IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/sagope/v12y2022i3p21582440221123755.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Heading Up or Stuck Down Here? The Effect of Perceived Economic Mobility on Subjective Social Status and Brand Identification

Author

Listed:
  • Eunkyung Lee
  • Yeosun Yoon

Abstract

In this research, we show that the perception of economic mobility plays an important role in individuals’ minds and decisions. While previous literature on economic mobility mainly focused on measuring the degree of mobility and examining its socioeconomic ramifications, we extend prior research by investigating the psychological consequences of economic mobility perception. Through three studies, we propose and demonstrate that those who perceive the economic mobility of their societies to be high (vs. low) tend to perceive their current social status to be higher. We argue that individuals’ hope and the subsequent perception of psychological distance to the upper levels of the socioeconomic ladder serially mediate this relationship. We further show that such perception of economic mobility influence the degree to which individuals identify with high-status brands and their purchase likelihood.

Suggested Citation

  • Eunkyung Lee & Yeosun Yoon, 2022. "Heading Up or Stuck Down Here? The Effect of Perceived Economic Mobility on Subjective Social Status and Brand Identification," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(3), pages 21582440221, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:12:y:2022:i:3:p:21582440221123755
    DOI: 10.1177/21582440221123755
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440221123755
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/21582440221123755?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Gottschalk & Enrico Spolaore, 2002. "On the Evaluation of Economic Mobility," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 69(1), pages 191-208.
    2. Miles Corak, 2013. "Income Inequality, Equality of Opportunity, and Intergenerational Mobility," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 79-102, Summer.
    3. Singh-Manoux, Archana & Adler, Nancy E. & Marmot, Michael G., 2003. "Subjective social status: its determinants and its association with measures of ill-health in the Whitehall II study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(6), pages 1321-1333, March.
    4. Bob Baulch & John Hoddinott, 2000. "Economic mobility and poverty dynamics in developing countries," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 36(6), pages 1-24.
    5. Sirgy, M. Joseph, 1985. "Using self-congruity and ideal congruity to predict purchase motivation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 195-206, June.
    6. de Kerviler, Gwarlann & Rodriguez, Carlos M., 2019. "Luxury brand experiences and relationship quality for Millennials: The role of self-expansion," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 250-262.
    7. Gary Solon, 2002. "Cross-Country Differences in Intergenerational Earnings Mobility," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 16(3), pages 59-66, Summer.
    8. Nailya Ordabayeva & Pierre Chandon, 2011. "Getting Ahead of the Joneses: When Equality Increases Conspicuous Consumption among Bottom-Tier Consumers," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 38(1), pages 27-41.
    9. Belk, Russell W, 1988. "Possessions and the Extended Self," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(2), pages 139-168, September.
    10. Fournier, Susan, 1998. "Consumers and Their Brands: Developing Relationship Theory in Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 343-373, March.
    11. Gwarlann de Kerviler & Carlos Rodriguez, 2019. "Luxury brand experiences and relationship quality for Millennials: The role of self-expansion," Post-Print hal-02114441, HAL.
    12. Jennifer Edson Escalas & James R. Bettman, 2005. "Self-Construal, Reference Groups, and Brand Meaning," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 32(3), pages 378-389, December.
    13. Daniel Aaronson & Bhashkar Mazumder, 2008. "Intergenerational Economic Mobility in the United States, 1940 to 2000," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(1).
    14. Sunyee Yoon & Hyeongmin Christian Kim & Vicki MorwitzEditor & Simona BottiAssociate Editor, 2018. "Feeling Economically Stuck: The Effect of Perceived Economic Mobility and Socioeconomic Status on Variety Seeking," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(5), pages 1141-1156.
    15. Dan Andrews & Andrew Leigh, 2009. "More inequality, less social mobility," Applied Economics Letters, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(15), pages 1489-1492.
    16. Huachao Gao & Karen Page Winterich & Yinlong Zhang, 2016. "All That Glitters Is Not Gold: How Others’ Status Influences the Effect of Power Distance Belief on Status Consumption," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(2), pages 265-281.
    17. Johanna Lundberg & Margareta Kristenson, 2008. "Is Subjective Status Influenced by Psychosocial Factors?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 89(3), pages 375-390, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aurélie Hemonnet-Goujot & Pierre Valette-Florence, 2022. "“All you need is love”. From product design value perception to luxury brand love: An integrated framework," Post-Print hal-03562015, HAL.
    2. Hemonnet-Goujot, Aurélie & Valette-Florence, Pierre, 2022. "“All you need is love” from product design value perception to luxury brand love: An integrated framework," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 1463-1475.
    3. Tiphaine Gorlier & Géraldine Michel, 2020. "How special rewards in loyalty programs enrich consumer–brand relationships: The role of self‐expansion," Post-Print hal-02494605, HAL.
    4. Markus Jäntti & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2013. "Income Mobility," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 607, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    5. Wang, Yajin, 2022. "A conceptual framework of contemporary luxury consumption," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 788-803.
    6. Alabed, Amani & Javornik, Ana & Gregory-Smith, Diana, 2022. "AI anthropomorphism and its effect on users' self-congruence and self–AI integration: A theoretical framework and research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    7. Joëlle Vanhamme & Adam Lindgreen & Gülen Sarial-Abi, 2023. "Luxury Ethical Consumers: Who Are They?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(3), pages 805-838, March.
    8. Hollenbeck, Candice R. & Kaikati, Andrew M., 2012. "Consumers' use of brands to reflect their actual and ideal selves on Facebook," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(4), pages 395-405.
    9. Michel, Géraldine & Torelli, Carlos J. & Fleck, Nathalie & Hubert, Benoit, 2022. "Self-brand values congruity and incongruity: Their impacts on self-expansion and consumers’ responses to brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 301-316.
    10. Guido Neidhöfer, 2019. "Intergenerational mobility and the rise and fall of inequality: Lessons from Latin America," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(4), pages 499-520, December.
    11. Anwar Sadat Shimul, 2022. "Brand attachment: a review and future research," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 29(4), pages 400-419, July.
    12. Agnieszka Zablocki & Bodo Schlegelmilch & Michael J. Houston, 2019. "How valence, volume and variance of online reviews influence brand attitudes," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 9(1), pages 61-77, June.
    13. Moorlock, Emily & Dekel-Dachs, Ofer & Stokes, Peter & Larsen, Gretchen, 2023. "Constructing Consumer-Masstige brand relationships in a volatile social reality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    14. Park, Sehoon & Kim, Chaeyeong & Park, Jane, 2023. "How power distance belief, self-construal, and relationship norms impact conspicuous consumption," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    15. Donald R. Lehmann & Jeffrey R. Parker, 2017. "Disadoption," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 7(1), pages 36-51, June.
    16. Yi Xie & Siqing Peng & Daniel P. Hampson, 0. "Brand user imagery clarity (BUIC): conceptualization, measurement, and consequences," Journal of Brand Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 0, pages 1-17.
    17. Sichtmann, Christina & Davvetas, Vasileios & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios, 2019. "The relational value of perceived brand globalness and localness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 597-613.
    18. Liu, Qijun & Song, Lijie, 2022. "Do intergovernmental transfers boost intergenerational income mobility? Evidence from China," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 293-309.
    19. Zhou, Shuang & Blazquez, Marta & McCormick, Helen & Barnes, Liz, 2021. "How social media influencers’ narrative strategies benefit cultivating influencer marketing: Tackling issues of cultural barriers, commercialised content, and sponsorship disclosure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 122-142.
    20. Fazli-Salehi, Reza & Torres, Ivonne M. & Madadi, Rozbeh & Zúñiga, Miguel Ángel, 2021. "Multicultural advertising: The impact of consumers’ self-concept clarity and materialism on self-brand connection and communal-brand connection," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 46-57.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:sagope:v:12:y:2022:i:3:p:21582440221123755. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.