Locus of control effect in the purchase and recommendation decision of co-created labeled products

Abstract

This study aims to understand the relationship between consumers’ locus of control (how people perceive the causes of the events that occur in their life) and their willingness to buy and recommend co-created products (developed in partnership between consumers and companies). We tested two products from different categories, a mobile phone as a complex product and a hamburger as low complexity product. The results show that internals (people who believe that what happens in life comes from their own effort) are more likely to buy and recommend co-created products than externals (people who believe that luck and destiny traces life). Results also show that the relationship may be influenced by product characteristics, namely product complexity. Findings help managers to better target products through marketing and communication strategies in order to reach customers according to their locus of control profile.

Date of Award	19 Oct 2016
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Cláudia Isabel de Sousa Costa (Supervisor)