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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 7 November 2018

Darren Boardman, Maria M. Raciti and Meredith Lawley

The purpose of this paper is to assist service management academics and providers of positional services (i.e. services that provide status attainment benefits to consumers) to…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to assist service management academics and providers of positional services (i.e. services that provide status attainment benefits to consumers) to better understand how the envy reflex of outperformed consumers operates as an endemic emotional theme that, if properly managed, can be harnessed to improve consumer engagement outcomes.

Design/methodology/approach

The objectives of the research were addressed via two quantitative studies. In a preliminary descriptive study, the types of services consumers classify as “positional” were identified (n=351) and a measure of consumer perceived positional value was developed (n=179). In the main study, a 2 × 2 between-subjects quasi-experimental design was adopted using a sample of positional service consumers (n=265) with the data analysed via SEM and two-way MANCOVA.

Findings

The main study found a significant mediation effect of the envy reflex on the relationship between consumer perceived positional value and the overall likelihood of an engagement intention for outperformed positional service consumers. In addition, specific engagement intentions were predicted for outperformed consumers with a high envy reflex after considering how deserving they perceived a superior performer to be.

Originality/value

This research contributes to the burgeoning scholarly interest in the envy reflex as a consumption emotion by demonstrating its influence on consumer engagement outcomes. The research also demonstrates how tactics informed by appraisal theories of emotion can be used to manage endemic emotional themes in service environments to improve engagement outcomes.

Details

Journal of Service Theory and Practice, vol. 28 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2055-6225

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 September 2021

Anwar Sadat Shimul, Billy Sung and Ian Phau

This study aims to investigate how luxury brand attachment (LBA) and perceived envy may influence schadenfreude. In addition, the moderating influence of consumers’ need for…

1200

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how luxury brand attachment (LBA) and perceived envy may influence schadenfreude. In addition, the moderating influence of consumers’ need for uniqueness (CNFU) and private vs public consumption is examined.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected from a consumer panel in Australia. A total of 365 valid and useable responses were analysed through structural equation modelling in AMOS 26.

Findings

The results show that LBA has a significant impact on perceived envy. Consumers’ perceived envy also results in schadenfreude. However, LBA did not have any significant impact on schadenfreude. The moderating influence of CNFU is partially supported. This research further confirms that consumers’ public consumption has more relevance to visible social comparison and potential feelings of malicious envy towards others.

Practical implications

The research model may work as a strategic tool to identify, which group of consumers (e.g. high vs low attachment) displays stronger envy and schadenfreude. Brand managers can also explore the personality traits and psychological dynamics that influence the consumers to express emotional bonds and malicious joy within the context of consumer-brand relationships.

Originality/value

This is one of the first few studies that have examined the relationships amongst consumers’ brand attachment, perceived envy, schadenfreude and need for uniqueness within a luxury branding context.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 38 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 9 May 2016

Gerardo Joel Anaya, Li Miao, Anna S. Mattila and Barbara Almanza

This paper aims to explore consumer envy in the context of service encounters. Envy-elicited cognitive appraisals, emotions, interpersonal and organizational consequences were…

1655

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore consumer envy in the context of service encounters. Envy-elicited cognitive appraisals, emotions, interpersonal and organizational consequences were examined.

Design/methodology/approach

An online survey was used to collect 311 actual episodes of consumer envy. Both qualitative and quantitative analyses were used to answer the research questions.

Findings

This research identified five different triggers of consumer envy during service encounters, each associated with distinct cognitive appraisal patterns. Moreover, envious customers might experience three qualitatively different shades of envy labeled as “blue envy”, “red envy” and “green envy”. Actions taken by service providers are found to be a major cause of consumer envy, and they elicit emotions associated with complaining, negative word of mouth, lower encounter satisfaction and lower repurchase intention.

Research limitations/implications

While significant contributions are made, this study relied on self-reported data. Given that envy is considered a private and sensitive emotion, participants may have withheld from sharing some of the more socially undesirable details of their envy episodes.

Practical implications

The results stress the importance for service providers to avoid a perception of unfair preferential treatment. This perception of service unfairness is associated with hostility directed at service employees and negative organizational consequences.

Originality/value

This study is among the first to examine consumer envy in the context of service encounters.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 30 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 October 2023

Billy Sung, Felix Septianto, Michelle Stankovic and Chien Duong

Expressions of pride may elicit others’ envy. In the consumer context, prior research has repeatedly demonstrated that such envy significantly affects consumers’ attitudinal and…

Abstract

Purpose

Expressions of pride may elicit others’ envy. In the consumer context, prior research has repeatedly demonstrated that such envy significantly affects consumers’ attitudinal and behavioural responses towards the object of envy. This paper aims to investigate whether this pride-envy relationship is bi-directional. Does being envied by others affect consumers’ self-directed feelings of pride, as well as their subsequent attitude towards a product (i.e. the object of envy)?

Design/methodology/approach

Three experiments examined how emotional reactions of envy from others may influence consumers’ subsequent affective and attitudinal responses towards their own product or purchase. The first experimental study (n = 129) examined whether exposure to benign envy from others evokes higher levels of authentic pride and positively influences product attitude. The second experiment (n = 159) investigated whether exposure to malicious envy from others evokes high levels of hubristic pride, and therefore, negatively influences product attitude. The third study (n = 80) was a quasi-field experiment seeking to provide further empirical support for the relationship between benign (vs malicious) envy and authentic (vs hubristic) pride and their effects on attitude.

Findings

The first experiment showed that when participants observed expressions of benign envy towards them, they expressed authentic pride, which ultimately increased positive attitudes towards the product. The second experiment showed that when participants observed expressions of malicious envy towards them, they expressed hubristic pride, which, in turn, reduced positive attitudes towards the product. The effect of malicious envy was further moderated by susceptibility to social influence, whereby the indirect effect of malicious envy on product attitudes was only significant among participants with high susceptibility. The third experiment demonstrated the relationship between benign (vs malicious) envy and authentic (vs hubristic) pride and the effects on attitude in a quasi-field study.

Research limitations/implications

The present paper aims to fill a research gap by showing how being the recipient of others’ malicious or benign envy affects consumers’ self-directed feelings of pride, as well as their attitude towards a product that is the object of envy.

Practical implications

The current research is among the first to show that the emotional expressions of other consumers can influence existing consumers’ affective responses and attitudes towards a product. These findings highlight the importance of building a positive culture and community around brands and products, whereby other consumers’ consumption of the brand or product is perceived positively.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical evidence demonstrating that others’ expression of benign (malicious) envy may lead to the self-feeling of authentic (hubristic) pride, which has a downstream effect on attitude towards the product.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 57 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 February 2019

Danny Tengti Kao

While envy has been widely explored in psychology literature, theoretical understanding of the effects of envy on consumers’ emotional responses to brands is promising but under…

3535

Abstract

Purpose

While envy has been widely explored in psychology literature, theoretical understanding of the effects of envy on consumers’ emotional responses to brands is promising but under explored. Therefore, this study aims to apply cases of envy and psychological distance to consumers to examine whether the style of brand storytelling can moderate brand preference.

Design/methodology/approach

Three experimental studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. Experiment 1 investigated the effect of envy on consumer evaluations of an advocated brand, through viewing a series of advertisements that varied in brand storytelling styles. A total of 104 working students were randomly assigned to a 2 (brand storytelling: underdog vs top dog) single factorial design. Experiment 2 investigates the effect of envy on consumer evaluations of the advocated brand through viewing advertisements that varied in psychological distance. A total of 108 working students were randomly assigned to a 2 (psychological distance: proximal vs distant) single factorial design. Experiment 3 investigated the effect of envy on evaluations of the brand through viewing advertisements that varied in brand storytelling style and psychological distance. A total of 208 working students were randomly assigned to a 2 (underdog vs top dog) × 2 (proximal vs distant psychological distance) between-subject factorial design.

Findings

Results demonstrate that for consumers experiencing benign and malicious envy, advertisements characterized by brand storytelling (underdog vs top dog) and psychological distance (proximal vs distant) will elicit differential brand preferences.

Originality/value

This research takes up the call to address the limited attention given to envy in the context of brand advertising. Specifically, this research aims to explore how consumer envy influences brand preference and the role of moderating effects such as brand storytelling and psychological distance in this context.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 28 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 July 2016

Simona Romani, Silvia Grappi and Richard P. Bagozzi

Very limited research exists examining envy from the viewpoint of an envied consumer, rather than an envier. This paper aims to address this gap by examining whether and how the…

Abstract

Purpose

Very limited research exists examining envy from the viewpoint of an envied consumer, rather than an envier. This paper aims to address this gap by examining whether and how the experience of being envied actually affects consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper presents three experiments. Study 1 investigates the ambivalent experience of being envied. Study 2 examines the effect of being envied in consumption contexts on consumer satisfaction, analyzing the combined ambivalent effects of positive and negative feelings. It also investigates the moderating role played by consumer coping responses to enviers (mitigation vs exacerbation). Finally, Study 3 applies the hypothesized model in a specific context (i.e. a material possession context), focusing on adult consumers.

Findings

Results show that negative (e.g. guilt and anxiety) and positive (e.g. sense of well-being and prestige) feelings for being envied depend on the type of relationship between the envier and the envied, and the type of desired object, and consumer satisfaction is driven by the combined ambivalent effects of positive and negative feelings, where coping responses by envied consumers moderate the effects of such feelings on satisfaction.

Originality/value

This paper makes three main contributions: it extends prior research by highlighting the role of personal relationship factors and the type of object of desire in the experience of being envied; demonstrates that both positive and negative feelings of being envied affect consumer satisfaction; and shows conditions regulating the influence of positive and negative feelings on satisfaction, demonstrating that mitigation strategies decrease the effects of negative feelings on satisfaction, whereas exacerbation strategies failed to regulate the effects of positive feelings.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 50 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 November 2021

Jinsheng Cui, Mengwei Zhang, Chaonan Yin, Li Li and Jianan Zhong

This paper aimed to explore the influence of envy on impulsive consumption from aspects of the internal psychological mechanism and boundary conditions.

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aimed to explore the influence of envy on impulsive consumption from aspects of the internal psychological mechanism and boundary conditions.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on social comparison theory, four studies were conducted in this research: The first study explored the effect of envy on impulsive consumption; the second study explored the moderating effect of self-monitoring and the mediating effect of materialism; the third study explored the moderating effect of product type and the fourth study explored the effectiveness of social comparison contexts on the arousal of envy.

Findings

Study 1 showed that envy could significantly trigger consumers' impulsive consumption. Study 2 indicated that participants experiencing self-monitoring had a higher level of materialism and a stronger propensity to consume impulsively once the emotion of envy emerged. Study 3 suggested that when participants were more envious, their levels of materialism increased with more impulsivity to buy material products. Study 4 revealed that upward comparisons led to a higher level of envy and re-validated the mediating role of materialism between envy and impulsive consumption.

Research limitations/implications

This study provides evidence for the association between envy and consumer behaviour and clarifies the underlying mechanisms of the relationship between envy and impulsive consumption.

Practical implications

Marketers could take advantage of consumers' envy after social comparisons without damaging brand image.

Originality/value

First, this study extended the effects of envy on consumer decisions, suggesting that envy stimulates impulsive consumption by increasing consumers' materialism. Second, this study revealed the boundary condition of product type, namely, material and experiential.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. 34 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 January 2021

Bo Ra Joo and Hye-Young Kim

Building on the Brands as Intentional Agents Framework (BIAF), the aim of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of social media marketing (SMM) as a tool to communicate…

2518

Abstract

Purpose

Building on the Brands as Intentional Agents Framework (BIAF), the aim of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of social media marketing (SMM) as a tool to communicate luxury fashion brands' good intentions toward the general public.

Design/methodology/approach

A sample of 488 US female consumers was used to test a conceptual model delineating the sequential linkages from luxury fashion brands' intentions to brand emotions (i.e. envy vs admiration) and to consumer–brand relationships (i.e. emotional brand attachment and brand forgiveness). Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to test the measurement and structural models.

Findings

The results indicated that luxury fashion brands' “populist” intentions had a positive impact on consumer admiration. Both consumer envy and admiration had positive effects on emotional brand attachment and brand forgiveness. However, admiration had a stronger effect than envy on these relational consumer responses.

Originality/value

This study identified that luxury fashion brands, frequently stereotyped as exclusive, can become brands admired by mass-market consumers by expressing warmth on social media. Drawing on social psychological perspectives and the BIAF, this study adds to the literature on luxury brands' social media communication by demonstrating the effectiveness of brand warmth to induce consumers' strong relational outcomes.

Details

Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal, vol. 25 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1361-2026

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 January 2024

Siyun Wang, Feng Li and Huanzhang Wang

From a relational maintenance perspective, this study explores the impact of being envied (benignly vs maliciously) on consumers' feelings of social anxiety and its influence on…

Abstract

Purpose

From a relational maintenance perspective, this study explores the impact of being envied (benignly vs maliciously) on consumers' feelings of social anxiety and its influence on their tendencies toward inconspicuous consumption, based on the resource conservation theory and the model of “Sensitivity about Being the Target of a Threatening Upward Comparison.” (STTUC)

Design/methodology/approach

Four studies were conducted in this paper. Studies 1a and 1b tested the main hypothesis that being maliciously envied (vs benignly) can increase consumers' inconspicuous consumption of luxury products and luxury hotel experiences. Study 2 replicated this finding and examined the mediating role of social anxiety. Study 3 investigated the moderating effect of ideal self-congruity (low vs high).

Findings

The findings reveal that being maliciously envied (vs benignly) is associated with higher levels of inconspicuous consumption and social anxiety acts as a mediating role. Moreover, when individuals have a strong sense of ideal self-congruity, the positive impact of being maliciously envied (vs benignly) on inconspicuous consumption is further amplified, confirming the moderating role of ideal self-congruity.

Originality/value

This study sheds light on a novel mechanism that elucidates how different types of being envied influence consumers' inconspicuous consumption and the conditions under which this impact is heightened.

Details

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1355-5855

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 February 2018

Xiaoying Zheng, Ernest Baskin and Siqing Peng

This paper aims to examine whether social comparison in a prior, nonconsumption circumstance (e.g. in an academic setting) affects consumers’ materialism and subsequent spending…

2087

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine whether social comparison in a prior, nonconsumption circumstance (e.g. in an academic setting) affects consumers’ materialism and subsequent spending propensity, and explores the incidental feeling of envy as the underlying mechanism.

Design/methodology/approach

Four experiments have been conducted to test these hypotheses. Study 1 manipulated social comparison in an academic domain, and measured undergraduate students’ materialism after they compared themselves to a superior student or to an inferior student. Study 2 used a recall task to manipulate social comparison and examine the mediating role of envy. Study 3 examined which of the two types of envy (benign or malicious) affected materialism. Study 4 examined the downstream consequences on spending propensity in both public and private consumption contexts.

Findings

The results suggest that consumers place greater importance on material goods and are more likely to spend money on publicly visible products after making upward social comparisons than after making downward social comparisons or no comparisons. Furthermore, envy acts as the mediator for the observed effect of incidental social comparison on materialism.

Originality/value

First, this study improves our understanding of the consequences of social comparison and envy by demonstrating that incidental envy (both benign and malicious) experienced in a prior, unrelated social comparison can motivate materialistic pursuits. Second, the present research contributes to the compensatory consumption literature by revealing that, in a social comparison context, envy is the affective underpinning that gives rise to the motivation to engage in compensatory consumer behavior. Third, the findings also enrich materialism research by exploring an important situational antecedent in driving materialistic orientation.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 52 no. 5/6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

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