient. Furthermore, fear of ephemerality explains why accessed products are more prone to abuse than owned products. We also examine how self‐esteem and self‐extension tendency shape the strength of this effect as boundary conditions.
ABSTRACT Soft and hard launches of romantic relationships have become increasingly prevalent forms of relationship disclosure in digital environments, yet little is known about whether these forms of disclosure influence subsequent consumer behavior. Across four experiments, we show that soft (vs. hard) relationship disclosures increase consumers' preference for minimalist consumption. We identify preference for subtle self‐presentation as a potential explanatory mechanism underlying this effect: soft relationship disclosures increase preference for subtle self‐presentation, which subsequently enhances preference for minimalist consumption. Relationship privacy orientation moderates this process, such that the indirect effect of soft launch on minimalist consumption via preference for subtle self‐presentation strengthens as relation privacy increases. A marketplace urgency cue also moderates this process, such that the indirect effect holds when the cue is absent but diminishes when it is present. These findings demonstrate how romantic relationship disclosure types influence subsequent marketplace preferences.
ABSTRACT This study examines emotional responses and their associations with Cognitive Understanding and Intentional Behavior following exposure to a social advertising video featuring historical female role models. Using a mixed‐methods approach that combines near‐infrared spectroscopy with survey data, it investigates how emotional responses observed during exposure to a femvertising stimulus are associated with subsequent Cognitive Understanding and Intentional Behavior. The research contributes to the understanding of emotional and cognitive responses to social advertising among children and adolescents and examines whether these relationships differ between male and female respondents. The model analyzes the relationships among emotional responses, cognitive engagement, and behavioral predisposition, using gender as a grouping variable. Results highlight the critical influence of both positive and negative emotions in responding to social messages and the potential of femvertising narratives to engage gender‐related awareness among young audiences. Practical implications for marketing and education are discussed, along with directions for future research.
ABSTRACT Despite the increasing prevalence of self‐improvement products and services, what encourages consumers to choose such products requires further exploration. Drawing from tournament theory, which suggests that individuals exert greater effort when reward differentials across levels are large (vs. small), we show that perceived economic inequality is one of the factors that encourages consumers to choose self‐improvement products. Through 6 studies (including 2 supplementary studies) across 3 countries (i.e., the United States, Japan, and China; N = 2626), this research shows that high (vs. low) perceived economic inequality significantly increases consumers' preferences for self‐improvement (vs. non‐self‐improvement) products, and finds a significant indirect effect through heightened status ambition. Alternative explanations of status anxiety, loss of control, negative mood, and envy were not supported as mediators. However, this research did not find evidence that perceived social mobility moderates the relationship between perceived economic inequality and preferences for self‐improvement consumption. Study 4 further demonstrates that the main effect extends to more direct consumption‐related outcomes, including purchase intention and recommendation likelihood. Together, these findings suggest that demand for self‐improvement products is shaped by consumers' perceptions of the economic inequality, providing insights for consumers themselves and for self‐improvement–related firms to develop more effective promotion strategies across different economic contexts.
ABSTRACT Online reviews are a prominent source of information in consumer decision making, yet little is known about how review presentation and order jointly affect consumer judgments. Drawing on eWOM literature and working memory theory, we propose that sequential presentation makes consumers more sensitive to the grouping of reviews. Across four experiments, we show that when reviews are viewed sequentially, grouping minority reviews into a contiguous run increases their perceived prevalence and in turn shifts product evaluations accordingly, whereas scattered minority reviews have weaker effects. This grouping effect emerges for both positive and negative minority reviews, is attenuated under cognitive load, and is stronger under mobile than desktop viewing conditions. Perceived minority prevalence mediates the effect on product evaluations. Our findings identify structural contiguity as a distinct source of review order effects and demonstrate how ostensibly functional choices about review presentation and sorting can shape consumers' perceptions and judgments.
