消费者传承动机：概念、前置因素及其影响效应研究

The pursuit of symbolic immortality and the desire for the transmission of self-value has been deeply rooted in the culture, describing the base of people’s legacy motivation. The legacy motivation has been defined as what people want to be remembered for and how they get their identity passed on perpetually. Based on the literature on psychology and organizational behavior, we bring the construct of legacy motivation into marketing domain, and systematically examine how it affects consumers’ consumption and what its determinants are. In specific, drawn on the identity theory, we argue that the legacy motivation would lead to consumers’ identity signaling behavior, temporally self-extended behavior, as well as intergenerationally investing behavior. Moreover, the current project documents several determinants of legacy motivation, such as the economic mobility, and power distance belief. In sum, the meaning of legacy motivation not only has the foundation of Chinese culture, but also can be generalized to the global situation. In academy, we aim to contribute to the marketing theory by identifying a basic and novel consumer motivation with the Chinese characteristic. In practice, the findings of this project will help marketers and governors scientifically use the legacy motivation to launch marketing activities. What’s more, it will enhance consumers’ understanding of their legacy motivation and the associated consumption behaviors, and will facilitate consumers’ decision-making and psychological well-being as well.

近乎每个人都期待在自己的身后依然有人铭记自己、甚至传颂自己。这种对精神不朽的渴望，对自我价值与意义可永世延续的追求根植于我们的文化与生活中。我们将这种“期待不朽，被人铭记”的心理称之为传承动机。基于心理学与组织行为学的相关研究，本项目在营销领域系统地探讨传承动机的概念，包括其内涵、对消费行为的影响以及它的前置因素。具体而言：项目从自我认同理论出发探究传承动机的概念与内涵；推断它会促进人们寻求有助于自我身份识别的消费行为、有助于延续未来自我的消费行为以及有助于后代福祉的代际投资行为；项目最后还探讨了该动机的前置因素（如经济流动性、权力距离信念等）。秉持“扎根中国，世界普世”的研究理念，本项目力图在理论上通过探究有中国特色的概念来为营销理论贡献中国智慧，在实践上也助力企业/政府/非营利机构更科学地运用传承概念来开展营销沟通活动，促进消费者理解与传承相关的消费行为，改善消费决策并提升其福利水平。

传承动机是人类动机中的一个非常重要的类型，近乎每个人都有被传承的需要。本课题将该概念引入消费领域，重点探讨消费者的传承心理是如何影响各种行为。目前课题组主要研究了传承动机对三类行为的影响，分别是金融决策行为、亲社会行为和多样性行为。具体而言，（1）研究发现传承动机会弱化人们的金融冒险行为，提升人们的储蓄意愿，原因是传承动机提升了人们对未来自我的连续性感知，而高的未来自我连续性感知会降低人们从事金融风险行为，提升储蓄的可能性。（2）课题组也发现传承动机会提升人们的亲社会行为，如更愿意给弱势群体进行捐赠，这中间的心理机制是传承动机让自己为未来子孙的福利进行考虑，而人们认为帮助他人可以为未来的子女积累好运气，这就是所谓的积德行善。（3）课题组也发现传承动机会弱化人们在消费时的多样性行为，即高的传承动机会导致人们不喜欢多样化行为。整体而言，本文在营销领域系统研究了传承动机对消费行为的影响，拓展了传承动机的研究领域，也为诸如未来自我连续性、多样性行为等研究领域带来了新的有关前置因素的洞见。