Consumer-Object Relations: a Conceptual Framework Based Analogously on Sternberg's Triangular Theory of Love

ABSTRACT This paper adapts Sternberg's (1986) triangular theory of love to the study of consumer-object relations. We argue that the protean character of CORs has not been captured by prior conceptualizations in consumer research. Our conceptual scheme, pursuant to Sternberg's theory, is based on the view that three common psychological processes motivation, emotion, and cognition--interact in various combinations to determine the nature of consumers' relations with consumption objects. We conceptualize eight types of CORs by considering every combination of the three underlying psychological components.

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