The Extended Self in a B2B Context: An Inquiry Into Truck and Truck Drivers

If B2B and B2C marketing should be considered distinct domains, is an ongoing debate that is affecting marketing research and practice. Recent contributions in the IMP school of thought have tried to solve this century old dichotomy. Scholars adopting some theories and methods mostly developed in consumer culture theory (CCT) have demonstrated the existence of some thick commonalities between the two fields as well as common consumption patterns in B2B and B2C contexts. With this paper we contribute to this cultural debate showing the importance that product attachment plays in the context of truck and truck drivers. Through an exploratory survey on a sample of 514 Italian truck drivers we demonstrate the existence of a diffused feeling of product attachment. In a second study, we have deepened the understanding of the product attachment using the experiential phenomenological research methods. Findings of this second study suggest that the extended self is a suitable framework to describe truck possession and usage.