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This paper investigates the multidisciplinary theoretical context of financial capability and provides a critical examination of 14 relevant theoretical frameworks. To this end, the paper defines financial capability and develops a new theoretical framework of financial capability termed the personal financial management system. Financial capability is defined as the capacity of consumers to undertake comprehensive financial activities and thereby achieve personal financial well‐being. The exploration of financial capability includes the concepts of financial literacy and psychological financial capability, where the latter represents automatic and controlled mental processes. Recent advances in behavioural science have profoundly changed the realm of personal finances, and it is, therefore, essential to acknowledge the importance of the intuitive reasoning that shapes our financial decision making. As part of the financial management system's throughput, together with individual motivation and opportunity within the personal financial management system, financial capability forms financial behaviour. The framework identifies three groups of relevant antecedents of financial capability including sociodemographic factors, cognitive and affective factors and personality and values. By constructing a comprehensive theoretical model, this paper contributes to the literature by providing greater consistency in the definitions of capability and its related terms, encouraging academic discussion and affirming the much‐needed directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent interest of marketers in adopting masstige strategy is a testimony to its potential. But, the dialogue on masstige among research community is not befitting its requirement. This special issue was launched to address this pressing demand towards masstige research. This special issue serves the masstige theory with eight rigorous research papers covering utmost relevant varied aspects of masstige. Papers in this special issue establish the relevance of masstige strategy for hitherto less explored aspects like services, old‐age consumers, short‐ and long‐term happiness, and so forth. Novel insights are offered along with future research propositions for masstige research. Our aim of this special issue is well addressed by generating and advancing interest of scholars towards masstige and thereby extending the current horizons of masstige research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paradoxical findings in consumer choice research have captivated the interest of many scholars from diverse fields and transformed the understanding of consumer decision‐making. This paper is the first attempt to systematically review, synthesize, and integrate the paradoxical findings in consumer choice research. One of the first paradoxical findings was the violations of value maximation models of rational choice. The second important paradox in consumer choice research is the puzzling role of variety in consumer choices. We focus on these two critical paradoxes discovered in consumer choice literature over the last five decades and refer to them as the "paradox of rational choice" and the "paradox of variety." We conducted a co‐citation cluster analysis to help identify the most significant studies in the domain. The cluster analysis helped eliminate the subjective bias in article selection. We also used inferential analysis to widen the scope of clusters to other relevant and especially recent studies. A review of 233 papers published between 1972 and 2023 reveals the four themes covering the two paradoxes of consumer choice. The first theme covers the first paradox: the paradox of rational choice. It presents research on preference reversals and other violations of value maximization rational choice models due to contextual factors and choice environment. The following three themes cover the second paradox of consumer choice: the paradox of variety. The second theme focuses on the benefits of variety and the natural desire of consumers to seek more variety. Paradoxically, the third theme highlights when and why variety will likely cause harmful psychological consequences for consumers. Finally, the last theme reconciles the opposing ideas of themes two and three by identifying the boundary conditions and suggesting ways to resolve this paradox. We also provide research directions that scholars can consider for future research related to each of these themes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper advances the conceptual understanding of consumption stewardship, defined here as a moral commitment to safeguard, nurture and use consumption resources to create consumer value. We delineate consumption stewardship from related consumption variables and articulate its underlying assumptions, conceptual distinctiveness and application areas. To create new theoretical and practical insights, the paper explores how consumption stewardship unfolds when a person enters into and lives in restricted consumption. A 2‐year qualitative study, which included observation, casual conversations, and interviews, was implemented. Findings illustrate the nature and trajectory of consumption stewardship across latent, vigilant, submissive and shared modes. Our conceptual development of consumption stewardship and empirical evidence of the homeless experiences makes two main contributions. First, we show how the demands of stewarding material objects operate as a powerful determinant for individual (re)valuation of various possessions. Second, we identify how consumption stewardship drives different ways of consumption for value seeking. Findings offer insights for debates in the marketplace about protecting one's possessions, policies around consumption adequacy and social services' role for addressing space‐related needs of vulnerable consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In organizations facing digital transformation, intelligent technologies are starting to replace the human workforce. At present, managers delegate tasks to an artificial agent and rarely consider the customer reception of such decisions. This arouses tensions between the main stakeholders of the organization. This paper shows that the rash adaptation of the digital workforce may be perceived as an irresponsible innovation that brings negative consequences for companies. If a task is regarded by customers as dedicated to humans, and managers delegate it to machines, a new type of conflict – human‐machine trans roles conflict (HMTRC), appears. This paper intends to show that customers are sensitive to HMTRC. This research uses quantitative methods and consists of three stages. First, people were asked to indicate which tasks in an organization should be performed by (a) humans and (b) machines. According to these results, two leaflets for customers were designed (low vs. high HMTRC). In the second stage, standard procedures were used to construct a scale measuring customer reactions to HMTRC on three dimensions: cognitive, emotional and behavioural. Ultimately, the scale and two leaflets were used to check how customers react to different intensities of HMTRC. The research results show that customers are aware when HMTRC occurs and perceive it negatively (cognitive response). Moreover, it evokes negative emotions (emotional response) and prompts customers to take action against the company in which this conflict takes place (behavioural response). The practical contribution of this research is the three‐dimensional scale. It may predict customers' reactions to task delegation with different intensities of HMTRC and help build a technologically sustainable organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper explores the impact that an augmented reality shopping assistant may have on consumers' emotional and cognitive responses, and how it would affect their buying behaviours. A prototype of an application to assist consumers inside a supermarket was developed using HoloLens glasses. A total of 85 participants were invited to walk‐through the store using augmented reality glasses. A PLS‐SEM approach was used to test the conceptual model. Results using different scenarios show that media richness (the level of information cues, variety and immediate feedback) impacts consumer decisions and heightens their cognitive and emotional responses. The current study finds that a media‐rich augmented reality experience influences brand engagement and willingness to buy through perceived information quality and brand attitudes. At a time when managers in every industry work to capture consumers' attention, the present study shows how content remains important in every communication activity, even in an innovative augmented reality retail shopping experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to model the antecedents of consumers' willingness to pay for eco‐labelled food products. This research utilizes the Theory of Planned Behaviour to model the impact of consumers' awareness of eco‐labels, environmental concerns, beliefs in the environmental ability of eco‐labels, and presence of children on their willingness to pay for eco‐labelled food products. This study uses structural equational modelling and PROCESS macros, to test the moderated mediation model on a sample of 333 online responses. Findings suggest the impact of consumers' environmental concerns and eco‐label awareness on their willingness to pay for eco‐labelled food products is partially mediated by consumers' belief in the environmental ability of these eco‐labels. The relationship is further moderated by the presence of children living in the household. This study establishes the value of consumers' beliefs in the environmental ability of eco‐labels and implies that communication strategies need to be carefully refined to provide consumers with more information about eco‐labels and to emphasize the environmental ability of eco‐labels utilized within the food industry as this can have an impact on their willingness to pay for these products, especially for consumers, who have children in the same household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grocery retailers have a large amount of societally relevant data on food purchases in their databases, which they have traditionally used merely for marketing purposes. However, despite the potential, the data have so far been rarely used in sustainability‐related research. This study addresses a key sustainability challenge—the reduction of food waste—by using retailers' customer data and a questionnaire. This paper's purpose is to identify and analyse household food waste segments and discuss their actual purchasing behaviour patterns. By doing so, we also illustrate and exemplify the potential use of customer loyalty card data to address global challenges related to food at the consumer level. The study utilizes an extensive data set of food purchases together with a survey of self‐reported reasons for food waste in households. Utilizing cluster analysis, Phase 1 identifies six household segments: no food waste; trust in date labels; safety first; occasional wasters; overpurchasers and overpreparers; and family first. These segments differ in their sociodemographic and purchase profiles. In Phase 2, these segments' purchasing behaviour is examined further by applying tree‐based methods. This study contributes to food waste research and studies on sustainable retailing. It also has practical implications for how retailers can facilitate household food waste reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary objective of this study is to investigate the impact of financial literacy on consumer financial behavior through a systematic literature review. While numerous studies have explored this association, there is a lack of a comprehensive analysis that consolidates diverse insights and offers a holistic view. Our study addresses research questions, including the utilization of theoretical frameworks explaining the impact of financial literacy on consumer financial behavior. Also, we explore the diverse contexts encompassing industries, countries, and consumer types, involved in this relationship. We scrutinize the dependent, independent, control, mediating, and moderating variables involved, along with the methodological approaches utilized for assessing the impact. Employing the Theory, Context, Characteristics, and Methodology (TCCM) framework, we systematically analyzed 79 identified papers using the Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews (SPAR‐4‐SLR) protocol. The findings highlight the multifaceted factors shaping individuals' financial decisions and behaviors, shedding light on the complex dynamics prevalent across industries, countries, and consumer segments. Our review offers insights into future research directions, advocating the integration of fresh theories and innovative methodologies to enhance existing knowledge. This study significantly contributes to academic understanding and offers valuable guidance for policymakers, businesses, and educators seeking to enhance financial literacy education and shape positive consumer financial behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a pioneering study on the determinants of customers' insurance knowledge in the Italian market. The analysis considers differences between life and non‐life insurance. Our findings show that socio‐economic variables (specifically family income and financial fragility) and financial literacy play a fundamental role in explaining consumers' insurance knowledge. This result is confirmed for both life and non‐life insurance. Among socio‐demographic factors, gender, the number of children under 18 and the level of education are determinants of global insurance knowledge. However, distinguishing between life and non‐life insurance knowledge, we find the level of education affects the former, while gender and age influence the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social media (SM) platforms are frequently used by pre‐teen (8–12‐year old) consumers for curating their self‐identity, developing social relationships and for learning. This paper identifies the building blocks that drive pre‐teen SM engagement. We use the Gioia method to analyse interview data collected from 32 pre‐teens and parents, in France. Findings show that the primary building blocks are FoMO (Fear of Missing Out) and social inclusive experience, being noticed online, multiplicity, excessive use (without guidelines) and self‐regulation. Identity constructs (self‐identity and social‐identity) are used to explain SM engagement – and to empirically define core conceptual building blocks (aggregate dimensions) that drive SM engagement. We contribute to consumer theory by developing a holistic research framework to examine pre‐teen SM engagement. Self‐identity and social‐identity theories help explain the factors that drive pre‐teen SM engagement and explain push/pull influences of parents and schools in encouraging or discouraging certain behaviour. We build on current research into SM usage, drawing from the fragmented existing literature, to reveal causes of both excessive screen‐time and SM usage among pre‐teen consumers, which may indicate antecedents of future adult behaviour. Practical and regulatory policy issues are considered and addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the development of mathematical and financial literacy skills amongst 471 students in Spain. Most studies on this topic have looked at either one or the other skill but they have not examined the relationship between the two.  The use of simultaneous equations has enabled us to do so. The aim of the paper is to disentangle the factors determining the financial skills of young consumers in Spain. To do this, the PISA Financial Literacy Assessment conducted by the OECD in 2012 is used. Our paper's main contribution lies in the methodological way to deal with the empirical challenges overshadowing our study. Particularly, our methodological strategy is defined by the application of a multi‐level model of simultaneous equations (MSiEM). This method allows us to take into account the simultaneous determination of math and financial skills at school and the nested structure of the database. This MSiEM permits the identification of the determinants of financial skills, differentiating between the influences operating at school level from those at student level. A first conclusion is that the development of financial abilities of young consumers is mediated by their mathematical skills. A second conclusion, in accordance with those of other international studies, is the importance of the family on the financial literacy of 15‐year‐old Spanish students. The family, a first‐order determinant in reading, science and math scores, is also a key variable in the development of financial skills. Finally, school type (public vs. private) does not display any effect on either the financial or math performance of Spanish young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an essential psychological construct, financial self‐efficacy (FSE) has garnered considerable attention in the field of consumer finance and demonstrated its influence on financial outcomes. FSE has been regarded as a learned belief rather than an innate quality that can be nurtured over time. Notwithstanding the increasing significance of understanding consumers' FSE, this particular line of literature has not been examined as an independent research domain. Accordingly, this framework‐based review comprehensively represents the current state of literature on FSE by covering 64 articles published between 1999 and 2023, compiled based on the Scientific Procedures and Rationales for Systematic Literature Reviews protocol and the theory–context–characteristics–methodology framework. Based on the review findings, an integrated model of FSE is proposed, summarizing the study frameworks and constructs employed as antecedents, modifiers, and outcomes in investigating consumer's FSE. Further, the review has identified certain areas that were previously overlooked. As a result, a research agenda has been developed, consisting of 22 research questions and four research objectives, which will articulate the direction for future research. Finally, the paper concludes, signifying the contribution and practical implications for researchers, families, practitioners, and society in selecting the most effective measures for improving consumers' FSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infectious COVID‐19 transformed the world overnight, freezing all physical activities and forcing the majority toward online mode. Technology came up as a savior to alleviate the consequences of COVID‐19 on the economy, causing a rapid transformation in consumers' behavior, and an overall jump in the sale of e‐commerce could be witnessed globally. This paper aims to explore the factors that caused the transformation in consumers' behavioral attitude (AT) and intention toward online shopping (BITOS). The study integrates the TPB and UTAUT models while adding two additional variables, namely, perceived risks (PR) and perceived benefits (PB), to predict consumers' BITOS. A survey was conducted to collect a sample of 402 consumers Aligarh city, and the National Capital Region of India using the mall intercept sampling method. The data were analysed to establish the measurement model and test the hypothesized structural model with the Smart‐PLS software. The study's findings confirmed that PB, subjective social norms, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness positively affect AT and BITOS, whereas PR does not influence AT and BITOS. The study also indicated that AT has a positive effect on BITOS. Concerning AT, it does not mediate the relationship between PR and BITOS; however, it mediates between the direct link PB and BITOS, making it stronger. The study's findings help the E‐commerce industry understand consumers' transformed attitudes/intentions and restructure their strategies to strengthen their online business further. Despite its regional and design limitations, it contributes significantly to the current research on online shopping behavior in India during COVID‐19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Value co‐creation (VCC) continues to gain traction as a marketing concept in several service contexts. Given the limited understanding of how the VCC process translates into customers' actual behavior, VCC behavior (VCCB) describes the involvement of customers in the VCC process and includes active behavior during physical, virtual, and mental processes. Extant research on co‐creation unveils the antecedents and consequences of VCCB; however, no single study has assimilated the various factors that interplay in the actual co‐creation process. This systematic literature review of 136 research papers published from 2004 to June 2023, obtained from the Web of Science database, provides an overview of the existing empirical studies on VCCB. We used the established integrated theories, contexts, and methods‐antecedents, decisions, and outcomes (TCM‐ADO) framework and identified the important TCM used in the VCCB research. This review further identified 88 distinct antecedents classified into seven broad categories, decisions, and outcomes of VCCB. Additionally, we synthesized the mediators, moderators, and control variables used in extant studies. The review‐based research findings demonstrate future research directions for each dimension of the TCM‐ADO framework. The research questions presented in this study are set as a future research agenda to further comprehend the nuances of the VCCB that will help service firms implement the VCC process to its full potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical consumerism is the conscious choice of purchasing or avoiding products for ethical or environmental reasons. As an increasing share of consumer attempts to purchase sustainably produced food, credence attributes, which are product qualities that are not easily observable or verifiable during purchase or consumption, gain importance. Variety ownership has so far not played any role in food consumption choices but is a new type of credence attribute that may gain relevance through the recent introduction of open‐source seed licenses. Such licenses aim to safeguard agrobiodiversity, ensure long‐term access to plant genetic resources and counter current privatization trends in the seed industry. The labeling of open‐source produce could help to upscale the concept and enable consumers to support the safeguarding of biodiversity through their consumption choices. However, as the first open‐source varieties become available for purchase, consumers' perspectives on open‐source seed licenses remain unclear. In this paper, we, hence, examine German consumers' perceptions of open‐source seed licenses. The analysis of 228 thinking‐aloud protocols, based on qualitative data collected in a conventional and an organic supermarket in Berlin, Germany, serves as an empirical basis. We find that most consumers have a highly positive evaluation of open‐source seed licenses, regardless of whether they fully understand the concept or not. The license is widely perceived to provide a counter‐model to current industrial seed‐ and agricultural production. Specifically, it is believed to (1) prevent the privatization of plant genetic resources, (2) contribute to the conservation and enhancement of agrobiodiversity, (3) support (small‐scale) farmers and (4) prevent market concentration. To what extent these perceptions coincide with personal preferences for taste, health, safety and quality remains to be explored. The concept may specifically cater to certain consumer segments, including highly educated, young to middle‐aged, organically minded consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer policy is already being shaped by a combination of governance models. This position paper argues that complexity-oriented convergence models are a timely addition. Modern day consumer policy is characterized as interactive and integrative, replete with shifting boundaries and coalitions and evolving roles for each of state, market and society. This paper focused on governance in the consumer policy arena, arguing that this process needs to acknowledge and reconcile complexity. After describing the basic tenets of complexity theory, two characteristics of contemporary tri-sector interaction (i.e., sector blurring and sector distortion) were discussed. These boundary characteristics necessitate the need for approaches that can accommodate complexity during consumer policy governance. Three examples of the latter were profiled: sector convergence, network governance and cross-sector governance. These conceptualizations accommodate the dynamics, complexity and emergence of contemporary consumer policy governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates food waste at the consumer stage of the food chain. The authors conducted a questionnaire survey with 259 respondents to identify the key characteristics of food-wasting consumers and to suggest strategies to improve food-wasting behaviour. The results of the survey confirmed that the rate at which food is wasted depends on the age, economic status and education of the person managing food in a household, on the household's income per person and on total household income. Younger people, students, economically active people and people from higher-income households (both per household and per person) waste more, while pensioners waste much less than other groups. However, the sex of the food manager is not associated with food waste. These demographic characteristics should be considered when designing consumer education campaigns focussed on changing consumer motivation and behaviour. This paper also recommends other solutions tailored for specific demographic groups: Younger people and students may be influenced by the actions of opinion leaders within social networks, and technical devices enabling better food management could help them reduce waste. Supporting work-life balance, broadening the network of food delivery services and implementing corporate initiatives that support food waste prevention could help economically active people reduce their food waste. Additionally, offers of ready-to-eat food should be expanded for people with higher incomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the last decade, sustainable fashion has attracted increasing attention from policymakers, firms, and consumers. This interest is also reflected in consumer behavior research in this area. Notwithstanding this, there are few systematic literature reviews from a consumer behavior perspective. The purpose of this paper is to systematically review and critically assess the studies on consumer behavior in sustainable fashion to identify the research gap in this context and inform a future research agenda. A total of 167 journal articles were identified, and a final sample of 88 articles were synthesized. A descriptive analysis was performed to examine the research methods, research trends, and theoretical underpinnings. Separately, a synthetic analysis was performed using the Stimulus‐Organism‐Response (S‐O‐R) framework. Findings reveal a significant increase in the volume of publications since 2009. Qualitative, experimental, cross‐cultural, and longitudinal studies are significantly less represented in the literature. No evidence of research using big data techniques were identified. Much of the research published is not adequately grounded in theory. The findings also suggest that the consumer attitude‐behavior gap requires further exploration. This review fills a need to summarize the current state of consumer behavior in sustainable fashion literature and provides valuable insights into the existing marketing corpus on the topic. Moreover, the review identifies a number of outstanding research gaps that can inform future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E‐waste is the world's fastest‐growing waste stream, and it contains toxic chemicals that are harmful to human health. Research has shown that the vast majority of consumers are unwilling to dispose of e‐waste, preferring to keep obsolete products at home rather than returning them to manufacturers for recycling. Despite the evident importance of this area of research, there is yet to be a systematic assessment of e‐waste disposal behaviour that summarises the relationships among constructs in the forms of antecedents, decisions, and consequences from the perspective of consumer behaviour. With this knowledge gap in mind, the current paper's goal is to provide a comprehensive examination of available studies on consumer e‐waste disposal behaviour. In particular, the purpose is to promote e‐waste disposal behaviour by looking at how such behaviour has been utilised as a construct in the literature and what theories, contexts, characteristics, and methodological approaches have been used to strengthen this behaviour. Towards this aim, we used VOSviewer to examine N = 43 research publications on e‐waste disposal behaviour published in Scopus‐indexed journals between 2000 and 2021, noting discrepancies, identifying major research gaps, and developing comprehensive research agendas (provided in the form of testable propositions). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the Tenth International Conference of the Association of Family Ecology and Consumer Sciences, which was held in March 2011, in Pretoria, South Africa. Topics discussed at the conference included strong marketing, labeling in terms of food, clothing and furniture, and knowledge of consumers. The clothing-related papers addressed the use of specific indicators of consumers for evaluating merchandise during pre purchase phase.

Social exclusion threatens control, belongingness and self‐esteem, and such threats may produce distinct behavioural intentions. This study hypothesized that thwarted control would increase the intention towards unethical consumer behaviour. Additionally, it hypothesized that inhibiting belongingness and self‐esteem would decrease the intention to engage in unethical consumer behaviour for reconnection. To test the hypotheses, we conducted two online experiments, with 117 (63 females and 54 males) and 188 (91 females and 97 males) participants in the 18–64 age range, using the Cyberball game to manipulate social exclusion. The result of the first study indicated that social exclusion diminished the level of control and increased participants' willingness to engage in unethical consumer behaviour. The result of the second study indicated that social exclusion decreased levels of belongingness and self‐esteem and this decreased belongingness reduced the intention to engage in unethical consumer behaviour for reconnection. These results show that sense of control and belongingness are two psychological mechanisms through which social exclusion influences unethical behavioural intentions. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical study to analyze the role of control, belongingness, and self‐esteem as the mechanism explaining why excluded individuals are more likely to engage in unethical consumer behaviour but less likely to do it for affiliation. Accordingly, the paper presents some important theoretical and practical implications in the consumer behaviour context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Executive governmental authorities contribute a discourse, making-up, outlining and configuring the consumer. The objective of this paper is to elaborate on the discursive construction of the consumer provided by governmental institutions. Exemplified by Finnish and German policy documents, this paper tries to provide an insight on the consumer as the subject that is governed by politics. Thus, a discourse analytic approach reveals according to what rationale the consumer is discursively constructed on a dichotomous sovereignty-vulnerability-continuum. Hence, this paper provides actors and institutions that are involved in consumer policy deliberate basic principles for the understanding of consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the interview results from nine managers operating in the co-operative food sector in Ontario, Canada. The interview results are framed within the context of Consumer Culture Theory to show how co-operatives can be considered hyper-communities that are built around an opposition to the current economic system's management of food as a common pool resource. The co-operative managers interviewed present a view that co-operatives act as drivers of sustainable innovation by allowing individuals to act as a group with a common interest in sustainable practices. The co-operative model provides these hyper-communities with guidance to interact with the economic system through the co-operative principles. The co-operative principles assist co-operative managers in establishing member control over the common pool resource. This paper supports the growing literature on the co-operative economy and self-governance of common pool resources for a sustainable future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes a practice-based approach to consumer studies and focuses on the strategic and productive roles that consumers play as immaterial labour or consumer workers in the converging media markets. Based on a case study of a print media organization and its customers, the aim is to discuss the collaborative practices through which value is created in the market. By means of a textual analysis of online and interview data, three value-creation practices are abstracted and illustrated: constructing a sense of belonging and collective identity, mutual helping and peer support, and building pride and self-respect. Overall, the paper suggests that in global media environments, consumer-customers are playing increasingly significant strategic roles in the practices and processes through which value is co-created in the market. It is therefore concluded that the idea of consumers, and media audiences in particular, as recipients of communication and targets of marketing activities needs to be problematized and the dynamic strategic roles that consumers currently play in the market need to be acknowledged and actively incorporated into the business praxis of media corporations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses consumers' attitudes towards consumption, the extent to which excessive consumption is perceived as an environmental problem and what consumers perceive as their personal responsibility vs. that of marketing for this consumption. Findings from a focus group and a survey administered to lecturers of a university in Portugal are reported. A critical reflection upon the findings reveals that participants view consumption as excessive and mostly due to marketing, but do not associate high levels of consumption with environmental damage. The consumers surveyed did not accept personal responsibility for excessive consumption, and many of them do not perceive their actions to have a significant impact on the environment. The high educational level of our sample makes these findings of particular concern. This paper feeds the debate on sustainable marketing and expresses the need to address consumers', as well as marketing's, place in sustainability. Implications of this study are drawn and directions for future research are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper was to analyse how pet-related consumption can be connected to consumer identity construction. This objective is based on the idea that consumers use symbolic meanings from possessions to construct and communicate their identities. Objects of attachment have especially been found to be closely connected to the formation of consumer identity. Furthermore, it is often assumed that consumers struggle to maintain a true sense of self or personal identity while retaining a feeling of belonging and social identity. This may be portrayed through layers of identity, which are composed of personal identity, social identity and other people. Empirical research was conducted using focus groups to create individual collages. The findings indicated that pet-related consumption was used in the following six ways to construct consumer identity: 'character developer', 'source of well-being', 'means to connect', 'status communicator', 'object of devotion' and 'intermediary', all of which found their places in the layers of identity. Each of these ways of using pet-related consumption was paired with one other so that the extremes formulated three dimensions in a consumers' identity construction: the personal dimension, the social dimension and the dimension of emotional attachment. In conclusion, it was proposed that consumer identity construction illustrated via pet-related consumption as created within both social interactions with meaningful others and those three dimensions is multi-levelled and multifaceted. The paper invites future research to study both identity construction and emotional attachment, being such multifarious phenomena, and to explore the dynamic interactions that may exist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the involvement and participation of citizens and consumers in UK public services. It reflects on levels of involvement over a 30-year period and maps this accordingly. Using models of participation, the paper reviews the citizen and consumer concepts. Conclusions are drawn about involvement and participation in practice and how this will develop in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer involvement is an established priority in UK health- and social-care service development and research. To date, little has been published describing the process of consumer involvement and assessing ‘consumers’ contributions to research. This paper provides a practical account of the effective incorporation of consumers into a research team, and outlines the extent to which they can enhance the research cycle; from project development and conduct, through data analysis and interpretation, to dissemination. Salient points are illustrated using the example of their collaboration in a research project. Of particular note were consumers' contributions to the development of an ethically enhanced, more robust project design, and enriched data interpretation, which may not have resulted had consumers not been an integral part of the research team. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing from the literature on the analytics of government, the paper discusses marketing as a form of government, elaborating and illustrating the many ways in which consumer choice is shaped, modified and directed in the market through practices and techniques of consumer marketing. The aim is to critically reflect upon and render problematic the individualistic ideas of the green consumer as a powerful market force and to provoke discussion on the conceptualization – and construction – of consumer subjectivity and social problems in marketing. Taking examples particularly from the fashion and clothing industry, the paper discusses the ways in which marketing activities come to shape consumer conduct by operating through the choice of individuals who freely pursue their needs and desires, and by working on the environment within which this freedom of choice is exercised. The paper contributes to the literature on green consumerism by systematically interrogating and elaborating on the modes and practices of marketing thought and expertise through which consumers and consumption are rendered intelligible and actionable in the market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In highly competitive economies, productivity is always increasing as entrepreneurs, driven by the profit motive, strive to build a better mousetrap. Over time, this has given consumers a wealth of material goods. However, within this type of economy, the consumers need to consume all that is produced or else there will be distortions in the labour markets. However, as it turns out, we are able to consume all that is produced by having transitioned into a throwaway society, but there are environmental consequences associated with the replacing of malfunctioning household products instead of repairing and reusing these products. There are a number of factors responsible for causing consumers to replace a malfunctioning household product as opposed to repairing the product for reuse. The research in this paper will focus on two of these factors. The first factor is the time constraint that consumers are faced with and the second factor is conspicuous consumption. This research uses the results of an international survey conducted in seven different countries at different stages of economic development. The survey was conducted between November, 2015 and December, 2016. The results show that both the time constraint factor and the conspicuous consumption factor are significant in determining that if a consumer will look to replace a malfunctioning household product as opposed to repairing the product for further reuse. Furthermore, as more nations continue to develop economically and their GDP per capita grows, then the environmental impacts resulting from an increasing throwaway society by those nations will yield more hazardous environmental consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The market for second‐hand luxury products is growing and the variety of available sales channels has increased; consumers can buy second‐hand luxury goods not only from brick‐and‐mortar stores but also from a myriad of both global and local online channels. Arguably, the increase in available sales channels has changed consumers' purchasing behaviour as the roles between sellers and buyers are alternating as one can act as a buyer one day and a seller the next. However, prior research on luxury consumption has mainly focused on brand‐new luxury goods, largely neglecting the consumption of previously‐used luxury products and has not accounted for the multi‐channel shopping environment. The purpose of this paper is to understand how consumers mentally approach the purchase of second‐hand luxury products and what kinds of decision‐making styles they use. The empirical interview data of 22 consumers was analysed by the means of shopping style dimensions that account for both consumer characteristics and external shopping conditions. The interviewees were members of a Facebook buy and sell ‐group focused on luxury products and had recently bought a second‐hand luxury product. All the existing dimensions were evident in the data but an additional dimension was also identified: resale value consciousness. The new dimension emphasizes an investment‐led and price‐quality conscious shopping style but was also found to relate to impulse buying and brand consciousness. The emergence of the dimension is argued to be due to the increase in viable online sales channels for second‐hand luxury products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Students within higher education are increasingly referred to as customers. And there have been increasing pressures for academics to respond to them as such. Universities, especially their management, have been adopting the vocabulary of quality management systems that may be more commonplace in industry. In recent decades, there has been a fierce debate among academics as to whether this approach is appropriate in the academic sector, and whether students are customers, consumers, clients, etc. This paper explores the debate and the central ideas that have informed it. Despite the largely semantic debate over the definition of customers, universities have attempted to empower the multiple stakeholders, using a variety of tools. The paper goes on to discuss how the nature of students is evolving with the move toward widening access, and how the concepts and tools surrounding quality systems must also evolve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores consumer advocacy as it applies to insurance regulation based on the literature and on the author's experience as a consumer representative and member of the Board of Trustees for the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). The NAIC, founded in 1871, is a non-profit voluntary organization of the chief insurance regulatory officials of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. One of its key objectives is to facilitate the fair and equitable treatment of consumers. Each year 13–16 consumer representatives are selected to speak for consumers at national meetings in addition to serving as year-round resources to consumers, attorneys representing consumers, regulators, and other groups. Readers of the paper are encouraged to participate more fully in the public policy process. Although the focus of this paper is on insurance and regulation in the USA, the guiding principles apply to other nations, organizations, and consumer causes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to analyse the impact of different directed-to-consumers marketing strategies on firm market value. To that end, we follow a microeconometric approach that consists of formulating a model whose dependent variable is an indicator of market value, that is to say, Tobin's Q, whilst the independent variables take the form of a number of different marketing strategies. This model is estimated by using an unbiased survey carried out in the year 2000 to executives working in 405 North-American firms. The empirical results indicate that the most effective marketing strategies are, in this order, the ability to rapidly develop new products and services, the importance of both providing customized products and goods of high quality and finally, customer loyalty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Findings and discussions in this paper lead to recommendations in relation to young people as consumers in the electronic marketplace. The recommendations in this paper may be of value to students, academics, e-marketers and e-retailers. This paper seeks to take a cross-border perspective while discussing the issue of young consumers and electronic shopping. It attempts to discuss significant macro-environmental influences on young consumers in the electronic commerce market. It also highlights important opportunities and threats, relevant to the young consumers target market. The paper finally introduces generic strategies that may be used to successfully target the youth market and discusses resulting implications. Before delving into the electronic shopping market analysis and the strategic focus on young people, the paper will first introduce the meaning of electronic shopping and highlight the interdependent nature of electronic shopping and e-commerce. It will also explain what is meant by young consumers in the context of this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of drone usage for commercial purposes by retailers worldwide is still in its early stages, and unheard of in Pakistan. Moreover, research on consumer perceptions regarding commercial drones in Pakistan and around the world is very sparse. The purpose of this paper is to gauge the level of acceptability and concerns Pakistani consumers may have in accepting the drone delivery technology. This study offers new insights that retailers and delivery companies can use to penetrate target markets in early stages. The authors have executed a quantitative analysis through the means of a survey. A sample of middle‐ and upper class residents of two cities in Pakistan was selected on which purposive sampling technique was applied. A total of 307 responses were collected and these responses were analysed in SPSS. Various analysis techniques were applied including Cronbach's alpha, the Pearson correlation analysis, regression analysis and cluster analysis. The results show that consumers in Pakistan perceive privacy issues as a primary concern in relation to drone delivery. The results also throw light on the profile of consumer segments that can be targeted by retailers who may desire to use the drone delivery technology in the near future. Using these findings, retailers using the drone delivery mechanism can address consumer's fears and ambiguities. Retailers can resolve consumer concerns by designing pro‐privacy parameters in the initial service design stage and the infrastructure deployment of drones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a gap in our knowledge about environmentally conscious consumers in industrialized economies and the desire to achieve sustainable economies. Given that most aspects of consumer behaviour are culture bound, this paper contributes by comparing consumers' evaluations of the efficiency of actions to improve environmental quality in two of the most promising industrializing consumer societies: Brazil and China. The proposed conceptual framework includes environmental concerns, perceived consumer effectiveness, green attitudes, green behaviours and external motivators as constructs to explain the perception of efficient environmental support. Field research was conducted in Brazil with 1,149 respondents, and in China with 632 respondents to test the model. The results suggested that the belief that environmental quality can be improved is directly associated with consumers' internal and external motivators. However, cultural traits drove important differences in the evaluation of the efficiency of such improvements. Specifically, Chinese people tended to rely on collective leadership to create the conditions necessary for improving environmental quality, while they remained concerned with the current status. In contrast, Brazilians accepted more personal responsibility for the results, although they face important constraints, such as the availability of products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present results from a consumer experiment in Tanzania focusing on food safety. We elicit consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) a premium for tomatoes that have been inspected by health officials to meet the standards set by the Tanzania Bureau of Standards. We also elicit consumers' WTP for tomato attributes that can be associated with different food safety standards: conventional vs. organically produced and various origins. Two hundred sixty-nine urban consumers from Morogoro, Tanzania took part in the experiment where they evaluated tomatoes using the Becker-deGroot-Marschak mechanism. The results show that on average, consumers in Tanzania are willing to pay a premium for inspected and organically produced tomatoes. Consumers have a strong preference for tomatoes produced in Tanzania and do not discount tomatoes produced in areas associated with poor agricultural practices. However, consumers do significantly discount tomatoes imported from South Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast fashion retailing is leading consumers towards an increased rate of purchasing and the trend to keep clothing for an ever shorter time with the resulting rise in clothing disposal. The aim of this paper is to empirically explore antecedents of two methods of sustainable clothing disposal behaviour in two countries: donating to charities and giving away to family and friends. Using data from females located in Australia and Chile, the authors test the proposed model with structural equation modelling (SEM). The results of this study show that consumer recycling behaviour is a strong and direct driver of donating to charity. In addition, results find that consumer awareness of the environment and consumer age affect donating behaviour. The findings have value for fast fashion retailers, marketers, environmental activists, ecological researchers, charity institutions and public policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current statistics show that more than three out of four people in France have heard about fair trade. However, fair trade goods are purchased in significantly higher proportions by executive class people, individuals with a postgraduate education, urban dwellers and high-income earners. Why does not everybody purchase fair trade products? An important question follows: is fair trade not really fair for consumers? This paper seeks to gain deeper insight into what social features give rise to the consumption of fair trade goods using quantitative and qualitative data to verify the reasons for which fair trade goods are consumed by particular groups in society. It shows that the lack of access to information and financial resources can explain consumers' refusal to purchase fair trade products. But this explanation is incomplete, as the meaning given by consumers to their consumption appears to be a key-factor to understand their behaviour: refusing to buy fair trade goods can be a deliberate choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several attempts have been made by academics in the past to explain the so-called 'environmentally conscious' consumer. These explanations share an important feature, namely determinism. This paper identifies three different sources of determinism that are distinguished in recent literature on the green consumer: cultural determinism, psycho-socio-demographic determinism and calculative determinism. An explanation of the green consumer in these terms, however, loses sight of the emergence and processuality of consumer behaviour. Process oriented constructionism, by contrast, is useful to recover these important aspects. This paper suggests a research agenda focused on socio-material processes and situated actions that lead to the emergence and stabilization of a particular type of consumer behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with consumer coping strategies when consumers experience difficulties in implementing an innovation. The particular setting for exploring this issue is a group of consumers in Michigan who are committed to eating local. The paper explores how these consumers cope or balance their commitment to eating local with the constraints they face on buying and preparing local food Following a literature review of coping strategy and consumer coping strategies in relation to innovations, the paper presents the results of three focus groups conducted with members of a Student Organic Farm, a food cooperative and a Slow Food Convivium. The consumers we interviewed mostly adopt problem-centred, confrontative strategies: they change their food-consumption habits including shopping, purchasing, cooking, storing and obviously, eating. None of these changes are easy to implement, and most require re-allocations of time as well as trade-offs to overcome time and cost barriers. In return, some of these consumers feel empowered. This study allows us to offer a working hypothesis that the process is dynamic: the more committed consumers are, the more they adopt problem-centred, confrontative strategies and forget more fatalist emotion-centred or avoidance strategies. These findings contribute to literature on consumers' coping strategies and suggest future research avenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discussed the notion of value co-creation and the concept of customer competence as suggested by this notion. This led us to consider the competent customer as a social construction related to managerial representations. In order to examine this issue, a longitudinal exploratory research based on participant observation and in-depth interviews with employees of a French energy supplier was conducted to explore whether customers are perceived as competent or incompetent market actors. The data analysis revealed four categories illustrating customers' profiles coping with the new situation of the 'Utility X' group in the energy sector. 'Utility X' employees define their customers according to four profiles: myopic, ignorant, uncreative and organizer of company resources. Even if the marketing studies that share the Service-Dominant Logic point-of-view suggest that the customer would be competent at all times, our findings showed that customer competencies are in fact socially constructed and emerge partially from managerial representations. Therefore, the adoption by companies of a marketing philosophy ('market with' philosophy), in which the customer and supply chain partners are collaborators in the entire marketing process, seems only possible if they recognize customers' competencies and identify situations when customers do not activate their competencies or do not have the resources that enable them to develop their competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to describe a qualitative oral history case study that involved consumers in research and followed a collaborative approach in the north-west of England. This study had two aims: (1) to increase local voluntary groups research capacity through active involvement in research; and (2) to explore the community's historical perceptions of health and well-being. The research team included four lay researchers from local voluntary groups supported by an academic researcher. Data collection used semi-structured interviews based on oral history life stories that focused on health and well-being. Thematic data analysis and mind maps were used to create a collective narrative. This paper will provide a brief synopsis of the findings from the main themes of health and well-being, and reflect on the process of consumer involvement in research using oral history. Outputs have included dissemination at a local and national level, increased knowledge and confidence in the research process, and involvement in other related initiatives, such as Local Involvement Networks, partnership working with local libraries and collaboration with the regional archivist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer participation in the evidence-based health-care movement is largely seen as important by those who promote evidence-based health care but is surrounded by a range of competing discourses that variously critique medicine, nursing or health-care systems; situate consumers as powerless players within systems characterized by controlling health professionals; or politicize the role of the consumer as activist and defender of patient rights. This paper explores these competing discourses and develops an argument that asserts that the social construction of the evidence-based movement has rendered previously accepted terminology regarding the user or receiver of health services relatively meaningless. The result has been the ‘politicisation’ and ‘professionalisation’ of consumer participation and the time has come to reconstruct consumer participation in evidence-based health care – from the generation of evidence to guideline development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three-dimensional visualization has developed and improved significantly over the last several decades and resulted in consumers' having multidimensional, multi-sensory experiences with a wide range of products and services. It has affected the built environment and its related businesses. Designers create 3-D images and walk-through animations to communicate with their clients more clearly, starting from the early stage of the design process. The interior–design-related material manufacturers and retailers have enhanced their online stores with 3-D visualization features to improve their interactivity and provide user-friendly interfaces for product information search and purchase planning. Because of the continuing widespread interest in 3-D visualization and the amount of its applications in the interior design field, a review of this area was a necessity to suggest the future research direction for the development of 3-D visualization in interior design. This paper sought to demonstrate the status of the development of 3-D visualization and its impact on the interior design field and its consumers while highlighting an area where future research is a potentially considerable benefit in developing 3-D visualization in interior design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the social marketing of sustainability in New Zealand and examines the usefulness of advertising campaigns to enlist and empower people, as both consumers and citizens, towards environmental care. It draws on discussions about ‘citizen-consumer subjectivities’ and the model of the ‘political economic person’, which link sustainability and consumption through asserting people’s capacities as reflecting citizens. Printed advertisements by local and national government agencies about air pollution, fuel dependency and energy consumption are analysed to see whether advertising campaigns can operate on multiple levels for a range of audiences – desirable for broadening understanding of sustainable consumption and dealing with the complexity and experiential aspects of ‘doing’ sustainability. The advertisements analysed have an authoritative dimension that downplays this complexity and variability. The paper concludes that these advertisements do not go far enough to involve individuals in processes of co-producing knowledge about sustainability, and to vest them with expertise in exercising sustainability in their daily lives. The implications are that advertising campaigns that engage with the complexity surrounding consumption in people’s modern lives, and with variability in meanings of sustainability, have the possibility of inciting citizen-consumer political subjectivities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper elaborates on the motivational complexity of green consumerism using a simple model of motivation as an analytical tool. The objective is to provide insights into the challenges that environmentally concerned ‘green consumers’ may face in the markets, as well as to illustrate the limitations of framing and targeting environmental policy measures in terms of individual motivation and morally responsible decision making. On the whole, the paper argues that as a private lifestyle project of a single individual, ‘green consumerism’ is much too heavy a responsibility to bear. Therefore, the author joins the growing number of scholars who argue that in environmental policy the focus on individual consumers is limited and thus needs to be problematized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With each passing year consumers find more and more disposable goods for sale in the market place. Even goods that were considered to be reusable goods just a few years back are now disposable goods. As a result the American economy has been labelled a ‘throwaway society’. This paper examines a main underlying cause for this trend by linking growth in consumer income with the purchases of disposable goods. More specifically, the model proposes that as incomes rise, consumers will purchase more of both reusable goods and disposable goods. However, as incomes rise, consumers will naturally substitute purchases away from reusable goods and into disposable goods. The shift towards disposable goods occurs because it becomes too costly for consumers to spend their time repairing and maintaining products. Their time is better spent in more productive endeavours. It is simply cheaper (in terms of opportunity cost of time) to dispose of old products and replace them with new products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]