Give Me Something of Yours: The Downside of Digital (vs. Physical) Exchanges

• In Event: 2.7 Sharing and Social Connectedness: How Different Ways of Sharing Affect Social Connection

Short Abstract

Consumers can digitally exchange many goods that could once only be shared in physical form. We show that giving and receiving digital (vs. physical) goods reduces consumers’ feelings of interpersonal closeness to those with whom they exchange these goods. We demonstrate that this effect is driven by psychological ownership perceptions.

Authors

• Anne Wilson, Harvard Business School, USA

• Shelle Santana, Harvard Business School, USA

• Neeru Paharia, Georgetown University, USA