The Key Role of Consumer Perceived Ownership for Consumer Reactions to Product Automation: Scale Development, Validation, and Empirical Evidence
(A2021-93911)

AUTHORS

Patrick Kremer, Goethe University Frankfurt; Sven Feurer, Bern University of Applied Sciences

ABSTRACT

This research presents the development of the “Consumer Perceived Ownership” (CPO) multi-item measurement scale as an extension of the currently available measurements of perceived ownership. CPO aims to extend the existing body of research on perceived ownership in consumer psychology by examining how the various antecedents of perceived ownership interact and what role experiences and memories play in creating ownership feelings for consumers. The proposed scale differentiates between three dimensions that reflect CPO: controlling, coming to know and investing the self into the target. We first assess the scale’s reliability and validity. Subsequently, an experimental study utilizes the newly developed scale such that it tests and finds the mediating effect of product automation on product evaluation through CPO, demonstrating the importance of the construct in the focal context.