Q:

in Anspruch nehmen: to make a physical claim or a figurative claim?

I thought in Anspruch nehmen meant to use, to make a claim on something someone is entitled to, etc. I.e. all physical actions. Can it also mean making a claim in the sense of behaupten, i.e. making an assertion?
Source

Aber sie nimmt für ihre Institution in Anspruch, dass sie größere
  Aufmerksamkeit genießt: „Früher waren wir ein Institut für Kenner;
  heute sind wir ein Institut, das man kennt.“

It seems the speaker is making an assertion that her institute now enjoys more attention. She is not laying a claim on anything she is entitled to. She is just making a statement.
Is this common use? Wouldn't behaupten be better used here?

A:

The synonyms in Anspruch nehmen and beanspruchen can in fact be used figuratively, just like the literal translation of the latter, to claim. It is common.
They aren't perfect synonyms of behaupten, however, because behaupten is very neutral while in Anspruch nehmen can have a presumptuous undertone.

