Three Paths to Disposition: The Movement of Meaningful Possessions to Strangers

Our interpretive research treats meaningful possessions as vessels of public and private meanings. From this perspective, we unpack consumer disposition of meaningful possessions to strangers at garage sales and online auctions. We reveal how a range of valences of self-extension and self-references other than the ideal self shape a meaningful possession's journey from self to other. We identify a new iconic transfer divestment ritual, deepen and reinterpret other divestment rituals, and uncover how a shared sense of self allows possessions to migrate across seller-buyer boundaries. We present and discuss the implications of a model depicting three paths to disposition. (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..