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This paper explores the relevance of the concept of self in the process of independent technological innovation. In‐depth interviews were conducted with technological innovators from start‐up firms in IT, biotech and advanced services concerning the subjective and social forms of engagement in the innovation process. Emerging factors in the interview data revealed aspects pertaining to the innovator’s reflexive self‐conception, innovator ego‐involvement in the venture, forms of commitment and control, personal and social stakes, and various self‐oriented cognitive strategies. It is argued that the self‐concept allows the innovator to come into view as a social and subjective being who is involved in reflexive activities such as dynamic role‐taking, “is” vs “ought” reflections and social negotiations.

Situational involvement (SI) and enduring involvement (EI) are important predictors of spectator sports tourist behaviours. For this study, onsite and web surveys were utilised to help understand how SI and EI levels, with both event and destination, may vary according to the primary and secondary trip purpose of a spectator sports tourist. Results revealed differences between the two groups only within certain aspects of SI and EI with the destination.

Employing cognitive dissonance theory, this study examines how consumers’ preexisting attitudes toward an issue, value involvement with the issue and consumer-company identification (CCI) influence their reactions to corporate social advocacy (CSA) through cognitive dissonance.

Study 1 conducted a 2 (CSA position: pro vs anti) × 3 (preexisting issue attitude: pro vs neutral vs anti) online quasi-experiment. The CSA messages were created in the context of same-sex marriage(s). Study 2 tested the hypotheses using an online survey in the context of gun control.

The results indicated that a conflict between consumers’ preexisting attitudes and a corporation’s stance on a controversial issue led to cognitive dissonance, which further led to consumers’ perceptions of the corporation being biased in both studies. Study 1 and Study 2 suggested a mixed effect of cognitive dissonance on participants’ inclination to disidentify with the corporation. Preexisting CCI appeared to have a direct negative influence on cognitive dissonance; however, value involvement and preexisting CCI were not found to significantly enhance the influence of consumers’ attitudes toward CSA on cognitive dissonance.

The study first extended the theoretical discussion of cognitive dissonance to a trendy strategic communication context. The results help public relations practitioners to better understand the segmented public groups and the risk of taking a stance on controversial issues.

Catalogue sales have received increasing attention due to their phenomenal growth in the USA. Professional women, because of their need for convenience and their buying power, are an important market for catalogue marketers. This study was designed to identify clothing categories which professional women tend to purchase through catalogues, compare professional women's involvement with professional clothing versus non‐professional clothing in relation to their catalogue usage and determine the variables that predict professional women's heavy catalogue usage for specific clothing categories. Data analyses were based on a mailed survey of a national sample of professional women catalogue shoppers (N=506). These consumers tended to purchase clothing in distinct categories rather than as one product class, and exhibited greater involvement with non‐professional clothing than with professional clothing. Profiles of frequent catalogue users for three clothing categories (street clothing, footwear and clothing for others) were identified, based on their involvement, lifestyle and demographic variables.

Consumer loyalty has long been recognised as a key consideration of marketing strategies focused on customer retention. While the importance of the loyalty construct is widely recognised, the conditions and variables that foster consumer loyalty for a specific service may vary. This paper explores the variables that influence fan attendance at a professional sporting event. It extends prior research by conceptualising both a behavioural and an attitudinal component of loyalty, as well as considering fan involvement with the sport and attraction to the sport. The findings suggest that psychological commitment and resistance to change mediate the effect of fan attraction and involvement on behavioural loyalty in a professional sports context.

Within consumer psychology, both product involvement and perceived risk are viewed tobe motivational constructs, influencing subsequent consumer behaviors such as information search and dissemination, as well as extensiveness of the decision‐making process. While these constructs are closely related, extant research reveals considerable ambiguity regarding the psychological mechanisms by which components of these two constructs influence one another. This article presents a conceptual motivational process model, explicating the processes by which involvement and consumer risk perceptions are caused, and influence one another, as well as subsequent behavioral responses of consumers. An empirical study, carried out to test the motivational process model and the hypothesized causal relationships finds overall support. Implications of this research for marketers and consumer psychologists are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of involvement on consumers’ external search activities across several service settings. Two of the services were credence services (life insurance and furnace overhaul) and two services were experiential services (exercise club and Caribbean vacation). Involvement was measured with a two‐dimensional nine‐item scale, the dimensions being importance and involvement. External search was assessed using a seven‐item two‐dimensional scale, source and effort in search. Self‐administered surveys were completed by 331 residents of a major Midwestern US city. The results indicate that, across all four services, involvement does indeed influence consumers’ propensity to search externally. Finally, the implications of the findings for marketing managers are discussed.

A relevant, timely issue in the professional services area is that of marketing. Should professional service providers actively market their services? And, if so, how? Many professionals have already stepped into the marketing arena, but without first understanding the nature of their target market(s). This article concentrates on one area of the user market that should be known and understood by all professional service marketers: What level of consumer interest or perceived personal importance typifies the purchase of a professional service?

In an empirical examination of the link between product involvement and brand loyalty, a convenience sample of 253 students were asked to complete a questionnaire relating to two products which had been found in preliminary qualitative research to be associated with contrasted levels of involvement. The factor structure of involvement was found to vary between the two product categories (sneakers and pens). Furthermore, the link between product involvement and brand loyalty was found to involve different aspects of product involvement for each of the products concerned. Hence, future researchers in the area should be mindful that product involvement and brand loyalty are not universal constructs: they should be examined within specific consumer and product parameters.

Cognitive evaluation theory (CET; Deci, 1975), SDT's first mini-theory, was built from research on the dynamic interplay between external events (e.g., rewards, choice) and people's task interest or enjoyment – that is, intrinsic motivation (IM). At the time, this research was quite controversial, as operant theory (Skinner, 1971) had dominated the psychological landscape. The central assumption of operant theory was that reinforcement contingencies in the environment control behavior, which precluded the existence of inherently satisfying activities performed for non-separable outcomes. During this time, Deci proposed that people – by nature – possess intrinsic motivation (IM), which can manifest as engagement in curiosity-based behaviors, discovery of new perspectives, and seeking out optimal challenges (see also Harlow, 1953; White, 1959). IM thus represents a manifestation of the organismic growth tendency and is readily observed in infants' and toddlers' exploratory behavior and play. Operationally, an intrinsically motivated activity is performed for its own sake – that is, the behavior is experienced as inherently satisfying. From an attributional perspective (deCharms, 1968), such behaviors have an internal perceived locus of causality, as people perceive their behavior as emanating from their sense of self, rather than from experiences of control or coercion.