Mirroring desire: Narcissism, psychological ownership, and purchase intentions for self-replicated sex robots

Self-replicating technologies are reshaping how consumers engage with technologically constructed versions of the self. Yet little is known about the psychological processes that motivate adoption of devices modeled after one's own likeness. Addressing this gap, the present study investigates how narcissistic autosexuals, individuals sexually attracted to themselves, form intentions to purchase self-replicated sex robots, a context that illuminates broader identity-based consumption dynamics. Drawing on symbolic self-completion theory, a moderated mediation model was developed in which narcissism predicts purchase intentions directly and indirectly through psychological ownership, with self-concept clarity proposed as a boundary condition. Survey data from 406 self-identified autosexuals provided full support for the model. Narcissism increased purchase intentions and strengthened psychological ownership of the self-replicated robot. Psychological ownership, in turn, predicted purchase intentions, mediating the narcissism–intention link. Self-concept clarity weakened all direct effects: when clarity was high, narcissism exerted little influence on ownership or purchase intentions; when clarity was low, all pathways intensified. The indirect effect was strongest among individuals with the least defined self-views. The study contributes a novel examination of autosexual consumers—an understudied identity segment—and extends symbolic self-completion theory by showing that identity symbols can be psychologically fused with the self even prior to purchase, and that this fusion depends on the coherence of one's self-definition. Managerially, the findings inform identity-driven strategies for hyper-personalized technologies, and socially, they highlight emerging ethical concerns related to self-objectification, relational distortion, and consumer vulnerability.