Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/54913
THE AMERICAN UNIVERSITY KOGOD SCHOOL OF BUSINESS PRESENTS A digital magazine examining business trends through an interdisciplinary academic lens. Obsessions with Possessions JOHN LASTOVICKA, a marketing professor at Ari- zona State University's W.P. Carey School of Business in Tempe, and Carey doctoral student Nancy Sirianni find that a person's relationship to possessions can go beyond mere attachment to outright love. "Most consumer researchers have thought of this phenomenon in terms of self-identity, such as whether owning and driving an expensive sports car helps you tell others you have a higher social status," says Lastovicka. However, Lastovicka and Sirianni found that some people exhibit "material possession love," in which possessions become substitutes for human relationships. The research is based on in-depth interviews with people at car shows, gun ranges, and other similar events, as well as surveys of hundreds of gun owners, computer owners, and cyclists. The study refers to a car show participant who named his car "Maybelline" and admitted to spending more time with his car than with people. Another said he felt "love at first sight" when he saw his car, which compelled him to spend all he had and borrow more to own it. The researchers found other participants lavishing similar attention on bicycles, computers, and guns. As society becomes more prosperous, more people move away from family and friends and are more likely to be lonely, says Lastovicka. Material possession love can actually be a positive alternative to other reac- tions such as drug abuse and depression. Lastovicka warns businesses that these customers require special care. "A marketer needs to be careful not to judge these people as weird," he says. They are excellent customers, but they will take their business elsewhere if they think they are being made fun of. The article "Truly, Madly, Deeply: Consumers in the Throes of Material Possession Love," will be published in the Journal of Consumer Research. It is also avail- able at www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/658338. THROUGH COMMERCE It's not all about military maneuvers and microfinance opportunities. It's about the rule of law, corporate governance, ethics, human rights and bribery. DIGITAL.KOGODNOW.COM BizEd May/June 2011 PEACE FIRST ISSUE: 63