Work with me or work for me: The effect of brand roles depends on implicit theories of self‐change
研究消费者对“伙伴”和“仆人”两种品牌角色的偏好如何受其关于自我改变能力的信念影响，发现认为自我特质可变的人偏好伙伴品牌，而认为特质固定的人偏好仆人品牌。
Abstract Consumer‐brand relationships are important predictors of consumption, but the psychology surrounding the different roles brands occupy within these relationships is not fully understood. Three experiments and one field study investigate how preferences for two of these brand roles, partner and servant, depend on consumers' implicit theories of self‐change. Counter to what prior literature might suggest, findings show that consumers who believe that self‐traits are relatively malleable (incremental theorists) and fixed (entity theorists) prefer partner and servant brands, respectively. Results demonstrate that a partner brand signals an equal effort by both the consumer and the brand, whereas a servant brand signals less effort by the consumer and more effort by the brand. The relatively greater consumer effort signals by partner (vs. servant) brands align with the effort beliefs associated with consumers' implicit theories, thereby mediating preferences. Findings are demonstrated across different product categories and samples (Taiwan and US). The focus on dyadic effort signals of brand roles in consumer‐brand relationships, and the resulting interactive effect with implicit theories, provide novel contributions to theory and practice.