Xiaodong Nie

Graduation Semester and Year

2021

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy in Marketing

Department

Marketing

First Advisor

Narayan Janakiraman

Second Advisor

Zhiyong Yang

Abstract

Globalization has exacerbated the birth of the sharing economy on a global scale, and it has made global–local identity essential in understanding consumer decisions. For example, an emerging literature has uncovered the effects of global–local identity on various consumer responses, including price sensitivity, preference for local/global products and brands, preference for eco-friendly products, and a tendency to use price as a signal of product quality. Extending the literature, this dissertation aims to advance the understandings of the effect of global-local identity on various consumer behavior. Specifically, in the first essay, consumers face the decision as to whether to choose a sharing option versus an owning option. However, our understanding of how consumers’ global–local identity may influence their willingness to share is rather limited. I fill this knowledge gap by proposing that consumers high in global identity (“globals”) are more willing to share than those high in local identity (“locals”). Such effects are mediated by consumers’ consumption openness mindset. Consistent with the “consumption openness mindset” account, I find that when the desire for openness is enhanced by a contextual cue, locals’ willingness to share is elevated, whereas globals’ willingness to share is unaffected. However, when the desire for openness is suppressed by a contextual cue, globals’ willingness to share is reduced, whereas locals’ willingness to share is unaffected. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed. In the second essay, six studies examine the effect of consumer’s local-global identity on their intention to purchase experiential consumption and material possession and show that consumers high in local identity show greater intention to purchase experiential consumption (vs. material possession), whereas consumers high in global identity show indistinguishable intention to purchase experiential consumption and material possession. This is mainly because consumers high in local (vs. global) identity tend to have a greater need for social connectivity. When the need for social connectivity is externally enhanced, consumers high in global identity (but not local identity) enhance their intention to purchase experiential consumption, and when the need for social connectivity is externally suppressed, consumers high in local identity (but not global identity) reduce their intention to purchase experiential consumption. The third essay uses a meta-analytic approach and examines the relative impact between guilt and shame on prosocial behavior. Previous literature documents mixed findings regarding the relative impact of shame and guilt on prosocial behavior: while some studies reported that guilt has a greater influence than shame, others showed the opposite. In a synthetic overview, this meta-analysis shows that situational factors that shift consumers’ attentional focus from the self to others, such as local (vs. global) identity, public (vs. private) task settings, and helping the victim (vs. unhurt others), can explain these mixed results.

Keywords

Global identity, Local identity, Consumer behavior

Disciplines

Business | Marketing

Comments

Degree granted by The University of Texas at Arlington

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