Bernadette Kamleitner

Credit use: Psychological perspectives on a multifaceted phenomenon

Consumer borrowing is a highly topical and multifaceted phenomenon as well as a popular subject for study. We focus on consumer credit use and review the existing literature. To categorize what is known we identify four main psychological perspectives on the phenomenon: credit use as (1) a reflection of the situation, (2) a reflection of the person, (3) a cognitive process, and (4) a social process. On top of these perspectives we view credit use as a process that entails three distinct phases: (1) processes before credit acquisition, (2) processes at credit acquisition, and (3) processes after credit acquisition. We review the international literature along a two-tier structure that aligns the psychological perspectives with a process view of credit. This structure allows us to identify systematic concentrations as well as gaps in the existing research. We consolidate what is known within each perspective and identify what seems to be most urgently missing. Some of the most important gaps relate to research studying credit acquisition from the perspective of credit use as a reflection of the person or as a social process. In particular, research on credit use as a reflection of the person appears to focus exclusively on the first stage of the credit process. We conclude with a discussion that reaches across perspectives and identifies overarching gaps, trends, and open questions. We highlight a series of implicit linkages between perspectives and the geographical regions in which studies related to the perspectives were conducted. Beyond diagnosing a geographical imbalance of research, we argue for future research that systematically addresses interrelations between perspectives. We conclude with a set of global implications and research recommendations.

How using versus showing interaction between characters and products boosts product placement effectiveness

Placements in movies increase brand awareness. Whether they are effective beyond memory, (e.g. in terms of brand attitudes) is a contested issue. This paper argues and shows that a specific type of placement, character–product interaction (CPI), is able to achieve effectiveness across measures of placement success. A comparison of three experimental versions of the same movie demonstrates the consistent advantage of CPI placements over static prominent placements. Additional exploratory analyses suggest that placement effectiveness may also depend on characteristics of the placed product.

“As if It Were Mine”: Imagery Works by Inducing Psychological Ownership

Imagery appeals are a powerful instrument in a communicator’s toolbox. Imagery allows evaluating an object prior to actual experience and simulating object ownership. This article investigates whether imagery and psychological ownership are systematically interlinked, thus causing objects to become “mine” through imagery. Across 2 studies, featuring 3 objects, 3 different types of advertisements, and based on more than 800 participants, this article supports a conceptual model that suggests that an inherent link between imagery and psychological ownership drives a varied set of consumer responses. Implications for marketers aiming to capitalize on the effects of imagery processing are derived.

What Goes around Comes Around? Rewards as Strategic Assets in Crowdfunding

In crowdfunding, rewards can make or break success. Yet reward design, choice, and planning still occur based on availability rather than strategy. To address this challenge, this article provides an empirically derived crowd-funding reward toolbox offering guidance in strategically selecting rewards. Based on a large-scale analysis of successful and unsuccessful Kickstarter projects, this article classifies rewards that are currently offered along eight dimensions. It identifies emerging patterns and derives five strategic core tools and two add-on tools. Finally, it delivers exploratory insights into the relative effectiveness of different tools that can facilitate decision making and strategic planning for entrepreneurs and individuals who plan to launch a crowdfunding project and who seek ways to reward their supporters.

Over-indebtedness and the interplay of factual and mental money management: An interview study

Previous research has shown that money management contributes to over-indebtedness. This article sheds new light on this relation by looking at factual money management and its mental underpinnings, mental accounting. In a conceptual model we propose that fuzzy factual and mental money management practices aggravated by lack of congruency between factual and mental structures play an important role in over-indebtedness. Twenty-five in-depth interviews deliver preliminary support for this proposition. Successful financial control seems to build on efficient and inter-coordinated factual and mental money management. This reduces the willpower necessary for controlling financial behavior and helps to prevent and fight over-indebtedness.

A Metaphorical Synthesis of the Impact of Ownership on Consumer Behavior

The experience of ownership is a constituent of the human condition and is woven into the entire spectrum of consumer behaviors. Despite its overarching impact, the literature on the experience of ownership and, in particular, on its consequences on consumer behavior presents a rather fragmented picture. This review focuses on the way in which ownership brings about measurable consumer perceptions and behaviors. It synthesizes the main existing streams of research on the effects of ownership and advances the state of the art by deriving basic tenets of ownership and condensing existing knowledge into the conceptual metaphor of a person holding a balloon (symbolizing the ownership target) on a leash. The theory-generating potential of the metaphor is established by using it to propose that ownership can be viewed in terms psychological distance and by showcasing how the metaphor can be used to address multiple open questions around the experience of ownership. The result is a fresh perspective on a fundamental human phenomenon. Applying this perspective leads to theoretically and practically relevant implications and may prove useful in coming to grips with socio-economic developments such as a surge in virtual goods.

Salaries and promotion opportunities in the English banking industry, 1890-1936: a rejoinder

The article is a rejoinder to Andrew J. Seltzers article, published in Business History in August 2010, which critiqued an article published in May 2008 on the topic of clerical salaries in London, 1870–1914. It examines trends in salaries and promotions of branch clerks at the London, County and Westminster Bank and at the National Provincial Bank, and focuses on the London area for the period 1880–1913. It argues that salaries increased between 1880 and 1895 and then declined from 1895 to 1913. Adjusting for tenure and inflation, salaries were approximately at the same level in 1913 as they were in 1880. It also examines the relationship between tenure and salary, linking both to the rise of internal labour markets in Britains large retail banks.

Psychological Ownership as a Facilitator of Sustainable Behaviors

Continued enjoyment of any good or system requires sustainable behavior. This holds in particular in the context of the environment. We currently use more resources than the environment is able to reproduce. Ways to instigate pro-environmental behaviors are needed. In this chapter we suggest that instigating psychological ownership may be a successful mechanism for triggering behaviors that help maintain the environment. We argue that psychological ownership helps combat most systematic barriers to sustainability and discuss potential mechanisms for instigating psychological ownership for abstract and ubiquitous systems such as the environment. We conclude with a discussion about implications for sustainability at large.

Was steht im Fokus der Verbraucherforschung angesichts der Entgrenzungen des Konsums

Unter dem Titel „Was steht im Fokus der Verbraucherforschung angesichts der Entgrenzungen des Konsums?“ diskutierten die Vortragenden Frau Prof. Dr. Birgit Blattel-Mink, Herr Prof. Dr. Dr. Walter Blocher, Frau Prof. Dr. Ellen Enkel sowie Frau Prof. DDr. Bernadette Kamleitner uber die Bedeutung und Entwicklungstendenzen von Entgrenzungsphanomenen. Unter der Moderation von Herrn Prof. Dr. Peter Kenning wurde anhand der drei Ebenen „Deskription“, „Explikation“ und „Normation“ diskutiert, wie ggf. neue Phanomene und Theorien im Rahmen der Verbraucherforschung verortet werden konnen. Der vorliegende Beitrag gibt den Verlauf der Diskussion in wesentlichen Punkten wieder.

Besitzend und Besessen – Konsum und Besitz vor dem Hintergrund bröckelnder Subjekt-Objekt-Grenzen

Die psychologische Erfahrung von Besitz ist fur Menschen und deren Gesellschaften zentral. Grundthemen, die mit Besitz verbunden sind, sind die Erfahrung und das Ausuben von Kontrolle und das Ubernehmen von Verantwortung. Basis fur die Entwicklung von psychologischem Besitz ist die Erarbeitung und das Begreifbarmachen von Objekten. In diesem Beitrag wird die These vorgebracht, dass gegenwartige gesellschaftliche und technologische Entwicklungen diese Basis zunehmend untergraben und es zu einer graduellen Verschiebung oder Auflosung der Grenze zwischen besitzendem Subjekt und besessenem Objekt kommt. Da diese Grenze fur die Besitzausubung notwendig ist, pladiert dieser Beitrag letztlich dafur, diese als selbstverstandlich erachtete Grenze neu zu beleuchten.