IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/oup/jconrs/v35y2009i5p715-728.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Memories as Assets: Strategic Memory Protection in Choice over Time

Author

Listed:
  • Gal Zauberman
  • Rebecca K. Ratner
  • B. Kyu Kim

Abstract

We present five studies supporting our strategic memory protection theory. When people make decisions about experiences to consume over time, they treat their memories of previous experiences as assets to be protected. The first two studies demonstrate that people tend to avoid situations that they believe will threaten their ability to retrieve special (rather than merely pleasant) memories. The next three studies demonstrate that people seek to obtain memory pointers to help them cue special memories at a later time when they anticipate interference from subsequent events. These preferences are driven by people's lay theories about the importance and difficulty of obtaining and retrieving special memories. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Suggested Citation

  • Gal Zauberman & Rebecca K. Ratner & B. Kyu Kim, 2009. "Memories as Assets: Strategic Memory Protection in Choice over Time," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 35(5), pages 715-728, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jconrs:v:35:y:2009:i:5:p:715-728
    DOI: 10.1086/592943
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/592943
    File Function: link to full text
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1086/592943?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.

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. 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.
    2. Rong Hai & Dirk Krueger & Andrew Postlewaite, 2020. "On the welfare cost of consumption fluctuations in the presence of memorable goods," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 11(4), pages 1177-1214, November.
    3. Stan Miles & Peter Smoczynski, 2016. "Optimal Intertemporal Consumption and Involuntary Memories of Consumption," Australian Economic Papers, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(3), pages 251-273, September.
    4. Joseph K. Goodman & Selin A. Malkoc & Brittney L. Stephenson, 2016. "Celebrate or Commemorate? A Material Purchase Advantage When Honoring Special Life Events," Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(4), pages 497-508.
    5. Byrom, John & Light, Duncan & Medway, Dominic & Parker, Cathy & Zenker, Sebastian, 2024. "Post-holiday memory work: Everyday encounters with fridge magnets," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    6. Wilson Bastos & Merrie Brucks, 2017. "How and Why Conversational Value Leads to Happiness for Experiential and Material Purchases," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 44(3), pages 598-612.
    7. Gilboa, Itzhak & Postlewaite, Andrew & Samuelson, Larry, 2016. "Memorable consumption," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 414-455.
    8. Ünal Caner & Dursun Aslıhan & Caber Meltem, 2017. "A study of domestic honeymoon tourism in Turkey," European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, Sciendo, vol. 8(1), pages 65-74, May.
    9. Agapito, Dora & Pinto, Patrícia & Mendes, Júlio, 2017. "Tourists' memories, sensory impressions and loyalty: In loco and post-visit study in Southwest Portugal," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 108-118.
    10. Lee, Seonjeong Ally & Oh, Haemoon, 2017. "Sharing travel stories and behavioral outcomes: A case of travel," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 147-158.
    11. Kao Si & Xianchi Dai, 2022. "The memory-search frame effect: impacts on consumers’ retrieval and evaluation of consumption experiences," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 5-17, March.
    12. Jinfeng (Jenny) Jiao & Fang‐Chi Lu & Nuoya Chen, 2022. "Deriving happiness through extraordinary or ordinary brand experiences in times of COVID‐19 threat," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 1392-1419, September.
    13. Jurewicz., Zuzanna & Goode, Miranda R. & Thomson, Matthew, 2024. "A tonic for the highly stressed: Memories of extraordinary group experiences lead to greater cohesion and well-being," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    14. Feurer, Sven & Haws, Kelly L., 2022. "Justifiable justifications in sequential indulgent choice situations: A framework for future research based on perceived exceptionality," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 630-639.
    15. Rong Hai & Andrew Postlewaite & Dirk Krueger, 2013. "On the Welfare Cost of Consumption Fluctuations in the Presence of Memorable Goods, Second Version," PIER Working Paper Archive 14-012, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania, revised 15 Apr 2014.
    16. Davis, Andrew, 2017. "It wasn't me, it was my festival me: The effect of event stimuli on attendee identity formation," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 484-500.
    17. Rogelio Puente-Díaz & Judith Cavazos-Arroyo, 2022. "Experiential gifts and the construal of meaningful consumption episodes," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-8, December.
    18. Jain, Varsha & Merchant, Altaf & Roy, Subhadip & Ford, John B., 2019. "Developing an emic scale to measure ad-evoked nostalgia in a collectivist emerging market, India," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 140-156.
    19. Li, Fangxuan (Sam) & Ryan, Chris, 2018. "Souvenir shopping experiences: A case study of Chinese tourists in North Korea," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 142-153.
    20. Hungenberg, Eric & Slavich, Mark & Bailey, Andrew & Sawyer, Taylor, 2020. "Examining Minor League Baseball Spectator Nostalgia: A Neuroscience Perspective," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 23(5), pages 824-837.
    21. Rubin, Dan & Mohr, Iris & Kumar, V., 2022. "Beyond the box office: A conceptual framework for the drivers of audience engagement," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 473-488.
    22. Taufer Barbara & Steffen Angela & Steffen Dagmar, 2016. "Souvenirs „made in Switzerland“: Eine Nachfrageanalyse in der Destination Graubünden," Zeitschrift für Tourismuswissenschaft, De Gruyter, vol. 8(1), pages 123-144, May.
    23. Jiaqi Wang & Peng Zou & Bo Yu, 2024. "How online exposure to nature affects customer engagement: Evidence from Sina Weibo," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 34(1), pages 1-17, December.
    24. Priya Narayanan, 2023. "Not All Gold Glitters the Same: Unpacking Investment and Sentiment for Effective Persuasion to Drive Gold Monetization in India," Working papers 581, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
    25. Xun (Irene) Huang & Zhongqiang (Tak) Huang & Robert S. Wyer, 2016. "Slowing Down in the Good Old Days: The Effect of Nostalgia on Consumer Patience," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(3), pages 372-387.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:oup:jconrs:v:35:y:2009:i:5:p:715-728. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://academic.oup.com/jcr .

    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.