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HOW DO CONSUMERS USE BRANDS FOR IDENTITY SIGNALING: IMPACT OF BRAND PROMINENCE ON CONSUMERS‘ CHOICE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION
by
Young Jee Han
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION)
May 2011
Copyright 2011 Young Jee Han
Object Description
| Title | How do consumers use brands for identity signaling: Impact of brand prominence on consumers' choice and social interaction |
| Author | Han, Young Jee |
| Author email | youngjha@usc.edu; youngjee.han@gmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Business Administration |
| School | Marshall School of Business |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-03-01 |
| Date submitted | 2011 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2011-05-03 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Nunes, Joseph C. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Diehl, Kristin Cavanaugh, Lisa Wood, Wendy |
| Abstract | Consumers communicate their identity to others through the use of products and brands. Previous research has focused on either the messages being sent or the interpretations made by recipients (e.g. Wernerfelt 1990, Richins 1994, Escalas and Bettman 2005). However, no research to date has examined the interaction between the signaler and the recipient. In two essays, my dissertation explores consumers’ identity signaling as a dyadic phenomenon and examines how consumers’ product choices as signals are influenced by the recipient’s ability to recognize the signal and how the signaler responds when the recipient acknowledges the signal.; My first essay examines why consumers prefer conspicuously versus inconspicuously branded luxury goods. This essay introduces brand prominence, a construct reflecting the conspicuousness of a brand’s mark or logo on a product. I demonstrate that consumers’ preferences for conspicuously versus inconspicuously branded luxury goods depend on whom they intend to signal to and on their target recipients’ ability to recognize the signal. When consumers use branded luxury goods to signal their status, it is natural to expect that consumers would be willing to pay more for luxury goods with prominent brand markings that help ensure recipients recognize the status signal. However, an analysis of market data shows that a group of affluent consumers (we call patricians) pay a premium for inconspicuously branded luxury goods, which are not easily recognizable to most consumers. Field experiments document that patricians use subtle signals because they intend to signal to members of their own group who can recognize luxury goods without prominent brand markings. Conspicuously branded luxury goods are, on the other hand, used by those consumers (we call parvenus) who try to signal to the less affluent that they are distinct. The irony is that while parvenus believe they are saying to the world that they are not one of the have-nots, in reality, they may also be signaling to patricians, a group of haves they want to associate with, that they are not one of them.; In the second essay of my dissertation, I investigate the dynamic interaction between the signaler and the recipient, in particular, how signalers respond when a signal is acknowledged by others. Consumers who use products as a form of identity signaling presumably want others to observe, recognize, and interpret their signals favorably. Consequently, if a recipient provides positive feedback, the signaler should feel pleased. However, my research shows that those who display more conspicuously branded goods – and thus, those trying harder to say something about themselves with their product choice – ironically become more embarrassed when others positively acknowledge their signal (i.e. pay them a compliment). Across three studies, this research documents how consumers of more conspicuously branded goods are more likely to feel embarrassed when paid a complement because they are more concerned with unexpressed judgments held by others. This effect is particularly strong for those people whose actual and ideal self differ highly. While the use of products as signals has been studied for more than 50 years (Levy 1959), this research is the first to study how signalers respond to feedback on their signal from others. This research is also the first to use Layered Voice Analysis technology in a naturalistic setting to assess the emotional response of consumers in a realistic and unobtrusive way. |
| Keyword | identity signaling; brand; brand prominence; self discrepancy; embarrassment; luxury brands |
| Geographic subject (country) | USA |
| Coverage date | 1990/2005 |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m3867 |
| Rights | Han, Young Jee |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-Han-4462 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume62/etd-Han-4462.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | HOW DO CONSUMERS USE BRANDS FOR IDENTITY SIGNALING: IMPACT OF BRAND PROMINENCE ON CONSUMERS‘ CHOICE AND SOCIAL INTERACTION by Young Jee Han A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION) May 2011 Copyright 2011 Young Jee Han |
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