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The most commonly cited issues with mobile apps are low user engagement and retention levels. In this paper, we use a randomized control trial to test the efficacy of crowdsourcing on enhancing user engagement and retention in the context of mobile gaming apps. We examine two specific crowdsourcing features: the ability to submit content and the ability to access crowdsourced content. We find that the content submission significantly increases engagement and retention by reducing users’ hazard of ending a session by approximately 11% relative to the baseline and reducing the hazard of abandoning the game app by 14%. In contrast, giving users the ability to access crowdsourced content has no significant effect on engagement but has a positive effect on retention by reducing the hazard of abandoning the game app by 13%. Surprisingly, we find that the interaction effect of these two crowdsourced features is negative on user engagement. Individually, the submission feature manifests itself via empowering users to control their product use experience, whereas the access feature’s positive effect on retention is mediated by diversity and novelty of content. However, the two effects are not complementary. It turns out when these two features are given together, the empowerment enabled by one’s own submission is crowded out by others’ submissions, and this dominates the diversity benefit. Crowdsourcing features have heterogeneous impact on different user segments, with heavy users and users of longer tenure being more affected by the crowdsourcing features. This paper was accepted by Anandhi Bharadwaj, information systems.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the impact of omni-channel capability (OCC) and consumer empowerment (CE) on customer satisfaction (CS).Design/methodology/approachA paper-based questionnaire was employed to analyse the role of CE in omni-channel retailing (OCR) by using structural equation modelling. Based on the Stimuli-Organism-Response (S-O-R) framework, this research aims to explore how OCC (S) impacts CE (O) and then leads to CS (R) in consumers who had previously used both the online and physical channels of a retailer.FindingsThe findings supported the impact of OCC on CE, and in turn, the impact of CE on CS. The results reveal a partial mediation by CE in the effect of OCC on CS. Additionally, channel service transparency (CST) moderates the relationship between CE and CS.Practical implicationsThe findings reveal partial mediator role of CE and the moderator role of CST in OCR. The study draws attention to the increasing role of CE and CST in OCR. To enhance CS, retailers should focus on OCC, CE and CST.Originality/valueA new model was validated, hypothesized from S-O-R framework. This extended the knowledge on CE in OCR.

Despite the concept of purpose gaining attention in the business world, academic research on purpose-driven branding is scarce and the cognitive–affective–conative categories used in previous studies are not sufficient to explain how it works. This paper outlines a framework that explains how purpose branding is performed in practice. Such a framework is lacking from the extant scholarship, the key reasons for which can be found in the research limitations in previous studies. We argue that studies on brand purpose should include new theoretical categories: consumer empowerment and transformation of practices. We advance this idea based on the theory of social practices. Using case studies of purpose-branding campaigns, we discuss how brand purpose empowers consumers and fosters transformations of their practices. We present a framework that explains how purpose branding works using the categories suggested.

A consumer’s personal attribute (e.g., disease, body weight) can assume the qualities of a stigma (i.e., become a source of devaluation by others) in the presence of certain audiences, which can affect consumption and represent a major hurdle to marketers in many industries (e.g., health care). Two field experiments manipulating the marketing communications sent to 1,453 consumers diagnosed with 87 diseases of varying stigma potential, as well as two Amazon Mechanical Turk studies, reveal that consumers with potentially stigmatizing attributes distinctly decode aspects of marketing communications as audience cues, to infer how (un)favorable observers of their consumption will be in light of the potential stigma. When consumers possess potentially stigmatizing attributes, audience cues influence social devaluation inferences, which influence their beneficial consumption (program enrollment, long-term engagement in health care program; e.g., 64% click-through decrease) and their interest in detrimental consumption (products that promise to alleviate the stigma but are associated with considerable risks). Anticipated empowerment may increase beneficial consumption among consumers managing stigmatizing attributes.

In lateral exchange markets, consumers can interact with one another to varying degrees (consociality) along different levels of platform management and involvement (platform intermediation). Apply...

Consumer research has posited an ambivalent role of choice in consumer empowerment, from liberating and including to disciplining and totalising. This article provides empirical evidence for this ambivalence and nuances how consumers navigate the liminal space between expert authority and consumer autonomy. We investigate the role of choice in consumer empowerment through an ethnographic study of medicine consumption practices in acute non-life-threatening situations in Denmark, finding these practices to be dominated by consumer choice, not only for over-the-counter but, interestingly, also for prescription-only medicine. The implications of these findings extend beyond the context of medicine consumption. First, we provide insights on the ambivalent role of choice in consumer empowerment in a complex context of mixed commercial and public agencies. Second, we demonstrate how online information access empowers consumers to resist expert authority and act autonomously. Third, we exemplify the processes by which globalisation and ideologies inform and shape consumer resistance.

Understanding how globalization affects consumers is a key concern of international marketing research. Consumer culture theory (CCT) studies contribute to this stream of research by critically examining how globalization affects consumers under different cultural conditions. We offer a systematic narrative synthesis of 30 years of CCT globalization research to gain perspective on this important stream of research. We identify three theoretical perspectives – that is, homogenization, glocalization and deterritorialization – that have shaped the ways in which CCT scholars have approached globalization phenomena. We discuss each perspective with regard to its underlying notion of culture, its assumptions of power relations between countries and the role that it ascribes to individuals in globalization processes. We problematize these perspectives and show how CCT research has challenged and extended each perspective, focusing specifically on consumer empowerment, consumer identity and the symbolic meaning of global brands as substantial domains. Lastly, we discuss avenues for future consumer cultural globalization research.

Firms are increasingly giving consumers the vote. Eight studies show that, when firms empower consumers to vote, consumers infer a series of implicit promises—even in the absence of explicit promises. We identify three implicit promises to which consumers react negatively when violated: representation (Experiments 1A–1C), consistency (Experiment 2), and nonsuppression (Experiment 3). However, when firms honor these implicit promises, voting can mitigate the disappointment that arises from receiving an undesired outcome (Experiment 4). Finally, Experiment 5 identifies one instance when suppressing the vote outcome is condoned: when voters believe that the process of voting has resulted in an unacceptable outcome. More generally, we show that procedural justice plays a key mediating role in determining the relative success or failure of various empowerment initiatives—from soliciting feedback to voting. Taken together, we offer insight into how firms can realize the benefits of empowerment strategies while mitigating their risks. This paper was accepted by Elke Weber, judgment and decision making.

This study focuses on consumers' processing of online reviews as an empowering experience. We investigate how decision support information (i.e., online reviews) can lead to information overload and decision difficulty, and ultimately affect decision satisfaction. A series of three experimental studies with subjects from a professional marketing agency examine the influence of self-determined review quantity and perceived review quality on satisfaction, as well as the mediating effects of information overload and decision difficulty. Our results show that the effect of perceived review quality on information overload is enhanced when the consumer chooses to read more reviews. Individual characteristics are also relevant; consumers' product knowledge moderates the mediating effect of decision difficulty on satisfaction. This study contributes to the literature by (1) investigating how the characteristics of decision support information affect decision process and outcome, and (2) exploring the boundary conditions wherein online reviews can empower but also overload consumers under various decision contexts.

Modern users demand control over their advertising experience and a sense of empowerment throughout the communication process. In response, some platforms have introduced online features that incre...

This study intends to measure consumer empowerment related to food consumption and determine its effect on food risk perception and satisfaction with food consumption. Data were derived from an analysis of the “2017 Research on Food Consumption Behaviour” by the Korea Rural Economic Institute. Consumer empowerment, risk perception and satisfaction with food consumption were measured using a 5‐point Likert scale. The differences in consumer empowerment according to gender, age, educational level and monthly income were statistically significant. The factors that affected risk perception were information use, healthy eating, consumer rights, consumer responsibility and monthly income. The higher the scores for information use, healthy eating and consumer responsibility, the higher the score for satisfaction with food consumption.

While the different positive and negative impacts of digitalization for consumers’ everyday lives gain much attention from both policy-makers and academia, the question on how digital technologies can be applied to better attain consumer policy goals has so far earned comparatively little consideration. This paper endeavours to fill this gap by analysing the potential of what this paper calls consumer protection technologies. With this term, digital technologies are described that are used to foster consumer policy objectives. The paper then argues that these new digital technologies can significantly contribute to the attainment of priority consumer policy outcomes, namely consumer protection, consumer empowerment as well as consumer law and rights enforcement. Yet, both more awareness of consumer policy actors and academics for the potential of these digital technologies as well as a systematic review of consumer protection technologies are needed.

In this paper, we consider the classic multidimensional consumer empowerment construct and modify it for application in the retail business. We provide an empirical basis for the store strategy using retail shopper empowerment scores. We propose a measure of retail shopper empowerment with appropriate psychometric properties as a consumer-centric and nonfinancial performance metric. By using the retail shopper empowerment metric, the retailers would have an understanding of the consumer preferences regarding store experience. We posit that it is possible to improve customer experience and, in turn, the financial performance of the store by implementing and modifying the retail shopper empowerment framework. Keywords: Retail shopper empowerment, Consumer experience, Nonfinancial performance measures, Scale development, Retail strategy

The UK retail energy market has witnessed multiple regulatory interventions since its liberalisation almost two decades ago. Such interventions reached their peak with the enactment of the UK Domestic Gas Electricity (Tariff Cap) Act in July 2018. The Act puts in place a requirement on the independent regulator, the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets (Ofgem), to set an absolute price cap on poor value tariffs. As such, it signals a repudiation of the overarching paradigm of consumer empowerment that has informed regulatory remedies to date. Rather than advocating for a different paradigm, this article highlights the difficulties inherent in reconciling price caps – both practically and conceptually – with the competitive process and consumer empowerment. It further brings to the fore other instruments, not necessarily exhausted in retail price regulation, that can render affordable energy prices, without sacrificing consumer empowerment.

Following a negative service experience, existing studies assert that consumers attribute blame either internally (self-blame) or externally (other-blame) with little indication that the attribution ever changes. This study explores blame to discover whether there are changes in attribution, specifically whether it may shift from self to other. Analysing qualitative data from borrowers in the payday lending market using I-/They-poems, this study finds firstly that blame oscillates between self and other and, secondly, that payday borrowers practice counterfactual thinking to alleviate negative emotions, which in turn prompts this blame oscillation. In revealing that blame attribution can act as a pendulum oscillating between self and other, this study makes a critical advance to existing blame research. The study also supports previous studies in I-/They-poems in uncovering novel insights into consumer theory. Evidence also emerges that the neoliberal view of the ‘empowered consumer’ interacts with the more traditional, organisation-oriented perspective, as from a consumer behaviour perspective, the attempts to improve psychological well-being and the oscillation of blame contribute to shifts in the perceived power in the loan market.

International audience; Marketers, retailers, and brands increasingly rely on digital technologies to shape consumers’ journeys.Extending from the paradox of technology, which captures the coexistence of inherent benefits and risks, wepropose that empowerment from techno-mediated interactions with brands conceals vulnerability; thus, introducingthe concept of latent vulnerability. Adopting a dream interpretation approach from psychoanalysis, weexplored consumers’ reflections on the integration of techno-based interactions with brands in their consumptionjourneys. The analysis unearths processes whereby consumer empowerment may convert to experiences ofvulnerability. This research shows that, while giving consumers a sense of empowerment, techno-mediatedjourneys may hide a form of latent vulnerability. Latent vulnerability becomes manifest through revelationmechanisms that allow consumers to develop self-reflexivity and recognize their dependence and manipulation.We discuss the ethical implications that latent vulnerability raises.

The purpose of this paper is to advocate reorientation of current managerial practices in the light of growing reliance on Big Data strategies by contemporary firms, to make them more consumer-centric in nature. Big data strategies by their very nature and modalities lead to heightened levels of information asymmetry which by default have the capacity to disempower the very user that contributes towards the data driven insights. The fundamental driver for writing this paper is not to criticise big data strategies per se, but to suggest; it is merely a tool which can be equally used for consumer entrapment, as well as consumer empowerment. This paper wishes to contribute to the intellectual debate among academics, policy maker, and practitioners alike; en-route for a type of big data-driven managerial orientation that balances the consumers' right to market-based transparency, and the enterprise's need for economic viability.

International audience; Enabling the sharing of dormant consumer knowledge, autonomous online consumer communities constitute communities of consumption practice. Drawing from the knowledge management literature, this article investigates consumer knowledge activation and accumulation dynamics in online communities within the naturalistic setting of an online forum. The netnographic study identifies different patterns of knowledge activation, giving insights into the kind of consumer knowledge that emerges in autonomous online communities. Different characteristics of online communities such as potential presence of rare knowledge, breadth of views or additive value of similar views are leveraged, to produce different types of collective knowledge. The study contributes to the online communities literature by deconstructing the dynamics of knowledge sharing and accumulation in autonomous communities; these function as communities of consumption practice and contribute to consumer empowerment through building collective knowledge from individual activations. It contributes to the consumer knowledge literature a two-level, individual and collective, characterisation of knowledge activation and accumulation.

A manufacturer may manage consumer deliberation decision through the wholesale price, consumer empowerment, and product qualities.

This article provides an agenda for future research on brand communication in social media. Based on an overview of the current state of research, a discussion of the theoretical and conceptual challenges of brand communication in social media, and a survey about the expectations of the media and advertising industry, I present six key directions for future research. These six key directions include research on (1) social media influencers, (2) personalized brand content in social media, (3) ethical concerns about the nature of social media content and consumer empowerment, (4) platform characteristics rather than on Facebook, (5) the integration of social media in the media mix and the consumer journey, and (6) using real social media data. Together these six key directions help to shape the social media research agenda.

The unequal distribution of costs and benefits of the energy transition is a challenge for energy justice and energy policy. Although the empowerment of consumers to participate in renewable energy communities (RECs) has great potential for a just energy transition, vulnerable consumers remain underrepresented in RE projects. The recast of the European renewable energy directive obliges the European Member States to facilitate the participation of vulnerable consumers and support their inclusion in its &ldquo, enabling framework&rdquo, for prosumership. However, the type and specific design of corresponding measures remains unclear. Against this background this article investigates consumer empowerment in a vulnerability context. In particular we stress the need to understand how vulnerability affects participation in RECs to inform both policy makers and practitioners on its specificities and restrictions for the &ldquo, To prevent the inclusion of vulnerable consumers in RECs from remaining an idea on paper lawmakers need to be made aware of the implications for a consistent &ldquo, We argue that both individual vulnerable consumers as well as RECs need incentives and support to boost RECs&rsquo, capacity to include groups that until now remain underrepresented.

This research investigates the influence of social, demographic, and economic characteristics toward consumer empowerment on online purchasing in Asia, using a cross-sectional study through an online survey of 100 samples who experienced online purchasing. Multiple linear regression is performed for data analysis. The result showed that early adult males withhigh education, Javanese ethnic, lived in an urban area and were an employee with more than one million incomes per month was the most empowered group. Regression analyses resultreveals that gender, ethnic, and income significantly negatively influenced consumer empowerment. Meanwhile, a male with non-Sundanese ethnic and low income would increase the consumer empowerment index.

Omnichannel retailing is a new retail norm that focuses on providing a seamless interaction between retailers and consumers. Although the effect of omnichannel retailing on business is increasingly recognised, privacy concerns remain a subject of debate and a delicate issue which could potentially inhibit its growth. Grounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Response (S–O–R) model, the current study investigates consumer behaviour in omnichannel retailing and uses Psychological Reactance Theory (PRT) as the theoretical basis to examine the moderating effect of privacy concerns. A quantitative approach was adopted by means of self-administered questionnaires. 736 consumers were sampled, and the data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The findings show that consumer perception of channel integration (CPCI), consumer empowerment (CE), and trust significantly affect patronage intention in omnichannel retailing. In addition, when privacy concerns are low, the effects of CPCI and CE on trust are found to be stronger. It underscores the need to synergize channel integration, retailer-consumer relationship empowerment and effective mitigation of privacy concerns in the omnichannel retailing context. Implications of the study are provided.

The purpose of this research was to analyze the influence of demographic, social and economic characteristics towards the consumer empowerment of electronic products. The research used cross-sectional study with an online survey of 100 respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential analysis. Descriptive analysis used to identify the demographic, social and economic characteristics of the sample and the consumer empowerment index. The inferential analysis used in this study include chi-square test and logistic regression. The level of consumer empowerment in electronic products only 41.78 that belongs to capable category. The largest index was found in goods selection dimension (88.33) and the lowest (6.4) on behavior complaint dimension. The result of this study showed that female, early-aged adult (18-40 year), higher education, employed, income between Rp2 000 000-Rp3 000 000 per capita per month, origin from the urban area, and family size ≤ 4 were the most empowered consumers. Only two of six variables significantly affect consumer empowerment, namely age and education. Age has a negative and significant effect on consumer empowerment, while education has a positive and significant effect on consumer empowerment of electronic products. Based on the results of the research, it is necessary to raise awareness of consumers to be able to choose the brand of local products. Also consumers need to use their rights as consumers to be able to file complaints if they experience disappointment or loss when buying electronic products.

This article contributes to the literature on consumer power in consumer-firm relationships in three ways. First, it proposes a consumer empowerment framework adopting a consumer perspective that includes the antecedents and consequences of consumer power perception. Second, it distinguishes two manifestations of consumer power perception: personal power—the perceived ability to resist or ignore a firm’s persuasive efforts and make final decisions independently—and social power—the perception of influencing a firm’s decisions and responses. Third, it identifies the entities involved (i.e., firms, third parties, and other consumers) that empower consumers through the exchange of resources. Moreover, this article discusses how the constructs of consumer power and empowerment differ from related concepts such as perceived control and self-efficacy. Finally, it proposes a research agenda.

This work utilizes the theory of social power as a lens through which to analyze the power structure of firms and consumers involved in crowdsourcing and discusses the managerial implications of this power balance. The results of this analysis reveal how power is structured differently in each form of crowdsourcing, with consumer power being strongest in the case of idea crowdsourcing and weakest in the case of microtask crowdsourcing. These differences in power have implications for managers who initiate and maintain crowdsourcing endeavors. Understanding the structure of consumer power in different types of crowdsourcing allows firms to better prepare for the wide range of possible outcomes as consumers inevitably push their own agendas regardless of whether or not these agendas are aligned with those of the firm.

Data brokers play a central role in the big data ecosystem, compiling personal data from numerous sources and subsequently selling them to businesses worldwide. Such practices, however, generally occur clandestinely without consumers' knowledge or consent and can harm consumers in a discriminatory manner. In recent years, US policymakers have been urged to regulate data brokers by promoting individual choice but have failed, whereas the European Union has introduced broad data privacy guarantees for consumers and a data protection regime that limits data brokers' activities if consumers' consent has not been obtained for specific purposes. Because of the power imbalance between consumers and data brokers, the author argues that the European Union's coherent data protection framework serves as an effective model for regulating data brokers.

Purpose This paper aims to analyze the implications of communicating customer involvement in the ideation and concept stage of new product development (NPD). This paper assesses the extent to which the awareness that a product was co-created jointly by company professional designers and consumers affects observer consumers’ attitudes toward the product and the company. While earlier research has mainly emphasized the positive and desirable consequences of consumer participation in NPD, the present set of studies shows that labeling products as having been co-created is not always valuable; rather, it is dependent on the level of perceived complexity of the products. Design/methodology/approach The hypotheses are tested in four experimental studies using several categories of product complexity (low, medium and high). The data have been collected on young adult samples, measuring the participants’ perceptions of a firm’s innovation ability and product purchase intentions. Findings The results suggest that there are benefits at the corporate level (higher perceptions of innovation ability) to inform the market about consumer involvement, particularly when consumers and company professionals work together. The findings also indicate that product complexity plays a critical role in translating the perceptions of greater corporate abilities (innovation) in purchase intention, and it is particularly beneficial for low-complexity products. Originality/value The previous research has mainly focused on the impact of involving consumers in firms and participating consumers; however, it has neglected the role of observer consumers. This study adds to the innovation literature by showing that the value of learning about other consumers’ involvement in firm NPD is not universally beneficial and that product complexity is a critical boundary condition.

Persuasion literature suggests that consumers increasingly seek brand integrity, yet this advertising outcome remains underexplored, despite the clear need for managerial guidance from academic research. Drawing on signaling theory, this study investigates the signaling effect of brand transparency in marketing communications on brand integrity perceptions, in the timely context of advertising for consumer-ideated new products. Four experiments compare transparency signaling effects across various levels of product complexity-to-design and reputation. The data indicate causal relationships between transparency signals and brand integrity, and this robust effect persists across studies, independent of the level of product complexity-to-design. Perceived empowerment mediates the relationship, with downstream effects on behavioral intentions. The advertising response variables exhibit greater sensitivity for poor reputation brands, suggesting a transparency-repairing mechanism. Two single-paper meta-analyses confirm the theoretical value of transparency as a signal. The findings encourage brand managers to seek greater word–deed alignment, to achieve the most significant social benefits.

Part 3: eBusiness; International audience; While online price comparison websites have burgeoned, there is scant understanding of how they influence online consumer behavior. This study addresses this gap in the literature by investigating the influence of price comparison websites on online switching behavior, and also suggests some additional factors that may be considered when looking at this relationship. We argue that shopper innovativeness, their perceived usefulness of the ad, and their customer service experience consciousness are important factors to consider when evaluating the impact of price comparison websites on eSwitching behavior. We also argue that the most appropriate theoretical lens through which to investigate this relationship is that of the consumer empowerment paradigm. A conceptual model is proposed and tested. Our analysis of 345 sample respondents finds that perceived usefulness of ads and customer service experience expectations are important enablers to price comparison websites use. Similarly, we find that shopper innovativeness and customer service expectations, in addition to price comparison websites use, are significant enablers to eSwitching behaviour. However, contrary to prediction, we find that shopper innovativeness has little to no influence on shoppers’ use of price comparison websites; we also observed similar patterns concerning the link between the perceived usefulness of online ads and eSwitching behaviour. In conclusion, our research contributes to better understanding the influence of price comparison websites on online switching behavior, and the factors that might influence this relationship.

Consumer empowerment has gained a significant attention in the medical field recently, and despite the ambiguity of its definitions, elements and measurement tools, it is apparent that mobile and other communication technology can play a major role in keeping patients informed, involved and empowered. This paper aims to explore methods by which mobile applications contribute to consumer empowerment and allowed enhanced patient control over their health.

The valorization (i.e., exploitation, enhancement, upcycling or general re-use) of products at the end-stages of their lifecycle is a key aspect of waste management in most industrialized countries. However, consumer waste reduction through upcycling practices has received little attention in the empirical research. In this study we explore the nature of these product reuse practices and link it to other types of self-production practices. Through the lens of the self-determination theory, the various motivations that drive consumer upcycling are investigated through the netnographic analysis of interactions in an online upcycling community. Netnography, an online research method originating in ethnography, is thus applied to expand the range of consumer motivations for upcycling and to identify specific types of upcyclers. Numerous posts and comments from an Italian online community of upcyclers over an eight-year time span is then analyzed via computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software. The findings challenge the idea stated in previous research that environmental issues are the underlying driver, by revealing a wide range of motivations that inspire different types of upcyclers (ecologists, eco-creatives, utilitarians, hedonists and educators). Most upcycling activities thus can be read as an introspective and pragmatic form of resistance to consumerism in which consumer empowerment (competence acquisition, creativity and autonomy) - especially in a family dimension - seems more prevalent than environmental concerns. The proposed typology of upcyclers leads to an enabling stance towards consumer upcycling by both public policy makers and practitioners. The study sheds light on an emerging practice in the under researched areas of the end-stages of consumption and consumer waste reduction.

It is well recognized fact that consumer confidence and trust in a well functioning market for financial services promotes financial stability, growth efficiency and innovation over the long term. So protection of the interest of consumers is not merely an ethical or humanitarian issue rather it is also an issue of economy. Consumer protection demands for setting of minimum quality specification and safety standards for goods and services to curb unfair trade practices. So far the international norms are concerned it effectively contains the Bill of Rights of Consumers which help them across the globe to effectively protect their interests. Keeping in consideration about the poor bargaining position of the consumers and with an aim to ensure consumers to access non-hazardous products United Nation issued Guidelines for Consumer Protection, 1985, expanded again in 1999. The consumer justice is a facet of socio-economic justice and emanates from the basic philosophy of the Indian constitution i.e. to do justice and to strengthen the standard and status of the people of this country. It has been discussed in this article in an elaborate way about the various provisions of the Constitution and all the legislations which addresses the issues of consumers and resolve to protect their interests. But still the exploitation of Indian consumers by the dishonest traders and service providers become a routine matter and this article also scanned the reasons for the same and also provides suggestions to ameliorate the conditions of consumers. This paper is based on qualitative analysis of the information mainly obtained from secondary sources such as different books and journals as referred over here, Policy documents, existing laws, reports of United Nations, important judgments and observations of Judiciary etc.

DOI: 10.1177/0276146715619653 URL: http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0276146715619653 Filiació URV: SI Memòria This article explores the notion of consumer empowerment in ethical consumption communities, known as responsible consumption communities (RCCs) in Spain. Although consumer empowerment has previously been discussed in the ethical consumer field, mainly in relation to notions of voting in the marketplace, it has yet to be explored thoroughly. In particular, the concept of empowerment should be moved beyond an individualized lens of analysis, acknowledging connectedness of persons. A combination of qualitative techniques was employed, including focus groups, in-depth interviews, observation, and documentary analysis. Our empirical case shows that consumer empowerment should be understood not in relation to consumption, but in relation to new forms of social organizing and experimentation that emerge around consumption.

Purpose This study aims to explore if, with increasing consumer empowerment, consumers are actively pulling content through a multitude of platforms rather than relying on media owners to dictate their product choices. How do media owners and content producers move toward a more reciprocal and interactive business strategy to deal with the change? Design/methodology/approach The study was qualitative and exploratory in nature and utilized in-depth and semi-structured interviews of media consumers and experts. Findings Consumer behavior has changed due to increased product control, in terms of type and occasion, across all income levels. The value of curatorship has increased and social media has fundamentally changed consumption patterns. Using the Berthon et al. model of response functions, we found that, content producers often suffer from inertia and operate with an Isolate strategy. The second most common approach is that of Follow or customer orientation. There is limited engagement with the innovation orientations of Shape and Interact. It is best for the industry to move toward an Interact model, accepting that consumers sometimes wish to create and at other times wish content to be effortlessly provided to them. Research limitations/implications This study adopted a qualitative approach of industry experts and consumers within a single context. The further implications would be to develop the Interact strategy in more detail, especially toward the end of how to get media providers to change their current orientations. Practical implications Business models of product producers in the new business environment seek to be more consumer-centric. This must not be done at the expense of an innovation orientation. Originality/value There has been a lot of discussion on the need to change business models in the wake of changed consumer behavior. The current paper provides guidance on how to respond to the new media world.

In the United States the prevailing public policy approach to mitigating the harms of internet surveillance is grounded in the liberal democratic value of transparency. While a laudable goal, transparency runs up against insurmountable structural constraints within the political economy of commercial surveillance. A case study of the data broker industry reveals the limits of transparency and shows that commodification of personal information is at the root of the power imbalances that transparency-based strategies of consumer empowerment seek to rectify. Despite significant challenges, privacy policy must be more centrally informed by a critical political economy of commercial surveillance.

Purpose– This paper aims to explore the interaction between consumer empowerment and social interactions as fundamental social media elements. It demonstrates their relationship in both experiential and informative social media setting where social media complements an offline consumer activity. The study aims to contribute to the literature on social media by demonstrating its complementary role on offline activities through these fundamental elements.Design/methodology/approach– The paper reports three experimental designs that manipulate the empowering and the socializing elements of complementary activities to show their effects on both the complementary online and the complemented offline activities.Findings– The paper presents three empirical studies that reveal the effects of two fundamental social media elements (i.e. empowerment and socialization) on consumers’ responses toward consumption episodes that consist of complementary online and complemented offline activities. It reveals that that these elements increase positive consumer responses toward both the online and the offline activities through psychological empowerment. However, the interaction between the elements changes with respect to specific empowerment types.Research limitations/implications– The paper contributes to the literature on social media by demonstrating its complementary role on offline activities through its empowering and socializing elements. It bridges research on consumer empowerment and socialization in a way that reveals their interaction beyond the extant definitions of empowerment resulting from enhanced communication among consumers. The paper also demonstrates the complementary role of social media on offline consumer behaviors through the effects of these two fundamental elements.The participants of the experimental studies are presented with hypothetical scenarios and asked about their behavioral intentions. Thus, future studies should address the research questions in real-world settings.Practical implications– The paper includes implications for social media usage as a complementary activity to offline real-life consumer behavior through the effects of consumer empowerment and social interactions. Thus, it may benefit marketers seeking to optimize the empowering and socializing components of their social media strategies.Originality/value– This paper fulfils an identified need to study how social media may affect real-life consumer behavior. It also identifies the interaction between the empowering and the socializing elements of social media offerings in both experiential and informative settings.

How can we develop new products, services, and systems that are able to satisfy the needs of firms potential customers not yet emerged? How should we rethink technology innovation processes under the requirements of value co-creation? How can we foster innovation through effective links between marketing and R&D departments, both inside and outside the boundary spanning of a single firm? With the aim to stimulate answers to these questions, we launched a special issue of Mercati e Competitivita on Technology, innovation and marketing. Coming challenges in an emerging new business landscape. In this introductory paper, we argue that the relationship between technological innovation and marketing is multifaceted and multidirectional. Thus, the paper proposes a conceptual framework to highlight the different perspectives through which this relationship can be investigated. In the last section, we present the different papers collected in the special issue and position these papers within the proposed conceptual framework.

In current digitally-empowering contexts, the Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) paradigm may have lost its ‘original’ customer-centric focus. Drawing on service-dominant logic, the paper ex...

International audience; The literature on empowerment in marketing has grown exponentially in the 2000s. This article provides a comprehensive review of the concept of consumer empowerment, which in prior research has given rise to a variety of work with sometimes contradictory theoretical frameworks. Consequently, research fragmentation on the one hand, and the lack of integrative framework uniting all facets of empowerment, on the other hand, justify this research. We carried out a review of more than 600 publications and books in various disciplines. As literature on consumer empowerment is traditionally published on Ebsco, this database was favored, then we've opened our study to other search engines (Elsevier, Web of Web of Science and Google Scholar).We conducted a research for articles with titles, keywords, or abstracts containing the terms "empowerment" and "consumer". From this research and identified references, we've selected 142 articles that we've studied in depth. Firstly, building on scholarly insights from multiple literature streams, this paper identifies three facets of empowerment (bestowing power, gaining power, and as a subjective state) and structures extant marketing research according to it. As a matter of fact, marketing literature related to consumer empowerment can be classified according to the three facets of empowerment: the literature on public policy and collaborative management practices illustrates the process of delegation of power by local authorities or companies to consumers, while the process of gaining power from the consumers' perspective focuses on resistance to market structures. Finally, empowerment as a subjective state, called « psychological empowerment », refers to the consumer « sense of empowerment » related to an extension of its resources and an easier access to information by Web 2.0. Secondly, an examination of foundational theories of power enables us to identify three models of power: the consumer sovereignty model, the cultural power model and the discursive power model. These three competing models deliver a different and complementary approach of the concept of empowerment and refer implicitly to the three facets of empowerment (bestowing power, gaining power, and power as a subjective state) discussed in this paper. Thirdly, linking the critical synthesis of empirical findings from marketing literature and theoretical approaches of power, we propose an integrated framework where future advancements on empowerment can be developed. This analysis reveals some limits associated with earlier research. We end by suggesting further directions of research to advance the theorization and empirical testing of empowerment.

The present article argues that the fact that personal data holds great value, in combination with a lack of transparency in its commercial use, leads to a need for consumer policy that strengthens consumer protection. The widespread practice of user agreements and consent-based regulation of personal data collection is not satisfactory for balancing these information-asymmetric markets. The lack of transparency deriving from the complex and massive datafication of consumers – where consumers are profiled, data is brokered and the algorithmically automated decision-making is opaque – speaks to the need for improved supervision at a more structural level above and beyond the individual consumer's choices, preferably by more active consumer protection authorities.

In this research, we explore the negative consequences of engaging customer participation through voting mechanisms. Specifically, we draw attention to the double risk of customer voting, first by identifying the adverse effects of losing, and then by revealing the potential of turning an already engaged set of customers over to underdog competitors. We first establish that the losing effect is distinct from that of a voting (empowerment) effect (Pilot Study). We then replicate the losing effect and show that losing (as opposed to winning) voters tend to experience stronger levels of disempowerment and identify more with the underdog (Study 1). Finally, we demonstrate that losing voters are more likely to choose a competitor brand over the incumbent brand, particularly when the competitor is perceived to be an underdog (Study 2). Our findings caution brand managers to reconsider their customer engagement strategy when it involves customer voting.

International audience; The European consumer policy relies on the ideal of consumer empowerment, which involves providing all consumers with detailed information on the goods on offer. This policy also applies to the electronic communications sector, and empowering consumers who are the end-users of internet access services. The author reviews behavioural law and economics literature that pertains to consumer empowerment and applies the resulting insights to interpret Article 4 (1) of Regulation 2015/2120 laying down measures concerning open internet access in a way that would truly empower the sophisticated consumers. The author also proposes advising or obliging the providers of internet access services to label those services to provide even the unsophisticated consumers with meaningful and understandable information.; La politique européenne des consommateurs repose sur l’idéal de l’autonomisation des consommateurs (consumer empowerment), qui consiste à fournir à tous les consommateurs des informations détaillées sur les produits proposés. Cette politique s’applique également au secteur des communications électroniques et habilite les consommateurs qui sont les utilisateurs finaux des services d’accès à Internet. L’auteur passe en revue la littérature sur les analyses économiques du droit relative à l’autonomisation des consommateurs et applique les idées qui en résultent pour interpréter l’article 4, paragraphe 1, du règlement 2015/2120 établissant des mesures relatives à l’accès ouvert à l’internet pour le bénéfice des consommateurs sophistiqués. L’auteur propose également de conseiller ou d’obliger les fournisseurs de services d’accès Internet à étiqueter ces services afin de fournir aux consommateurs moins sophistiqués des informations utiles et compréhensibles.

Current consumer-brand relationship scenario is increasingly characterized by empowered individuals who claim ownership of brands and brand-related contents and manifest leadership in activating, nurturing, and quitting conversations that contribute to brand value creation or destruction beyond the efforts of marketers. When brand actors are only one of the players and not even the most impactful one in generating, modifying, or even overturning brand meanings and values, who does then take the lead in making sense of brands? And how does that happen? This chapter aims at elucidating the concept of distributed leadership of current networked individuals toward their brands and support it with anecdotal evidence of groundbreaking practices of people leadership in brand value creation at the global level.

This article seeks to contribute to the extant knowledge about branding in the digital era exploring why consumers assume adversely behaviours towards brands and how brand managers react when their brand is attacked. From the multiple case study analysis emerged that not every brand reacts at the same way. Specifically we noted the following four different strategies: (1) ignore; (2) apologize; (3) start a dialogue with trolls and haters; (4) change behaviour. Interestingly, (3) and (4) appeared more effective in mitigating consumers attacks. On the contrary (1) and (2) would be risky in some contexts.

This chapter explores the criminology of the breeding and sale of pets, focusing on the UK puppy trade. Breeding and sale of pets involve harms (some of which are covered by specific welfare offences) including poor care (of breeding animals and progeny) and poor mate-selections and non-compliance with laws designed to minimise international disease transfer (for example, on pet movements to prevent the spread of rabies). Such behaviours can cause animal welfare problems at the time (for example, infectious disease) or in later life (for example, fear-related aggression and inherited health disorders). Rational Choice Theory suggests the underlying behaviour may be partially explained by (a) the lack of guardians for the animals and purchasers (with weaknesses in consumer and animal protection legislation); (b) the presence of suitable victims (that is, vulnerable animals and purchasers); and (c) offenders’ strong motivations (in particular for financial gain). The chapter concludes by arguing that appropriate responses include better consumer empowerment; better movement and animal welfare laws, effectively enforced; clearer and better enforced vending legislation particularly on electronic purchases; the use of other legislation (for example, fraud) to challenge offenders.

During the past decade, the movement to empower consumers in all areas of social work practice has been joined by the growing recognition of the importance of the consumer's perspective in assessing and monitoring health and social services. An increasing number of social work practitioners and researchers have called for greater consumer involvement in assessing the quality of services related to the long-term care needs of older adults. This article presents an overview of strategies and approaches that social workers can use to measure the satisfaction of older consumers with long-term care services. Specific issues in the design of satisfaction instruments are discussed in detail. The article concludes by arguing that these issues, although technical in nature, must be addressed in social work research if the professton's claim of concern for consumer empowerment is to be realized.

Advocacy is the buzz word these days. Organisations and individuals all over the world are making use of the power of advocacy to secure direct and long lasting benefits. Advocacy is a range of activities aimed at persuading decision makers to design, adopt and change policies and practices. Not even marketing is untouched by the power of advocacy. Consumer empowerment and market saturation has rendered the traditional methods of advertising obsolete forcing the firms to reallocate their promotional dollars towards activation of brand advocates, who are driven by their love towards the brand and go out of their way to advocate for it.

Urgent social problems increasingly arise at the intersection of the interests of business leaders, policy makers, and consumers. The authors argue that deliberative democracy offers a fruitful approach for understanding marketing's impact on society by revealing the complex and often conflicting network of interests among stakeholders. Deliberative methods hold promise for easing constraints on civic engagement and increasing consumer empowerment. The authors explore the historical and philosophical underpinnings of deliberative democracy. Specifically, they evaluate popular methods and applications of deliberative democracy and examine the implications for public policy and marketing.

Supported employment is an established approach to community-based employment that has provided many individuals with significant disabilities an opportunity to choose between a lifetime of low wages in segregated sheltered workshop settings and the challenges of a real job in their local community. As a service-delivery strategy that embodies the principles of individualized, community-based support services and consumer empowerment, supported employment has become the preferred employment alternative for large numbers of individuals previously excluded from work opportunities (Rusch, Chadsey-Rusch, & Johnson, 1991; Wehman & Kregel, 1994). The purpose of this article is to summarize the present status of supported employment, discuss the major accomplishments of the initiative, and identify those issues that must be addressed in the future to allow the program to achieve its long-term goal of promoting the economic independence and community integration of individuals with significant disabilities.