How does identification with an organization enhance values?
2011-06-16
(Press-News.org) Strongly identifying with an organization or workplace can change people's lives in profound ways, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
"Managers often hope that consumers identify with organizations they regularly patronize, and firms sometimes encourage labor to encourage employees to identify with firms they work for, because in both cases organizations benefit from such identification," write authors Melea Press and Eric J. Arnould (both University of Wyoming, Laramie). The authors focus on identification formation from the perspective of consumers, whose personal, economic, and social lives are affected by organizations.
The authors conducted interviews with consumers who had recently joined a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. They also interviewed employees at an advertising agency, at all levels from receptionist to CEO.
In the interviews, the authors learned how consumers learn to integrate values and behaviors from within and beyond the organization, often in life-changing ways. "So, a new CSA member learns how and why he should appreciate locally grown organic vegetables, and then begins to find additional opportunities to buy other organic and locally made products more generally," the authors explain.
"Similarly, an employee learns the value of making clear, considered, and creative choices and brings that value into her personal life as she reduces her consumer debt and even makes better choices for romantic partners," the authors explain.
For some consumers, identification comes suddenly, as an epiphany, whereas others take more gradual paths, emulating mentors who are forging new ways of living. For example, over time, a CSA member who was a workaholic could use his experience with the organization to help assess his lifestyle and end up dramatically cutting back his work schedule to spend time with his family.
###
Melea Press and and Eric J. Arnould. "How Does Organizational Identification Form? A Consumer Behavior Perspective." Published online May 11, 2011. Journal of Consumer Research: December 2011. Further information: http://ejcr.org or jcr@bus.wisc.edu.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2011-06-16
Magical thinking, usually dismissed as naïve and irrational, can actually help consumers cope with stressful situations like trying to lose weight, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research.
"Magical thinking occurs when an individual invokes mystical, supernatural forces to understand, predict, or even influence events to overcome these stressful situations," write authors Yannik St. James (HEC Montreal), Jay M. Handelman, and Shirley F. Taylor (both Queen's University, Kingston, Canada).
"Weight loss activities are stressful for a number of reasons: ...
2011-06-16
Having an attractive model shill for a product only helps influence sales in certain situations, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. It seems it all depends on the set-up for the advertising.
"Sometimes attractive endorsers increase persuasion, sometimes they decrease persuasion, and sometimes they have no effect at all," write authors Janne van Doorn and Diederik A. Stapel (both Tilburg University, the Netherlands). In four experiments, the authors demonstrated that context is everything when it comes to evaluating the role of the attractive ...
2011-06-16
The following highlights summarize research papers that have been recently published in Water Resources Research (WRR), Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres (JGR-D), Paleoceanography (PA), and the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans (JGR-C).
In this release:
How yearly cholera outbreaks propagate in the Bengal Delta
Surge in North Atlantic hurricanes due to better detectors, not climate change
Potential for Atlantic current collapse hinted by complex global circulation model
Formation of Indonesian Archipelago destroyed ...
2011-06-16
Consumers react strongly to their product choices being copied, according to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research. They really dislike it when the copycat is someone similar to them.
"Have you ever gone to a party only to learn upon arrival that another guest is wearing the same dress or shirt as you?" ask authors Katherine White (University of British Columbia) and Jennifer J. Argo (University of Alberta). The researchers looked at what happens when someone else copies a consumer's product choice.
Although past research suggests that people are often motivated ...
2011-06-16
MONTREAL, June 15, 2011 – The results of a national online study show that 45% consider their parents to be their sexuality role model. Shattering stereotypes that parents and society hold about teen sexuality, the survey also revealed that only 32% looked to their friends and just 15% took inspiration from celebrities. Dr. Jean-Yves Frappier, a researcher at the University of Montreal's affiliated CHU Sainte-Justine Hospital Research Centre will be presenting the results at the Canadian Paediatric Society's 88th Annual Conference on June 18, 2011.
Importantly, the survey ...
2011-06-16
A new study by the University of California, San Francisco's Cardiac Electrophysiology Service seeks to discover for the first time the true causes of sudden cardiac death (SCD), why it is more prevalent in some demographic populations, and whether it is too often inaccurately cited as a cause of death.
Working with the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the City and County of San Francisco, researchers will fully investigate every death attributed to a sudden cardiac event in San Francisco over a three-year period. They hope to learn the biological risk factors ...
2011-06-16
London, 15 June 2011 - Inhibitory control can be boosted with a mild form of brain stimulation, according to a study published in the June 2011 issue of Neuroimage, Elsevier's Journal of Brain Function. The study's findings indicate that non-invasive intervention can greatly improve patients' inhibitory control. Conducted by a research team led by Dr Chi-Hung Juan of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, National Central University in Taiwan, the research was sponsored by the National Science Council in Taiwan, the UK Medical Research Council, the Royal Society Wolfson ...
2011-06-16
PHILADELPHIA—New engineering research at the University of Pennsylvania demonstrates that polaritons have increased coupling strength when confined to nanoscale semiconductors. This represents a promising advance in the field of photonics: smaller and faster circuits that use light rather than electricity.
The research was conducted by assistant professor Ritesh Agarwal, postdoctoral fellow Lambert van Vugt and graduate student Brian Piccione of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering in Penn's School of Engineering and Applied Science. Chang-Hee Cho and Pavan ...
2011-06-16
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The first organisms to emerge after an ancient worldwide glaciation likely evolved hardy survival skills, arming themselves with tough exteriors to weather a frozen climate.
Researchers at MIT, Harvard University and Smith College have discovered hundreds of microscopic fossils in rocks dating back nearly 710 million years, around the time when the planet emerged from a global glaciation, or "Snowball Earth," event. The fossils are remnants of tiny, amoeba-like organisms that likely survived the harsh post-glacial environment by building armor and ...
2011-06-16
Palo Alto, CA— Although scientists have been able to sequence the genomes of many organisms, they still lack a context for associating the proteins encoded in genes with specific biological processes. To better understand the genetics underlying plant physiology and ecology—especially in regard to photosynthesis—a team of researchers including Carnegie's Arthur Grossman identified a list of proteins encoded in the genomes of plants and green algae, but not in the genomes of organisms that don't generate energy through photosynthesis. Their work will be published June 17 ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] How does identification with an organization enhance values?
