Suchergebnisse

Abstract
The promotion of reuse and resale has been receiving extensive attention worldwide for the sake of sustainability. The current research provides insights into this area and identifies a "reuse and resale cycle," whereby consumers are more willing to resell products they originally obtained second hand, compared to products they obtained brand new. One potential mechanism that accounts for this effect is the relatively weak connection consumers form with the second-hand items they own. Six studies confirmed this effect across various product categories. Study 1 tracked consumers' actual resale of the possessions they owned in real life. Subsequent studies provided further empirical evidence for the proposed effect, uncovered the underlying mechanism concerning the strength of the connection with the product, and showed that the effect diminished among consumers who chronically have a high tendency to link themselves with their possessions. This research advances the understanding of resale behaviors. It has implications for consumers to avoid retaining excessive possessions and for the second-hand market to develop in a healthy manner, eventually contributing to society's sustainability in the long run.

Abstract
The present research proposes a new perspective to investigate the effect of product anthropomorphism on consumers' comparative judgment strategy in comparing two anthropomorphized (vs. two nonanthropomorphized) product options in a consideration set. Six experiments show that anthropomorphism increases consumers' use of an absolute judgment strategy (vs. a dimension-by-dimension strategy) in comparative judgment, leading to increased preference for the option with a more favorable overall evaluation over the option with a greater number of superior dimensions. The effect is mediated by consumers' perception of each anthropomorphized product alternative as an integrated entity rather than a bundle of separate attributes. The authors find the effect to be robust by directly tracing the process of participants' information processing using MouseLab software and eye-tracking techniques, and by self-reported preferences and real consumption choices. Moreover, the effect is moderated by the motivation to seek maximized accuracy or ease. These studies have important implications for theories about anthropomorphism and comparative judgment as well as marketing practice.