Symbolic Disposal

• In Event: 7.14 Waste Not! Antecedents and Consequences of Disposal Decisions

Short Abstract

Marketers have long understood that consumption can be symbolic as well as functional. In this paper, we focus on the corollary notion that disposal can be symbolic as well as functional. Five studies examine whether disposal, when symbolically related to a goal (but not diagnostic of actual progress), affects perceived goal progress.

Authors

• Aaron Brough, Utah State University, USA

• Mathew S. Isaac, Seattle University, USA