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Investing the self: The effect of nonconscious goals on investor psychological ownership and word-of-mouth intentions

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  • Kirk, Colleen P.
  • McSherry, Bernard
  • Swain, Scott D.

Abstract

This research examines the impact of nonconscious goal activation on investors’ feelings of psychological ownership of their investment choices. An initial experiment finds that psychological ownership is greater when an investment choice is incongruent with a nonconsciously-activated financial goal. Consistent with the notion that psychological ownership engenders self-enhancement motivation, ownership is also positively associated with word-of-mouth intentions. However, two additional experiments show that these effects are attenuated when an investor's decision process focuses on deciding in the “right way” (versus focusing on making the “best choice”). Findings across all studies support an integrative perspective on theories of psychological ownership and regulatory engagement: When individuals overcome personal resistance by choosing an option that is incongruent with a nonconscious goal, they experience greater feelings of engagement, which in turn lead to enhanced feelings of psychological ownership of the chosen option and greater word-of-mouth intentions.

Suggested Citation

  • Kirk, Colleen P. & McSherry, Bernard & Swain, Scott D., 2015. "Investing the self: The effect of nonconscious goals on investor psychological ownership and word-of-mouth intentions," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 186-194.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:soceco:v:58:y:2015:i:c:p:186-194
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socec.2015.04.013
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    Cited by:

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    2. Shengxiang She & Shicheng Li & Jiaqi Xu & Bo Yang, 2022. "Exploring the Concept, Antecedents, and Consequences of Environmental Psychological Ownership," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Seth, Himanshu & Talwar, Shalini & Bhatia, Anuj & Saxena, Akanksha & Dhir, Amandeep, 2020. "Consumer resistance and inertia of retail investors: Development of the resistance adoption inertia continuance (RAIC) framework," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    4. Hingston, Sean T. & Whelan, Jodie, 2024. "What’s mine is mine, what’s yours is yours: Contamination concerns enhance psychological ownership," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 178(C).
    5. Kirk, Colleen P., 2019. "Dogs have masters, cats have staff: Consumers' psychological ownership and their economic valuation of pets," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 306-318.
    6. Jaehun Joo & Azizbek Marakhimov, 2018. "Antecedents of customer participation in business ecosystems: evidence of customers’ psychological ownership in Facebook," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 12(1), pages 1-23, March.

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