【公开学术报告】Mind-wandering As a Means of Creating Brand Connection

Mind-wandering As a Means of Creating Brand Connection

Guest Speaker:    Dr. Xian Wang (Cornell University)

Date & Time:       10:00-11:30 (Beijing Time), Tue. 21^st, Nov. 2023

Classroom:           Room 2101, Tongji Building A

ABSTRACT

Consumers spend about half their time thinking about something unrelated to what they are currently engaged in, an activity known as “mind-wandering.” Thus far the effects of consumers’ mind-wandering on how consumers experience and relate to brands has been largely unexplored. In fact, the current view in marketing recommends getting consumers out of a mind-wandering state to be more present and mindful so that they can create stronger memories and more favorable brand experiences. In this mixed-method research investigation we present evidence from qualitative interviews that find not only is mind-wandering quite common during brand consumption experiences, consumers believe the mind-wandering enriches their experience. In an Experience Sampling Method (ESM) study we reconcile the traditional negative view of mind-wandering studied by psychologists with the more positive effect hypothesized to occur during brand-related consumption. In a set of experiments, we find that mind-wandering can lead to forming brand connections that are independent of product quality especially when the consumers’ mind wanders to past personal experiences. We discuss the implications of our work for brand managers seeking an alternative means to foster an emotional connection with consumers in the current attention-scarce world.

Keywords: mind-wandering, mindful, brand experience, brand memory, brand connection

GUEST BIO

Xian Wang is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Nolan School of Hotel Administration at Cornell University. Her research mostly focuses on how to enhance the relationship between consumers and brands, with a purpose to create insights for marketers to better manage branding and consumer experiences. She uses both experimental designs and qualitative techniques in her studies. Her research about brand rituals and consumers’ self-brand connection has been published at Marketing Letters. Her most recent research seeks to understand consumers’ mind-wandering during brand consumption experiences. This research won the Best Paper Award in Journal of Marketing Science Doctoral Consortium in China and is currently under major revision at a top journal in marketing.

Xian received a bachelor’s degree in Journalism with a double major in Economics from the Peking University in 2015, and a Ph.D. in Marketing from the Tsinghua School of Economics and Management in 2021.