Falling in Love With a Product: the Structure of a Romantic Consumer-Product Relationship
ABSTRACT - Consumers often say they are Ain love with a product or brand,@ but what does being in love with a product really mean? Do consumers actually find themselves in a romantic product relationship that resembles a love relationship with another person? To address this question, a sample of male bikers (n=179) was surveyed with an instrument used in psychology to study different styles of interpersonal love. Findings suggest that bikers’ love toward their motorcycles resembles an interpersonal love that is passionate, possessive and selfless in nature. Only the passion component of interpersonal love had an impact on loyalty to their bikes.
Citation:
Yun-Oh Whang, Jeff Allen, Niquelle Sahoury, and Haitao Zhang (2004) ,"Falling in Love With a Product: the Structure of a Romantic Consumer-Product Relationship", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 31, eds. Barbara E. Kahn and Mary Frances Luce, Valdosta, GA : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 320-327.
Authors
Yun-Oh Whang, University of Central Florida
Jeff Allen, University of Central Florida
Niquelle Sahoury, University of Central Florida
Haitao Zhang, University of Central Florida
Volume
NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 31 | 2004
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