Announcement:

The European Marketing Academy (EMAC) and the International Journal of Research in Marketing (IJRM) are pleased to announce the winner of the 2023 Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp Award for Long-Term Impact:

Identity-based consumer behavior (IJRM, Volume 29, Issue 4, December 2012, Pages 310-321)

by

Americus Reed II (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA), Mark R. Forehand (Foster School of Business, University of Washington, USA), Stefano Puntoni (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA), and Luk Warlop (BI Norwegian Business School, Norway).

Abstract

Although the influence of identity on consumer behavior has been documented in many streams of literature, the absence of a consistent definition of identity and of generally accepted principles regarding the drivers of identity-based behavior complicates comparisons across these literatures. To resolve that problem, we propose a simple but inclusive definition of identity. Identity can be defined as any category label with which a consumer self-associates that is amenable to a clear picture of what a person in that category looks like, thinks, feels and does. Building from this definition, we propose the following five basic principles that can help researchers model the process of identity formation and expression: (1) Identity Salience: identity processing increases when the identity is an active component of the self; (2) Identity Association: the non-conscious association of stimuli with a positive and salient identity improves a person’s response to the stimuli; (3) Identity Relevance: the deliberative evaluation of identity-linked stimuli depends on how diagnostic the identity is in the relevant domain; (4) Identity Verification: individuals monitor their own behaviors to manage and reinforce their identities; and (5) Identity Conflict: identity-linked behaviors help consumers manage the relative prominence of multiple identities. To illustrate the potential usefulness of these principles for guiding identity research, we discuss new avenues for identity research and explain how these principles could help guide investigations into these areas.

Selection Procedure

The Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp Award for Long-Term Impact is given annually to papers published in IJRM in recognition of their exceptional contributions to academic marketing research by demonstrating long-term impact.

A 4-member Award Committee, formed by the IJRM Editor-in-Chief (Martin Schreier) and Co-Editors (Renana Peres and Alina Sorescu), managed the nomination and selection procedure. For 2023, the committee was composed of P. K. Kannan, chairperson (University of Maryland, USA), Lisa K. Scheer (University of Missouri, USA// University of Graz, Austria), Ana Valenzuela (Baruch College, CUNY, USA// ESADE-Ramon Llull, Spain), and Ralf van der Lans (HKUST, Hong Kong).

The selection procedure for this award is as follows:

1. All papers published in IJRM 10 to 15 years prior to the year the award is being presented are eligible. Thus, for the 2023 Jan-Benedict E.M. Steenkamp Award all papers published in the years 2008 through 2013 were eligible. (Papers published within this time frame that have already won this award or are (co)authored by Jan-Benedict Steenkamp and/or by the current IJRM Editor-in-Chief were not)
2. Nominations were invited from EMAC members and IJRM Editorial Board members. This year, the Award Committee received nominations for 85 These nominated papers comprised the first ballot from which the IJRM Editorial Board voted for up to 5 papers; self-voting was not allowed. The 10 papers that received the most votes in the first round made up the ballot for the second and final round of voting in which the Editorial Board could choose only 1 paper.
3. After receiving the votes, the Award Committee deliberated on the winning paper guided by the following criteria: (1) the votes received from the IJRM Editorial Board, (2) its ISI and Google Scholar citations, and (3) its quality, as assessed by the committee’s in-depth reading. There can be two winners in exceptional cases (not more than once every 3 years on average).

Finalists (in order of publication date)

• Measuring the impact of positive and negative word of mouth on brand purchase probability. Robert East, Kathy Hammond, Wendy Lomax. Vol 25 (3) Pages 215–224
• A new measure of brand personality. Maggie Geuens, Bert Weijters, Kristof De Wulf. Vol 26 (2) Pages 97-107
• The impact of technological and organizational implementation of CRM on customer acquisition, maintenance, and retention. Jan U. Becker, Goetz Greve, Sönke Albers. Vol 26 (3) Pages 207-215
• Linking marketing capabilities with profit growth. Neil A. Morgan, Rebecca J. Slotegraaf, Douglas W. Vorhies. Vol 26 (4) Pages 284-293
• The chilling effects of network externalities. Jacob Goldenberg, Barak Libai, Eitan Muller. Vol 27 (1) Pages 4-15
• The effect of rating scale format on response styles: The number of response categories and response category labels. Bert Weijters, Elke Cabooter, Niels Schillewaert. Vol 27 (3), Pages 236-247
• Estimating aggregate consumer preferences from online product reviews. Reinhold Decker, Michael Trusov. Vol 27 (4) Pages 293-307
• Generalizations on consumer innovation adoption: A meta-analysis on drivers of intention and behavior. Joep W.C. Arts, Ruud T. Frambach, Tammo H.A. Bijmolt.. Vol 28 (2) Pages 134-144
• Agent-based modeling in marketing: Guidelines for rigor. William Rand, Roland T. Rust. Vol 28 (3). Pages 181-193
• Identity-based consumer behavior. Americus Reed, Mark R. Forehand, Stefano Puntoni, Luk Warlop. Vol 29 (4) Pages 310-321

Statement from the Award Committee

This paper proposes a simple and inclusive definition of identity in the context of consumer behavior, which is any category label with which a consumer self-associates that is amenable to a clear picture of what a person in that category looks like, thinks, feels and does. The paper identifies five basic principles that can help researchers model the process of identity formation and expression: Identity Salience, Identity Association, Identity Relevance, Identity Verification, and Identity Conflict. The principles help researchers to better understand the influence of identity on consumer behavior, such as how the processing of identity increases when the identity is an active component of the self, how the non-conscious association of stimuli with a positive and salient identity improves a person’s response to the stimuli, how the deliberative evaluation of identity-linked stimuli depends on how diagnostic the identity is in the relevant domain, how individuals monitor their own behaviors to manage and reinforce their identities, and how identity-linked behaviors help consumers manage the relative prominence of multiple identities. Overall, this paper provides a useful framework for understanding the role of identity in consumer behavior and provides new avenues for future research. By establishing a consistent definition and principles for understanding identity, the paper makes significant contribution by enabling researchers to make more meaningful comparisons across different literatures and gain a deeper understanding of the factors that influence consumer behavior.

This paper received the most votes from the IJRM Editorial Board by a clear margin and was unanimously appreciated by the award committee.  The importance of its contribution is widely recognized as evidenced by more than 300 Web of Science and more than 600 Google Scholar citations.

We congratulate the authors for receiving this award.

The 2023 Award Committee:

K. Kannan (chairperson), University of Maryland, USA

Lisa K. Scheer, University of Missouri, USA and University of Graz, Austria

Ana Valenzuela, Baruch College, CUNY, USA and ESADE-Ramon Llull, Spain

Ralf van der Lans (Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, Hong Kong)