Brand ownership is a relevant construct reflecting a possessive relationship between a consumer and a brand. Accordingly, I defined brand ownership as a psychological state in which individuals have possessive feelings towards a brand, as well as having feelings of control over the brand. In other words, consumers consider the brand as “theirs” because they feel they own this brand through developing a closer relationship and emotional bond with the brand (Pierce et al., 2003). I demonstrated that brand ownership can be broken down into four related but distinct dimensions (belongingness, possessiveness, accountability, and dependability).
The brand ownership scale constructed in this research is relatively short and easy to administer, consisting of only 12 items. Six studies provide convergent evidence that consumers can develop feelings of ownership towards a brand and brand ownership captures this
relationship in a reliable and valid way. Through standard psychometrical tests, I showed that the brand ownership scale is internally reliable and consistent across different samples and studies. More importantly, the brand ownership scale displays discriminant validity from some well- established branding measures and scales, including brand involvement, self-brand connection, and brand loyalty. Finally, I showed that brand ownership can predict consumer behaviors: it affects consumer brand loyalty and purchase intention and can be an underlying mechanism for the relationship between self-brand connection and behavioral outcomes.
Contributions
The current research contributes to several streams of academic inquiry. First, it
contributes to the branding literature by introducing a measure of brand ownership and showing how feelings of ownership towards brands can have significant influence on consumers’
responses to brands. Second, this research contributes to the psychological theory of ownership by suggesting that feelings of ownership can be developed towards intangible items in consumer research domain, such as brands.
Contributions to Consumer-Brand Relationship
The findings contribute to the consumer-brand relationship literature by introducing a measure of brand ownership. Previous brand research has largely focused on the cognitive and emotional aspects of consumer-brand relationship (e.g., Thomson, MacInnis, and Park 2005; Batra, Ahuvia, and Bagozzi 2012), but remained silent on defining and investigating consumers’ feelings of ownership towards brands. Building on the literature of possessions and ownership, I demonstrate that brand ownership is a psychological state in which people feel possessive of a brand. Brand ownership is distinct from existing brand scales in that its conceptual core is consumers’ feelings of possessiveness towards a brand. It implies consumers’ perceived possessiveness over, and expected responsibility for the target brand.
It also contributes to branding literature through showing that brand ownership has a significant impact in predicting consumer behavior. While a growing body of research on ownership effect in the realm of consumer research focuses mostly on the endowment effect (Ariely, Huber, and Wertenbroch 2005; Shu and Peck 2011;Strahilevitz and Loewenstein 1998), brand extensions (Kirmani, Sood, and Bridges 1999; Fu, Ding, and Qu 2009), and customer empowerment strategies (Fuchs, Prandelli, and Schreier 2010), little research has investigated the impact of brand ownership on consumer behaviors. Brand ownership can serve as a
psychological mechanism to satisfy consumers’ need for belongingness, security, and self- esteem. It is particularly useful in explaining consumers’ responses to changes in brands. The construct demonstrates an emerging area for examining the ownership effects in consumer-brand
research.
Given that the brand ownership scale is distinct from other brand measures, it will be useful not only in academic research but also in marketing practice. As marketers engage consumers and build various forms of relationships with consumers, using the brand ownership scale will provide important insights into understanding this specific type of relationship between a consumer and a brand. Brand managers can use the scale to gauge the level of consumer-brand relationship and better manage brand equity.
Contributions to Psychology of Ownership Literature
This research contributes to the psychology of ownership literature by demonstrating that feelings of ownership can be developed towards brands in consumer research. Previous research finds that children have feelings of ownership towards nursery songs and consider them “theirs” if they heard them first (Issacs 1933), that employees develop psychological ownership towards their jobs or organizations (Pierce, Kostova, and Dirks 2003), and that consumers form a sense of ownership towards the physical products they actually own (Shu and Peck 2011). However, little research has examined the existence of feelings of ownership towards brands, a crucial element in consumer-brand research. While most consumer research has largely adopted a psychological ownership scale from other disciplines (e.g., Shu and Peck 2011), it cannot provide a true nature of ownership relationships between consumers and brands. The development of the construct and scale of brand ownership fills this void. Building on the notion that feelings of ownership can develop toward both tangible and intangible “targets” and can exist beyond the notion of legal ownership (Beggan 1992; Dittmar 1992), I extend the research on psychology of ownership by introducing the concept of brand ownership and demonstrating the construct has significant and
unique implications for branding research.
Limitations
The major limitation of this research is that the brand ownership scale was developed and validated using student samples. Even though prior research has established that a student sample is acceptable and desirable for theory-testing research (Yoo et al. 2000), using student samples may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should use consumers in real-life settings to replicate the findings in this research.
Future Research
Future research should also examine whether the scale can predict specific behavioral outcomes in various contexts (e.g., brand acquisition, brand failure, and brand community). In brand acquisition contexts, for example, how consumers react to brands towards which they have feelings of ownership before and after acquisitions is worth exploring. Brand ownership implies felt responsibility for the brand, which can lead to consumers’ protective behaviors to prevent the brand from being acquired before an acquisition. However, after a brand is acquired, do
consumers still maintain a sense of ownership towards the brand? Future research should examine the role of brand ownership in consumers’ response to changes to a brand.
Future research can also examine the role of brand ownership in overcoming social exclusion among consumers. As suggested above, the need to belong is one of the most fundamental of all human needs (Baumeister and Leary 1995). Consumers develop a sense of brand ownership to meet their need for belonging. However, social exclusion threatens people’s fundamental needs for belongingness (Williams 2001; Zadro, Williams, and Richardson 2004)
and has notable consequences for people’s attitudes and behaviors (Baumeister, Twenge, and Nuss 2002). Within the realm of consumer behavior, research suggests that when consumers experience threats to self-concept or the need to belong, they tend to respond with consumption of certain products or engaging in certain behaviors. In response to social exclusion, people employ psychological mechanisms to ensure that their need to belong is being met (Mead et al. 2011). In this sense, consumers should seek brands of high ownership to compensate for the loss of belongingness. Brands of high ownership are particularly important in addressing these threats. In particular, brands of high ownership can provide consumers with a sense of belongingness and satisfy their need to belong. When consumers’ self-esteem is threatened, consumers may
indirectly deal with the threat by consuming a product that is symbolic of self-identity (Wicklund and Gollwitzer 1982). Consumers consider brands of high ownership as a part of extended self, and they can compensate for the loss of self-esteem by consuming brands. Additionally, brands of high ownership are dependable and provide consumers with a sense of security. In this sense, future research should examine the uniqueness of brand ownership in overcoming consumers’ feelings of social exclusion.
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Appendix 1
Good afternoon. Welcome to our discussion on brand relationships.
My name is ______ and I will be moderating the focus group. Let’s go around the room and introduce ourselves, and it would be helpful if everyone would write down his/her first name on the tent cards.
I will be asking you a series of general questions about your experiences with some brands, and our discussion will be recorded. All comments will remain anonymous and confidential. Feel free to speak up at any time, but one at a time. Feel free to address one another, not just the moderator. Both positive and negative comments are welcomed.
1. You’ve provided the names of brands that you are most familiar with. What kind of experiences have you had with the brands?
2. Think of any brands that you have been using since your childhood. What kind of experience do you have with these brands?
3. Could you describe (this/these) brand(s)? When you say that you had this brand for a long time, do you think of this brand as a lifetime brand you will have? Why? What is the