Motivations to Collect: How Consumers Are Socialized to Build Product Collections
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Review of the Literature
2.1. Traditional Collections
2.2. Digital Collections
2.3. Finding Products to Collect
2.4. Motivations to Collect
2.5. How Individuals Are Socialized to Learn How to Collect
2.6. Consumer Socialization Theory
2.7. Literature on Social Media
2.8. Literature on Friends
2.9. Family
2.10. Literature on Romantic Partners
2.11. Literature on Purchase Intention
3. Materials and Methods
3.1. Research Design
3.2. Data Collection and Analysis
4. Results and Findings
4.1. Results
4.2. Findings
4.2.1. Inspiration to Collect
“It was because I caught living frogs as a kid, and then I would release them right after catching them. I just loved them.”
“No one, in particular, inspired me, nor any particular event. It just sort of happened. I found that it made me happy to collect, gave me a sense of nostalgia and also a sense of happiness and calm as I looked around and saw the things I enjoyed, that made me happy, surrounding me in my home.”
“I decided to collect them so I could pass them down to my children.”
“I sort of fell into it. I had a few that I liked, but then my family started giving them to me for birthdays and holidays.”
“My brother had a stamp collection, and he would spend time with me, explaining where each stamp was from. Stamp collecting brought me closer to my brother, whom I really enjoyed, spending time with.”
“My parents started collecting key chains for me when I was a baby, and I decided to keep it going because I love how unique and prevalent key chains are. You can find cute key chains everywhere. They are small enough where they don’t take up too much space. All of my 200 key chains fit nicely in two medium-size storage boxes, so it’s not like my collection is ruining my life.”
“My aunt had a ton of baseball programs. I now have most of her collection since she passed a few years ago.”
“I was not really that inspired. It was my mother that was kind of excited about this collection.”
“My friends all had Pokemon, once I got my first deck, I just couldn’t stop buying them.”
“I often watched Hello Kitty reruns on Toon Disney in the summer when I was a young girl. Hello Kitty became my favorite character.”
“My spouse used to dress up as Santa for the children’s holiday program at our local public, and that sparked an interest in collecting vintage Santas.”
“Matt Kenseth was a local race car driver that was talented enough to break into NASCAR and even became a champion. That got me collecting.”
4.2.2. Starting the Collection
4.2.3. Duration of Collection
4.2.4. Motivations to Collect
4.2.5. Locating Products for Collection
4.2.6. Impact of Technology on the Collection
“Well, when I was a kid, buying packs at a physical store was pretty much the only way to get cards. So the growth of online stores has definitely changed the way you can collect them. Like I mentioned earlier, the website tcgplayer.com enabled me to buy the specific cards I’m missing, rather than gambling on packs.”
“Technology has helped me to collect cards/items that are no longer available to sell in stores due to they stopped selling them years ago. It’s better online so I don’t have to go to garage or yard sales to find these items.”
“Technology has not really altered the way I collect. I did buy a vintage 1990s pack of key chains from a lady in my town on offerup.com. That was the first time I bought key chains from someone directly. I usually buy them at gift shops when I travel. I could easily go nuts on eBay and buy $$$ worth of key chains, but I prefer to buy them when I am traveling.”
“Yes, it has expanded my collection to the digital realm, which I, unfortunately, can’t organize like I can with my physical collection.”
“I often see news about a discontinued product, but I’ve had internet all my life, so…”
4.2.7. Summary of Themes
5. Discussion
5.1. Family
5.2. Friends
5.3. Romantic Partners
5.4. Social Media
5.5. Study Summary
5.6. Future Directions, Limitations, and Implications
6. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
Variable | Survey Question |
---|---|
Quantitative Questions | |
Online social networks | I spend a lot of time using online social networks (i.e., Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram) to look at products before purchasing an item for my collection. 1 |
I spend a lot of time talking with my online social network friends about purchasing an item for my collection. 1 | |
Pictures from online social networks encourage me to make purchases for my collection. 1 | |
My online social network friends encourage me to make purchases for my collection. 1 | |
Online social networks help me find items for my collection. 1 | |
My online social network friends help me find items for my collection. 1 | |
I search online social networking websites for advice about buying products for my collection. 1 | |
I ask my online social network friends for advice about buying products for my collection. 1 | |
Family | My family encourages me to make purchases for my collection using my own judgment. 4 |
My family and I tell each other where to find items for my collection. 2 | |
I ask my family for advice about buying products for my collection. 3 | |
My family encourages me to make purchases of items I want for my collection. 4 | |
I spend a lot of time talking with my family about purchasing an item for my collection. 5 | |
Friends | My friends encourage me to make purchases for my collection using my own judgment. 4 |
My friends and I tell each other where to find items for my collection. 2 | |
I ask my friends for advice about buying products for my collection. 3 | |
My friends encourage me to make purchases for my collection. 4 | |
I spend a lot of time talking with my friends about purchasing an item for my collection. 5 | |
Romantic partners | My romantic partner(s) encourage me to make purchases for my collection using my own judgment. 4 |
My romantic partner(s) and I tell each other where to find items for my collection. 2 | |
I ask my romantic partner(s) for advice about buying products for my collection. 3 | |
My romantic partner(s) encourage me to make purchases for my collection. 4 | |
I spend a lot of time talking with my romantic partner(s) about purchasing an item for my collection. 5 | |
Intention to purchase | I intend to buy products for my collection that I have searched for online in the future.4 |
I intend to buy products for my collection that I have searched for on online social networking websites in the future. 4 | |
I intend to buy products for my collection that family members recommend in the future. 4 | |
I intend to buy products for my collection that my friends recommend in the future. 4 | |
I intend to buy products for my collection that my romantic partner(s) recommend in the future. 4 | |
Qualitative Questions | |
What type of product(s) do you collect? Why? | |
Where do you typically buy products for your collection? | |
How did you get started in collecting? | |
Who (or what) inspired you to start collecting? | |
When did you start collecting? | |
Has technology altered the way that you collect? |
Appendix B
Socialization Agent | Quantitative Results | Qualitative Findings |
---|---|---|
Friends | Friends were the most impactful on the intention to purchase for a collection | Friends served as an information source for product collections Impact of friends increases over time |
Romantic partner | Romantic partners were found to significantly impact the purchase intention for a collection | A connection between romantic partners and nostalgia evoked from the product collection was found |
Online social media | Online social media was found to significantly impact the intention to purchase for a collection, but less so than friends and romantic partners | Online social media was discussed the least in the qualitative phase of the study, but played a role in the acquiring of products for a collection Online marketplaces for collected products (e.g., eBay, etc.) were found to be highly accessible |
Family | Family was not found to significantly impact purchase decisions for a collection | Family was described as the inspiration behind starting a product collection Family members were found to pass along product collections or collections were started based on gifts received Influence of family lessens over time |
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Johnson Jorgensen, J.; Sorensen, K.; Spilinek, M. Motivations to Collect: How Consumers Are Socialized to Build Product Collections. Soc. Sci. 2023, 12, 671. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12120671
Johnson Jorgensen J, Sorensen K, Spilinek M. Motivations to Collect: How Consumers Are Socialized to Build Product Collections. Social Sciences. 2023; 12(12):671. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12120671
Chicago/Turabian StyleJohnson Jorgensen, Jennifer, Katelyn Sorensen, and Melisa Spilinek. 2023. "Motivations to Collect: How Consumers Are Socialized to Build Product Collections" Social Sciences 12, no. 12: 671. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12120671
APA StyleJohnson Jorgensen, J., Sorensen, K., & Spilinek, M. (2023). Motivations to Collect: How Consumers Are Socialized to Build Product Collections. Social Sciences, 12(12), 671. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci12120671