- 1855 Broadway
New York, NY 10023
Colleen Kirk
New York Institute of Technology, SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, Faculty Member
- Psychological ownership, Behavioral Finance, Internet Marketing Strategies, Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Interactivity, and 12 moreDigital Information Products, Consumer Behavior, Co Creation of Value, Business, Consumer-Based brand equity, Brand, Digital Natives, Consumer Research, brand value in B2B market, Nonconscious Processing, Consumer Goals, and Digital Technologyedit
- A student-first marketing professor, I am also passionate about research and discovery. My current research interests... moreA student-first marketing professor, I am also passionate about research and discovery. My current research interests focus on psychological ownership in consumer behavior, especially in the area of digital technologies. I enjoy teaching and mentoring students.edit
Research Interests:
The sharing economy has seen tremendous growth in the past decade. The existence of peer-to-peer exchanges is predicated on both the technology that brings buyers and sellers together and the rating and review process which builds a... more
The sharing economy has seen tremendous growth in the past decade. The existence of peer-to-peer exchanges is predicated on both the technology that brings buyers and sellers together and the rating and review process which builds a foundation of trust among strangers.
Research Interests:
The Peer-to-Peer sector of the sharing economy relies on reputation systems through which consumers and providers review each other. Whereas prior research has examined the effects of reviews by consumers on providers and firms, this... more
The Peer-to-Peer sector of the sharing economy relies on reputation systems through which consumers and providers review each other. Whereas prior research has examined the effects of reviews by consumers on providers and firms, this research examines, for the first time, a turn of the tables in which consumers are evaluated. Across a pilot and seven studies (five preregistered), using multiple actual behaviors and sharing contexts, results reveal that a negative review of the consumer from the peer provider leads to negative word of mouth (NWOM) about the platform. Drawing from psychological contract theory, the research demonstrates that this effect is mediated by consumers' perceived betrayal by the platform. Two sets of moderators are identified. The first set establishes that a breach of consumers' psychological contract with the platform underlies the effect. In the second set, platform policies that may render a breach more or less consequential can intensify or mitig...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
This research examines the effect of a contagion threat on consumers' social connectedness. Across two experiments, we show that when consumers are near others in public places during a pandemic (but not before or after), they... more
This research examines the effect of a contagion threat on consumers' social connectedness. Across two experiments, we show that when consumers are near others in public places during a pandemic (but not before or after), they psychologically distance themselves by perceiving lower social connectedness. This reduction in social connectedness is higher when consumers have more (vs. less) psychological ownership of the public place (Study 1). Further, the negative effect of psychological ownership on social connectedness found during (but not after) a pandemic is attenuated when consumers do not believe the disease is a severe threat to their own health (Study 2). We examine downstream effects by illustrating that both individual psychological ownership and social connectedness contribute to collective psychological ownership, which in turn enhances stewardship of the public place. The interacting effects of a contagion threat and psychological ownership on stewardship are not exp...
Research Interests:
The sharing economy has seen tremendous growth in the past decade. The existence of peer-to-peer exchanges is predicated on both the technology that brings buyers and sellers together and the rating and review process which builds a... more
The sharing economy has seen tremendous growth in the past decade. The existence of peer-to-peer exchanges is predicated on both the technology that brings buyers and sellers together and the rating and review process which builds a foundation of trust among strangers.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Psychology and Economics
Research Interests:
The Peer-to-Peer sector of the sharing economy relies on reputation systems through which consumers and providers review each other. Whereas prior research has examined the effects of reviews by consumers on providers and firms, this... more
The Peer-to-Peer sector of the sharing economy relies on reputation systems through which consumers and providers review each other. Whereas prior research has examined the effects of reviews by consumers on providers and firms, this research examines, for the first time, a turn of the tables in which consumers are evaluated. Across a pilot and seven studies (five preregistered), using multiple actual behaviors and sharing contexts, results reveal that a negative review of the consumer from the peer provider leads to negative word of mouth (NWOM) about the platform. Drawing from psychological contract theory, the research demonstrates that this effect is mediated by consumers’ perceived betrayal by the platform. Two sets of moderators are identified. The first set establishes that a breach of consumers’ psychological contract with the platform underlies the effect. In the second set, platform policies that may render a breach more or less consequential can intensify or mitigate consumer reactions. Specifically, making the review private (vs. public) and providing opportunities for justice restoration (response, revenge, and dispute) attenuate the effect of review valence on betrayal and NWOM. Implications for sharing economy platform managers and consumers are discussed.
Research Interests:
We examine the role of narcissistic admiration and rivalry in consumers' word of mouth about promotional games. We show that, although narcissistic admiration and rivalry are both positively associated with belief in good luck (Study 1),... more
We examine the role of narcissistic admiration and rivalry in consumers' word of mouth about promotional games. We show that, although narcissistic admiration and rivalry are both positively associated with belief in good luck (Study 1), their associations with word of mouth in reference to a retailer diverge when consumers lose a chance-based promotional game (Study 2). Specifically, when consumers lose (but not win), narcissistic admiration is associated with more favorable word of mouth (i.e., leaving a positive review on a website), whereas narcissistic rivalry is associated with less favorable word of mouth. These diverging effects vary depending on the effort that consumers exert to participate in the game (Study 3), and are informed by authentic and hubristic pride (Study 4). Positive and negative affect do not account for the findings. The results provide further evidence of the distinct processes motivating self-enhancement among consumers higher in narcissistic admiration and rivalry.
Research Interests:
This research examines the effect of a contagion threat on consumers' social connectedness. Across two experiments, we show that when consumers are near others in public places during a pandemic (but not before or after), they... more
This research examines the effect of a contagion threat on consumers' social connectedness. Across two experiments, we show that when consumers are near others in public places during a pandemic (but not before or after), they psychologically distance themselves by perceiving lower social connectedness. This reduction in social connectedness is higher when consumers have more (vs. less) psychological ownership of the public place (Study 1). Further, the negative effect of psychological ownership on social connectedness found during (but not after) a pandemic is attenuated when consumers do not believe the disease is a severe threat to their own health (Study 2). We examine downstream effects by illustrating that both individual psychological ownership and social connectedness contribute to collective psychological ownership, which in turn enhances stewardship of the public place. The interacting effects of a contagion threat and psychological ownership on stewardship are not explained by territorial infringement, self-esteem, perceived crowding, positive or negative affect, hope or nostalgia.
Research Interests:
How can consumers be encouraged to take better care of public goods? Across four studies, including two experiments in the field and three documenting actual behaviors, the authors demonstrate that increasing consumers' individual... more
How can consumers be encouraged to take better care of public goods? Across four studies, including two experiments in the field and three documenting actual behaviors, the authors demonstrate that increasing consumers' individual psychological ownership facilitates stewardship of public goods. This effect occurs because feelings of ownership increase consumers' perceived responsibility, which then leads to active behavior to care for the good. Evidence from a variety of contexts, including a public lake with kayakers, a state park with skiers, and a public walking path, suggests that increasing psychological ownership enhances both effortful stewardship, such as picking up trash from a lake, and financial stewardship, such as donating money. This work further demonstrates that the relationship between psychological ownership and resulting stewardship behavior is attenuated when there are cues, such as an attendance sign, which diffuse responsibility among many people. This work offers implications for consumers, practitioners, and policy makers with simple interventions that can encourage consumers to be better stewards of public goods.
Research Interests:
In this research, we document some of the many unusual consumer behavior patterns that came to dominate the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We offer insights based on theory to help explain and predict these behaviors and associated... more
In this research, we document some of the many unusual consumer behavior patterns that came to dominate the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We offer insights based on theory to help explain and predict these behaviors and associated outcomes in order to inform future research and marketing practice. Taking an environmentally-imposed constraints point of view, we examine behaviors during each of three phases: reacting (e.g., hoarding and rejecting), coping (e.g. maintaining social connectedness, do-it-yourself behaviors, changing views of brands) and longer-term adapting (e.g. potentially transformative changes in consumption and individual and social identity). We discuss implications for marketing researchers and practice.
Research Interests:
What makes some entrepreneurs persist in their venture efforts while others quit? Selfefficacy has robustly been found to drive persistence, yet recent work suggests that affect, in particular entrepreneurial passion, may also enhance... more
What makes some entrepreneurs persist in their venture efforts while others quit? Selfefficacy has robustly been found to drive persistence, yet recent work suggests that affect, in particular entrepreneurial passion, may also enhance persistence. We empirically examine the possibility that the long-standing relationship between self-efficacy and persistence might be mediated by entrepreneurial passion. Using data from 129 entrepreneurs, we find that the self-efficacy to persistence relationship is mediated by passion for inventing and for founding but not by passion for developing firms. The passion of entrepreneurs appears to help explain the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and sustained entrepreneurial action. "To succeed you have to believe in something with such a passion that it becomes a reality.
Research Interests:
Results of three experiments reveal that consumers place a higher economic valuation on dogs versus cats, as evidenced by willingness to pay more for life-saving surgery, medical expenses, and specialty pet products, as well as increased... more
Results of three experiments reveal that consumers place a higher economic valuation on dogs versus cats, as evidenced by willingness to pay more for life-saving surgery, medical expenses, and specialty pet products, as well as increased word-of-mouth about the pet. This effect is explained by consumers' enhanced psychological ownership of and resulting emotional attachment to the pet. The effect is reversed when a dog acts like a cat and a cat acts like a dog and is due to the perceived ability to control the animal's behavior rather than other attributes intrinsic to the pet. This research offers a first look at psychological ownership of a living creature and its effect on economic valuation.
https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Yh0yXj-jRlTS
https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1Yh0yXj-jRlTS
Research Interests:
In this chapter, we present evidence that despite the intangible nature of digital technologies, consumers often come to feel psychological ownership of these technologies. Further, we find that digital technologies often facilitate the... more
In this chapter, we present evidence that despite the intangible nature of digital technologies, consumers often come to feel psychological ownership of these technologies. Further, we find that digital technologies often facilitate the emergence of psychological ownership of non-digital targets. Digital affordances appear to play a key role in these processes. Digital affordances are characteristics of a digital technology object that facilitate users’ abilities to appropriate or engage with the technology (e.g., interactive design elements and interfaces) and can constrain or expand users’ opportunities for developing feelings of ownership for a digital target. Additionally, consumers’ motivational orientations and individual differences impact the extent to which they choose to leverage digital affordances and thus the extent to which affordances translate into feelings of ownership. We review research conducted in diverse digital contexts (e.g., websites, remixed content, virtual worlds, gaming, social media, virtual communities) and identify current implications for managers as well as future opportunities for researchers.
Research Interests:
In consumer behavior research, psychological ownership has been shown to impact positive outcomes important to marketers. However, an area that has been little-explored in marketing is a more nuanced side of psychological ownership: the... more
In consumer behavior research, psychological ownership has been shown to impact positive outcomes important to marketers. However, an area that has been little-explored in marketing is a more nuanced side of psychological ownership: the potential for territorial behavior. While researchers have long understood territoriality as fundamental to human nature, the nature of territory has frequently been regarded as a physical place. Only recently have scholars begun to focus on a view of territory as a psychological space, in which psychological ownership plays a critical role, and a broader understanding of territoriality that accounts for individuals’ psychological possessions has important implications for marketers. This chapter helps to fill this gap by providing an overview of existing research related to psychological ownership and territoriality in marketing, as well as suggestions for future research for marketing scholars. Researchers are encouraged to take a view of territoriality that extends well beyond physical spaces to the boundaries of the extended self in order to shed light on the important contribution territoriality can make to understanding both consumers and marketers alike.
Research Interests:
Psychological ownership, or the feeling that something is "mine," has garnered growing attention in marketing. While previous works focuses on the positive aspects of psychological ownership, this research draws attention to the darker... more
Psychological ownership, or the feeling that something is "mine," has garnered growing attention in marketing. While previous works focuses on the positive aspects of psychological ownership, this research draws attention to the darker side of psychological ownership, territorial behavior. Results of five experimental studies demonstrate that when consumers feel psychological ownership of a target, they are prone to perceptions of infringement and subsequent territorial responses when they infer that another individual feels ownership of the same target. Potential infringers are held less accountable when they acknowledge ownership prior to engaging in otherwise threatening behaviors, and when they could not be expected to know that a target is owned, as it was not clearly marked. In addition, narcissists are subject to a psychological ownership metaperception bias, and are thus more apt than low narcissists to perceive infringement. A multitude of territorial responses are documented for both tangible (coffee, sweater, chair, pizza) and intangible (a design) targets of ownership. Further, consumers infer the psychological ownership of others from signals of the antecedents of psychological ownership: control, investment of self, and intimate knowledge. Theoretical implications for territoriality and psychological ownership are discussed, along with managerial implications and areas for future research.
Research Interests:
Objective: Our quantitative analysis examined what factors influence pregnant women to choose a vaginal birth after a caesarean (VBAC). Background: There is growing concern over the high rates of caesarean section; much of the high rate... more
Objective: Our quantitative analysis examined what factors influence
pregnant women to choose a vaginal birth after a caesarean (VBAC).
Background: There is growing concern over the high rates of caesarean
section; much of the high rate is driven by repeat caesareans. A trial
of labour after a previous caesarean is an option for many women
increasingly supported by medical literature.
Methods: Survey data from 173 pregnant women who had had only
one birth by caesarean were analysed using a hierarchical binary
logistic regression model.
Results: Desire for the experience of a vaginal birth strongly predicted
choice of VBAC; however, this relationship was dampened among
women with a high (versus low) powerful others (e.g. doctors and
nurses) locus of control. Prior reason for a caesarean section and
practical factors also play a role.
Conclusion: Women may be more likely to choose VBAC if they
are encouraged to believe that they can help control the outcome,
especially if their desire for a vaginal birth experience is high.
pregnant women to choose a vaginal birth after a caesarean (VBAC).
Background: There is growing concern over the high rates of caesarean
section; much of the high rate is driven by repeat caesareans. A trial
of labour after a previous caesarean is an option for many women
increasingly supported by medical literature.
Methods: Survey data from 173 pregnant women who had had only
one birth by caesarean were analysed using a hierarchical binary
logistic regression model.
Results: Desire for the experience of a vaginal birth strongly predicted
choice of VBAC; however, this relationship was dampened among
women with a high (versus low) powerful others (e.g. doctors and
nurses) locus of control. Prior reason for a caesarean section and
practical factors also play a role.
Conclusion: Women may be more likely to choose VBAC if they
are encouraged to believe that they can help control the outcome,
especially if their desire for a vaginal birth experience is high.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Lynne Lambert was lost in thought as she made her way through the crowded New York City sidewalk. She had just left the offices of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (the “MTA”) where she had once again been awarded the license for use of... more
Lynne Lambert was lost in thought as she made her way through the crowded New York City sidewalk. She had just left the offices of the Metropolitan Transit Authority (the “MTA”) where she had once again been awarded the license for use of New York City Subway Line graphics for her apparel business. Lynne had invested years of her life and her life savings in her small business, and she was at a crossroad. Her business, New York City Subway Line, had just passed a $1 million benchmark in annual sales, but she was concerned about the future of her small enterprise. On one hand, her business was well-established in the New York City gift market, which was somewhat profitable but limited and under constant threat of competition from unlicensed counterfeits which the MTA had allowed to proliferate. On the other hand, she believed there was a much larger and potentially more lucrative urban-chic lifestyle apparel market. She had worked hard to establish the NYC Subway Line (NYCSL) brand i...
Research Interests:
In early January, the management for Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice, a PepsiCo brand, introduced a new, updated package design. Tropicana market share had been declining, while that of Coca-Cola‟s Simply Orange premium juice brand... more
In early January, the management for Tropicana Pure Premium orange juice, a PepsiCo brand, introduced a new, updated package design. Tropicana market share had been declining, while that of Coca-Cola‟s Simply Orange premium juice brand was growing. With the removal of the classic “straw in the orange” graphic from the packaging, the intent was to bring messaging to the carton with focus on replicating the squeeze of an orange right on the package. According to Tropicana president Neil Campbell, “We wanted to create an emotional attachment by "heroing‟ the juice and trumpeting the natural fruit goodness." Within days, bloggers made it clear that the new package design was not an improvement and that they found the product difficult to find in the supermarket refrigerator case. Blogger comments were ubiquitous, from Facebook and blogs by individuals to blogs from the advertising profession such as Ad Age, Brandweek, and Promo magazines. Consumers had problems with the brand ...
Research Interests: Marketing and Advertising
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... more
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.
Research Interests:
The advertising industry has devoted substantial managerial focus on digital information and entertainment. Scholarly attention, however, has lagged. The current study examined the effects of perceived interactivity on attitude and... more
The advertising industry has devoted substantial managerial focus on digital information and entertainment. Scholarly attention, however, has lagged. The current study examined the effects of perceived interactivity on attitude and intention to use a new product (adoption intention) in the context of digital information. In particular, the authors examined differences in response between younger “digital natives,” who were exposed to the Internet in childhood, and older “digital immigrants” exposed later in life. Results revealed that the control and communication dimensions of perceived interactivity lead to more positive attitudes and adoption intentions for digital natives but not always for digital immigrants.
Research Interests:
What makes some entrepreneurs persist in their venture efforts while others quit? Selfefficacy has robustly been found to drive persistence, yet recent work suggests that affect, in particular entrepreneurial passion, may also enhance... more
What makes some entrepreneurs persist in their venture efforts while others quit? Selfefficacy has robustly been found to drive persistence, yet recent work suggests that affect, in particular entrepreneurial passion, may also enhance persistence. We empirically examine the possibility that the long-standing relationship between self-efficacy and persistence might be mediated by entrepreneurial passion. Using data from 129 entrepreneurs, we find that the self-efficacy to persistence relationship is mediated by passion for inventing and for founding but not by passion for developing firms. The passion of entrepreneurs appears to help explain the relationship between entrepreneurial self-efficacy and sustained entrepreneurial action.
Research Interests:
In this conceptual paper, using the lens of self-design we examine the relationship between consumer technology appropriation and psychological ownership, suggesting that pride plays a key and multi-faceted role. Resolving discrepancies... more
In this conceptual paper, using the lens of self-design we examine the relationship between consumer technology appropriation and psychological ownership, suggesting that pride plays a key and multi-faceted role. Resolving discrepancies in the literature, we propose that authentic pride operates as an antecedent of psychological ownership, while hubristic pride strengthens the effect of psychological ownership on outcomes such as economic valuation and word-of-mouth. We further enrich the conceptualization by considering the moderating effects of the technology consumption context (public versus private) as well as consumers’ perceptions of situation strength (strong versus weak behavioral constraints).