Effects of Self-Improvement on Product Upgrade and Switching Intentions

Recent theoretical developments have revealed that drawing consumers’ attention to their selfimprovement perception can increase their intention to upgrade products, particularly when their self-brand connection (SBC) is high. The current research investigates the mechanism as to why consumers’ self-improvement leads to product upgrade by focusing on the perception of a mismatch between the self and previously purchased products. Specifically, this research shows that consumers’ mismatch perceptions increase their upgrade intentions when the self-brand connection is high. On the other hand, consumers’ mismatch perceptions increase their intentions to switch to another brand when the self-brand connection is low. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed in the paper.