蘑菇传媒

Colleen Kirk, D.P.S., associate professor of management and marketing studies,聽shared her expertise聽in an article by the marketing news site聽. Kirk, who researches psychological ownership in consumers (when shoppers feel a product or brand is “theirs”), explains how this phenomenon can impact brands.

鈥淚n my research, my colleagues and I have shown that consumers can become very defensive when they feel ownership of a product. A classic example was when Tropicana tried to remove consumers鈥� beloved straw and orange from their packaging in 2009,鈥� said Kirk. 鈥淐onsumers at the time had grown up with the straw and orange on their breakfast table 鈥� they had a strong sense of intimate knowledge and ownership. They rebelled, and within six weeks, Tropicana had to scrap their repackaging efforts.鈥�