IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/amsrev/v8y2018i3d10.1007_s13162-017-0098-3.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Toward an improved conceptual understanding of consumer ambivalence

Author

Listed:
  • Jenni Sipilä

    (Lappeenranta University of Technology, School of Business and Management)

  • Anssi Tarkiainen

    (Lappeenranta University of Technology, School of Business and Management)

  • Sanna Sundqvist

    (Lappeenranta University of Technology, School of Business and Management)

Abstract

Despite the significance of ambivalence in consumer research, the concept suffers from a lack of clarity. This study thus aims to develop an improved conceptual understanding of consumer ambivalence based on the analysis of existing definitions. A number of challenges are observed and addressed through key premises that characterize the concept of consumer ambivalence. Furthermore, the presented conceptualization is contextualized into the area of consumption. The result of this process is an enhanced view of consumer ambivalence that builds on and extends earlier conceptualizations in 1) recognizing a wide variety of concepts that can be studied under the umbrella of consumer ambivalence, 2) specifying the multitude of objects of consumer ambivalence, and 3) specifying the temporal scope of consumer ambivalence through the concept of consumption episodes. The proposed conceptualization accommodates the richness of different approaches to consumer ambivalence and thus contributes to a wide range of consumer research.

Suggested Citation

  • Jenni Sipilä & Anssi Tarkiainen & Sanna Sundqvist, 2018. "Toward an improved conceptual understanding of consumer ambivalence," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 8(3), pages 147-162, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:amsrev:v:8:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s13162-017-0098-3
    DOI: 10.1007/s13162-017-0098-3
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s13162-017-0098-3
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s13162-017-0098-3?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Agnès Nairn & Wicks Patricia Gaya & Christine Griffin, 2007. "The Role of Commodified Celebrities in Children's Moral Development: The Case of David Beckham," Post-Print hal-02311742, HAL.
    2. Cristel Russell & Dale Russell & Jill Klein, 2011. "Ambivalence toward a country and consumers’ willingness to buy emblematic brands: The differential predictive validity of objective and subjective ambivalence measures on behavior," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 357-371, November.
    3. Luce, Mary Frances & Jia, Jianmin & Fischer, Gregory W, 2003. "How Much Do You Like It? Within-Alternative Conflict and Subjective Confidence in Consumer Judgments," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 30(3), pages 464-472, December.
    4. Strunz, Sebastian, 2012. "Is conceptual vagueness an asset? Arguments from philosophy of science applied to the concept of resilience," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 112-118.
    5. Michelle F. Weinberger & Melanie Wallendorf, 2012. "Intracommunity Gifting at the Intersection of Contemporary Moral and Market Economies," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 39(1), pages 74-92.
    6. David B. Wooten, 2006. "From Labeling Possessions to Possessing Labels: Ridicule and Socialization among Adolescents," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 33(2), pages 188-198, July.
    7. Nelson, Michelle R. & Otnes, Cele C., 2005. "Exploring cross-cultural ambivalence: a netnography of intercultural wedding message boards," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(1), pages 89-95, January.
    8. Rohit Varman & Russell W. Belk, 2009. "Nationalism and Ideology in an Anticonsumption Movement," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 36(4), pages 686-700, December.
    9. Otnes, Cele & Lowrey, Tina M & Shrum, L J, 1997. "Toward an Understanding of Consumer Ambivalence," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(1), pages 80-93, June.
    10. Eric J. Arnould & Craig J. Thompson, 2005. "Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 31(4), pages 868-882, March.
    11. Jiewen Hong & Angela Y. Lee, 2010. "Feeling Mixed but Not Torn: The Moderating Role of Construal Level in Mixed Emotions Appeals," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 37(3), pages 456-472, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Abbie Griffin & Gloria Barczak, 2020. "Effective reviewing for conceptual journal submissions," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 10(1), pages 36-48, June.
    2. Anne Hamby & Cristel Russell, 2022. "How does ambivalence affect young consumers’ response to risky products?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 841-863, July.

    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. Karin Brondino-Pompeo, 2021. "Mapping spheres of exchange: a multidimensional approach to commoditization and singularization," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 11(1), pages 81-95, June.
    2. Pochun, Tej & Brennan, Linda & Parker, Lukas, 2018. "Advertising effects? An elemental experiment," Australasian marketing journal, Elsevier, vol. 26(4), pages 338-349.
    3. Septianto, Felix, 2021. "Every ending is a new beginning: Poignancy increases consumer preferences for self-made products," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 732-748.
    4. Stoeckl, Verena E. & Luedicke, Marius K., 2015. "Doing well while doing good? An integrative review of marketing criticism and response," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2452-2463.
    5. Bradford, Tonya Williams & Sherry, John F., 2013. "Orchestrating rituals through retailers: An examination of gift registry," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 89(2), pages 158-175.
    6. Lau-Gesk, Loraine & Mukherjee, Sayantani, 2017. "Coping with sequential conflicting emotional experiences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 1-8.
    7. Schindler, Robert M. & Minton, Elizabeth A., 2022. "What becomes sacred to the consumer: Implications for marketers," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 355-365.
    8. Bernard Cova, 2021. "The new frontier of consumer experiences: escape through pain," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 11(1), pages 60-69, June.
    9. 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.
    10. Justina Gineikiene & Adamantios Diamantopoulos, 2017. "I hate where it comes from but I still buy it: Countervailing influences of animosity and nostalgia," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(8), pages 992-1008, October.
    11. Xin, Benlu & Zhu, Chengfeng & Septianto, Felix, 2022. "The effects of mixed emotional appeals in leveraging paradox brands," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 266-275.
    12. Cagri Yalkin & Richard Rosenbaum-Elliott, 2014. "Talking Fashion in Female Friendship Groups: Negotiating the Necessary Marketplace Skills and Knowledge," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 37(2), pages 301-331, June.
    13. de Lassus, Christel & Anido Freire, N., 2014. "Access to the luxury brand myth in pop-up stores: A netnographic and semiotic analysis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 61-68.
    14. Manthiou, Aikaterini & Hickman, Ellie & Klaus, Phil, 2020. "Beyond good and bad: Challenging the suggested role of emotions in customer experience (CX) research," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    15. Zhang, Lei & Tong, Hangyan & Liang, Yuqing & Qin, Quande, 2023. "Consumer purchase intention of new energy vehicles with an extended technology acceptance model: The role of attitudinal ambivalence," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    16. Oleg Curbatov, 2013. "The 'Knowledge Marketing': A New Trend In A Management Science World," Post-Print hal-01509370, HAL.
    17. Carmela Milano, 2015. "Democratization or else vulgarization of cultural capital? The role of social networks in theater’s audience behavior," Working Papers CEB 15-004, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    18. Daniela Andreini & Diego Rinallo & Giuseppe Pedeliento & Mara Bergamaschi, 2017. "Brands and Religion in the Secularized Marketplace and Workplace: Insights from the Case of an Italian Hospital Renamed After a Roman Catholic Pope," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 141(3), pages 529-550, March.
    19. Liu, Chihling & Keeling, Debbie Isobel & Hogg, Margaret K., 2016. "Strategy narratives and wellbeing challenges: The role of everyday self-presentation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 234-243.
    20. Cristel Russell & Dale Russell & Jill Klein, 2011. "Ambivalence toward a country and consumers’ willingness to buy emblematic brands: The differential predictive validity of objective and subjective ambivalence measures on behavior," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 357-371, November.

    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:spr:amsrev:v:8:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s13162-017-0098-3. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.