Research on discrepancies between the actual self and ideal self has examined self-discrepancies in knowledge, skills and stature but age-based self-discrepancies have only recently received attention and so we studied this phenomenon in young adolescents. In three studies we identified a...

Direct-to-consumer advertising of pharmaceuticals has led to questions of whether consumers benefit from the additional drug information, or are harmed by being induced to pursue prescriptions that are unnecessary or even dangerous. We conducted an empirical study of the relation between...

The government has successfully prosecuted pharmaceutical companies for off-label promotion of drugs, maintaining that such promotion impermissibly undermines the FDA’s pre-market approval process and jeopardizes the public health. In several recent cases, however, pharmaceutical companies...

Research on consumer-brand relationships (CBR) has examined the CBR - brand loyalty link, but surprisingly little is known about the cultural and institutional settings that enable this link. We meta-analyze how and why different CBR constructs (e.g. love, identification) drive loyalty better in...

Drawing from psychological ownership and linguistics theories, we show that compared to a non-possessive brand name, a possessive brand name leads to more favorable brand evaluations and purchase intentions, which is mediated by greater attributions of identity-relevant brand attributes and...

Marketers frequently use individual names as part of their brand-naming strategy. This research investigates how the use of a possessive (indicated by an apostrophe -s) versus non-possessive form in a brand name (Mrs. Smith’s vs. Mrs. Smith) affects consumer brand preferences and choice for...

Conventional marketing, though is necessary investment for the sustainable businesses is often so expensive that most of the entrepreneurs, particularly the start-ups, choose to avoid it and look for other alternatives. One such alternative and cost-effective way to receive a better response...

While prevailing marketing practice is to encourage ever stronger relationships between consumers and brands, such relationships are rare and many consumers are relationship-averse or content with the status quo. The authors examine how marketers can more effectively manage existing brand...

While brand punishment – through either individual or collective action – has received ample attention by consumer psychologists, absent from this literature is that such punishment can take the form of unethical actions that can occur even when the consumer is not personally harmed. Across...

We demonstrate that brand relationships affect perceptions of a brand’s closeness to the self, resulting in mindset congruency effects when matched with an appropriate construal level. Brand relationships that are closer (distal) to the self yield improved evaluations when brand information is...