To have, or to feel like having : the effect of psychological ownership on consumer well-being

dc.contributor.advisorAtkinson, Lucinda
dc.contributor.advisor
dc.contributor.committeeMemberDrumwright, Minette
dc.contributor.committeeMemberScheinbaum, Angeline
dc.contributor.committeeMemberPounders, Kate
dc.contributor.committeeMemberRaghunathan, Raj
dc.creatorLi, Dan, active 21st century
dc.date.accessioned2018-10-22T15:52:38Z
dc.date.available2018-10-22T15:52:38Z
dc.date.created2018-08
dc.date.issued2018-10-08
dc.date.submittedAugust 2018
dc.date.updated2018-10-22T15:52:38Z
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation is among one of the first to introduce the concept of psychological ownership (Jussila, Tarkiainen, Sarstedt, and Hair, 2015) into consumer well-being research. Previous studies explored how “having” something makes people happy, but they all tend to view “having” as a state of legal ownership over the objects, and neglect the role of psychological ownership. According to self-determination theory, the author suggests that psychological ownership has a stronger impact on happiness than legal ownership, because the routes to psychological ownership satisfy the basic psychological needs including competence, autonomy, and relatedness. Through three experiments, the results show: 1) consumers feel happier when they have a higher psychological ownership over an item, e.g. a book rent form a library, regardless of whether they legally own the item. This effect is mediated by the satisfaction of basic psychological needs; 2) consumers anticipate greater happiness from a product that they customized as a gift either for themselves or for their friends. This effect is mediated by increased psychological ownership towards the gift through customization; 3) experiential framing of marketing messages influence consumers’ psychological ownership positively towards the advertised product, which in turn generates greater anticipated happiness. Theoretically, this dissertation contributes to the literature by providing an enhanced understanding of consumer happiness by uncovering the role of psychological ownership in the buying process. Practically, the study will help marketers make their products/services as a better candidate for the target of psychological ownership through message design and user experience design. The research on psychological ownership in consumer well-being is still in infancy. Future research should examine the effect of psychological ownership on sustainable consumer behaviors including reducing overconsumption, encouraging recycling, and promoting sharing economy as ways to enhance well-being.
dc.description.departmentAdvertising
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifierdoi:10.15781/T2FB4X56C
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/69101
dc.subjectPsychological ownership
dc.subjectConsumer happiness/well-being
dc.subjectSelf-determination theory
dc.subjectEndowment effect
dc.titleTo have, or to feel like having : the effect of psychological ownership on consumer well-being
dc.typeThesis
dc.type.materialtext
thesis.degree.departmentAdvertising
thesis.degree.disciplineAdvertising
thesis.degree.grantorThe University of Texas at Austin
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy

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