The Handmade Effect: What's Love Got to Do with It?

Author(s)
Christoph Fuchs, Martin Schreier, Stijn M. J. van Osselaer
Abstract

Despite the popularity and high quality of machine-made products, handmade products have not disappeared, even in product categories in which machinal production is common. The authors present the first systematic set of studies exploring whether and how stated production mode (handmade vs. machine-made) affects product attractiveness. Four studies provide evidence for the existence of a positive handmade effect on product attractiveness. This effect is, to an important extent, driven by perceptions that handmade products symbolically “contain love.” The authors validate this love account by controlling for alternative value drivers of handmade production (effort, product quality, uniqueness, authenticity, and pride). The handmade effect is moderated by two factors that affect the value of love. Specifically, consumers indicate stronger purchase intentions for handmade than machine-made products when buying gifts for their loved ones but not for more distant gift recipients, and they pay more for handmade gifts when purchased to convey love than simply to acquire the best-performing product.

Organisation(s)
External organisation(s)
Technische Universität Clausthal, Cornell University, Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien (WU)
Journal
Journal of Marketing
Volume
79
Pages
98-110
No. of pages
13
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.14.0018
Publication date
03-2015
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
502019 Marketing
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Marketing, Business and International Management
Portal url
https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/the-handmade-effect-whats-love-got-to-do-with-it(b4c66f26-9ce8-4460-a816-7f46a6c4cd0c).html