Consumption‐Focused Self‐Expression Word of Mouth: A New Scale and Its Role in Consumer Research

Abstract

This research represents the first systematic empirical examination of the motivation to spread word of mouth about consumption activities in order to self‐express, a phenomenon that has been observed in both the academic literature and the popular press. Consumption‐focused self‐expression is a motivation to engage in word‐of‐mouth communication that is distinct from other word‐of‐mouth motivations that have been discussed in the literature. This work defines consumption‐focused self‐expression word of mouth as communication about one's consumption activities for the purpose of expressing one's self‐concept and attracting attention to oneself. A scale to measure consumption‐focused self‐expression word of mouth is developed and shown to exhibit a consistent scale structure, acceptable reliability, and convergent, discriminant, nomological, and predictive validity. Scores on the consumption‐focused self‐expression word‐of‐mouth scale are shown to predict differences in the quantity and nature of consumers’ actual word‐of‐mouth communications via the social networking Web site Facebook.

Brand tribalism and self-expressive brands: social influences and brand outcomes

“…However, although numerous prior studies demonstrate how consumers use brands to communicate the type of person they are to others (e.g. Belk, 1988;Moutinho et al, 2007;O'Cass, 2000), there is a dearth of research investigating whether the desire for self-expressive brands may serve as a motivation to spread WOM (Saenger et al, 2013). A study of brand love has suggested a positive relationship between self-expressive brands and WOM (Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006), but this relationship has remained largely unexplored in the academic literature.…”

“…WOM is defined as "the informal communication that occurs between private parties when there are evaluations of goods and services" (Anderson, 1998 p. 6). WOM is of importance for this study as previous research shows that consumers like to discuss and exchange information about the brands they consume (Gabrielli et al, 2013;Saenger et al, 2013;Veloutsou and Moutinho, 2009). In particular, talking about brands with others helps consumers both express and construct their selfconcept (Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006).…”

The baby boomer market maven in the United Kingdom: an experienced diffuser of marketplace information

“…While they like new technology (Atkinson, 2013;Barnes & Pressey, 2012) and acknowledge the relative advantage of online shopping in terms of excitement and the convenience of a delivery service (Pechtl, 2003) as well as the ability to hunt for deals (Boon, 2013), they are less likely to use or adopt online banking (Lassar, Manolis, & Lassar, 2005), more strongly disapprove of the missing touch-and-feel experience and have stronger doubts about data protection (Pechtl, 2003). Research also suggests that the market maven scale is not the best predictor of online word-ofmouth communications (Saenger et al, 2013). These findings lead to the next hypothesis:…”

“…Mavens even pass on established that people use brands and products to communicate their sense of identity (Belk, 1988;Twigg, 2007), so perhaps in a similar way people use consumption-related information as a way of expressing themselves (Saenger, Thomas, & Johnson, 2013). Finally, it is well established that some people take extreme pleasure from shopping as a leisure activity.…”

A Qualitative Research on The Changing Perceptions of Luxury Consumption in The Construction of Self

“…Within this scope they can transfer the products and brands they choose to their selves by ascribing them a special meaning. The researchers on the subject conclude that the performed consumption activities support individuals to communicate with their selves and construction of self [27]. Escalas and Bettman [28] claim that consumers use products and brands to create and image of the self and present this image to others by creating a bond between self and brand [29] express that through the products they possess, individuals can develop social identity as well.…”