Does Psychological Ownership Matter? Investigating Consumer Green Brand Relationships through the Lens of Anthropomorphism
Round 1
Reviewer 1 Report
The topic of this manuscript is very interesting and of great significance.
The author makes a clear and reasonable argument and rigorous proof.
Artificial intelligence plays a crucial role in anthropomorphic human-computer interaction, and this study explores the impact of anthropomorphic artificial intelligence on consumer relationships with green brands, which is very interesting and of great importance.
The sample size of this study met the requirements of structural equation modeling, and the data processing progress was in line with the regulations, and the test results also met the standards of model fit.
I think this research has important implications for the use of anthropomorphic AI in marketing.
It's my pleasure to review this work.
Author Response
Response – Thank you very much for appreciating our work. We are very grateful to you.
Reviewer 2 Report
Abstract:
In abstract please define AI
Please state in abstract why this study is necessary and how it bridges knowledge gap
Introduction:
It is not clear how the authors position this study to advance the debate on the topic and how it contributes to the existing body of knowledge. Please modify the introduction a bit so that the readers may explicitly get what was the knowledge contribution of this study. ( needs to redevelop the last paragraph). Further, the importance of this study with respect to India should also be highlighted, especially, keeping in view the poor environmental conditions in different cities of India (New Dehli for example).
Hypotheses
Statement of H1 is not clear to me
With respect to the conceptual model, there is a need to highlight further relationships (four hypotheses are not sufficient in the current case)
Please also reflect on the nature of the relationship and hypotheses number in the conceptual framework
Methods
A table containing the socio-demographic information is missing
Please support your method of data collection with references
How the issue of social desirability was dealt with?
Results
How Heterotrait – Monotrait Ratio was calculated in SPSS?
How it was decided that the mediation was partial in some cases? Please explain.
How χ2 = 2.278; CFI = .918, IFI = .923, TLI = .927 and RMSEA = .067 were calculated in SPSS, basically the authors creating confusion here because they analyzed the data by using Process Macro, which do not calculate such values.
Discussion
The theoretical contribution must be redeveloped for a better and clear knowledge contribution to the existing body of knowledge
Although, the authors have mentioned several limitations, however, what they missed is that there is nothing related to data collection (for example, non-probability sampling undermines causality, similarly cross-sectional data, etc)
Author Response
Comment 1: Abstract: In abstract please define AI.
Please state in abstract why this study is necessary and how it bridges knowledge gap
Response- This has been addressed in the abstract section. The following lines were added:
Artifical intelligence (AI), that involves machines or applications mimicking human intelligence, is transforming the manner in which the consumers interact with the brands. Applying the theory of anthropomorphism and the psychological ownership theory, this study significantly contributes to the existing literature by investigating the interplay between crucial constructs like AI anthropomorphism, psychological ownership, and product usage barrier in the context of green brands.
The study provides empirical evidence on the significant role of psychological ownership with green brand AI anthropomorphism for building consumer relationships.
Comment 2: Introduction: It is not clear how the authors position this study to advance the debate on the topic and how it contributes to the existing body of knowledge. Please modify the introduction a bit so that the readers may explicitly get what was the knowledge contribution of this study. ( needs to redevelop the last paragraph). Further, the importance of this study with respect to India should also be highlighted, especially, keeping in view the poor environmental conditions in different cities of India (New Dehli for example).
Response- Thank you for pointing this. The required details have been added to the introduction section at various places as follows:
Being one of the world’s largest emerging economies, India has a crucial role to play in the global sustainability landscape (Nepal et. al., 2021). As the country is developing rapidly, urbanization, industrial and expansion are contributing to the depletion of its natural resources (Nitalla, 2014). Therefore, environmental sustainability has emerged as a vital issue of concern in India (UNICEF, n.d.). The IQ Air Report highlights that a majority of the most polluted cities are in India (IQAir, 2020). The Yale Columbia Environmental Performance Index (EPI) also reveals the low ranking of India and signals the need to improve sustainability efforts (Environmental Performance Index, n.d.). In view of the same, several initiatives, schemes and programs have been launched in the country by the government and other authorities to promote sustainability and the use of green products (Varghese, 2022). Therefore, eco-friendly and green products have gained significance in recent years (Chib and Khandelwal, 2022). Green consumption practices are important to ensure sustainable consumption (Zeylanova and Namazova, 2022). It has been found that consumers are gradually changing their consumption behavior to align with the environmental expectations (Kazmi et al., 2021).
Therefore, while the extant literature majorly emphasizes the technicality of the AI tools (Chiu et al., 2021), this study provides empirical evidence to establish the crucial role of psychological ownership in reinforcing the consumer relationship with green brand AI anthropomorphism
Comment 3: Hypothesis: Statement of H1 is not clear to me
With respect to the conceptual model, there is a need to highlight further relationships (four hypotheses are not sufficient in the current case)
Please also reflect on the nature of the relationship and hypotheses number in the conceptual framework
Response- Thank you for your comment. The hypothesis has been reframed for clarity. We believe that the study aim is to examine the relationship between green brand AI anthropomorphism and consumer relationships. It intends to examine the mediating role of product usage barriers and psychological ownership. There is a serial mediation technique used and thus hypothesis formulated seems to explain the conceptual model. Accordingly, the hypotheses are aligned with the research objectives. We have made suitable changes in the conceptual framework and marked the hypothesis number and the nature of the relationship. The following hypothesis has been written for clarity:
H1: Green brand AI anthropomorphism has a positive impact on consumer relationship
Comment 4: Methods: A table containing the socio-demographic information is missing
Please support your method of data collection with references
How the issue of social desirability was dealt with?
Response- Thank you for providing valuable inputs. We have incorporated the socio-demographic information Table 1 in the manuscript. The data collection method used in the study is non-probability sampling technique and the reference for the same is mentioned in the text.
The issue of social desirability was dealt by using a self-administered survey based questionnaire in self-completion mode with no pressure from the interviewer. The participants were assured of their responses' privacy, anonymity, and confidentiality.
Comment 5: Results: How Heterotrait – Monotrait Ratio was calculated in SPSS?
How it was decided that the mediation was partial in some cases? Please explain.
How χ2 = 2.278; CFI = .918, IFI = .923, TLI = .927 and RMSEA = .067 were calculated in SPSS, basically the authors creating confusion here because they analyzed the data by using Process Macro, which do not calculate such values.
Response – Thank you for pointing this. We have used Amos version 24 to calculate the Heterotrait- Monotrait Ratio and the values of χ2 = 2.278; CFI = .918, IFI = .923, TLI = .927 and RMSEA = .067. We used Process Macro for calculating the serial mediation analysis. The mediation was partial has been explained in the study under results section.
Comment 6: Discussion: The theoretical contribution must be redeveloped for a better and clear knowledge contribution to the existing body of knowledge
Response : Thank you for your suggestions. Theoretical contribution has been redeveloped.
Although, the authors have mentioned several limitations, however, what they missed is that there is nothing related to data collection (for example, non-probability sampling undermines causality, similarly cross-sectional data, etc.)
Response – Thank you for your suggestions. We have incorporated the suggestions in the manuscript and under limitation section as required.
Reviewer 3 Report
It is a well written paper. The research design is valid. The method is appropriate and the analysis is rigorous. The findings provide some valuable insights to the topic. Some suggestions are 1). to review and reference more relevant publications in Sustainability; and 2) to correct the formatting required by Sustainability.
Author Response
Response – Thank you very much for appreciating our paper. As suggested, we have incorporated relevant citations from Sustainability. The revision has been made to the formatted version received from the journal.
Reviewer 4 Report
Dear authors,
Congratulations to the authors for their interesting article!
The empirical section is really accurate and very beneficial for everyone interested in sustainability, sustainable development and green brands. Also, this study is useful for those for whom innovation is essential and is based on the use of green anthropomorphism based on artificial intelligence, which leads to a barrier to the use of products arising from technological innovations.
The work is well structured. The architecture of the research component is correctly realized and the hypotheses formulated by the authors cover the area of ​​the research theme. The research tools are adequate and allow obtaining relevant results for companies' practices.
The bibliographic references correspond to the theme addressed in the paper.
The others used both references from recent literature and the results of studies relevant to the phenomenon under study. The article is adequately referenced.
To help authors improve the level of their article, the following recommendations can be defined:
- Add some social implications to the work.
Good luck!
Author Response
Response – Thank you very much for appreciating our work. We are very grateful to you.
Add some social implications to the work.
Response :Social implications of the work has been added
Round 2
Reviewer 2 Report
Dear Authors
Thank you for reflecting on my suggestions in the revised manuscript.
I recommend the publication of this work.
Best Regards
