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Brands can be important relationship partners for consumers, but they cannot replace human connections. Instead, brands can influence how others perceive consumers by communicating their personalities. With loneliness being a global issue, a significant unanswered question is how our brand choices impact our ability to initiate relationships with others. Our research shows that it depends on the brand itself; whether its core associations align with creating superior offerings or promoting social responsibility. In human relationships, warmth more than competence, leads to satisfying interpersonal interactions. Accordingly, our research indicates that socially responsible brands, which convey warmth, have an advantage in seeking human connections, particularly when potential partners have adaptive relationship models. However, when individuals face relationship insecurity, the type of insecurity (attachment avoidance versus attachment insecurity) affects their response to potential blind dating scenarios. Keywords Brand relationships, Social responsibility, Relationship insecurity, Attachment, INTRODUCTION In the U.S., most people are considered lonely. This problem is particularly pronounced among younger consumers, such as Generation Z and Millennials. Over one fifth of Millennials report that, [...]

In the context of globalization, consumers with multicultural experiences are increasingly involved in the process of value creation, yet there is a lack of understanding of how multiculturalism affects consumer creativity. Based on the dual perspectives of multiculturalism and loose-tight culture, this paper illustrates the mechanism of multicultural experience on consumer creativity and the moderating effect of loose-tight culture on this relationship. Two studies (a questionnaire study and an experimental study) were conducted to validate the theoretical model. The results revealed that multicultural experiences enhance consumer creativity, cognitive complexity mediates the relationship between the two, and loose-tight culture moderates the relationship between multicultural experiences and consumer creativity. The loose culture scenario has a positive enhancement effect, the tight culture scenario has a negative weakening effect, and the interaction between multicultural experiences and loose-tight culture affects consumer creativity through cognitive complexity. The results of this study provide a new perspective on the relationship between culture and consumer creativity, expanding the study of culture and consumer creativity from the cultural value dimension to the social norm dimension, enriching the research on creativity as a cognitive process at the consumer level, and providing guidance and reference for companies to better stimulate and utilize consumer creativity., Author(s): Xiaozhi Huang [sup.1] , Siyuan Xiang [sup.1] , Xue Xi [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) https://ror.org/02c9qn167, grid.256609.e, 0000 0001 2254 5798, School of Business, Guangxi University, , No. 100, Daxuedong [...]

Social media technology provides users with opportunities to search and share information, purchase products, and communicate with others. Companies can also build relationships with users, conduct marketing activities, and sell their products through social media networks. The theory of social networks provides a basis for how social ties facilitate users' behavior intention in the social commerce context. In this paper, by integrating theories of the social network and information sharing, we develop a model to explore how social ties impact users' purchase intention and information sharing intention, the mediating effect of perceived information quality and perceived information incredibility and the moderating effect of professionalism. A survey of 455 users from social network platforms shows that the strength of social ties enhances the perceived information quality and information incredibility, and thereby facilitates the purchase intention and information sharing intention. These findings confirm the positive moderating effect of professionalism on the relationship between the strength of social ties and purchase intention. This paper contributes to the social ties and information sharing literature and opens the black box of users' decision-making in the social network context. Collectively, these findings also have an impact on marketers to more effectively target users for spreading content with social media platforms., Author(s): Linbing Sun [sup.1] , Tienan Wang [sup.1] , Feiyang Guan [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.19373.3f, 0000 0001 0193 3564, School of Management, Harbin Institute of Technology, , 92 West [...]

Across five studies, we find that high-power distance belief (PDB) consumers (i.e., consumers who value social hierarchy) tend to show lower loyalty after being demoted in loyalty programs than low-PDB consumers (i.e., consumers who value equality). This occurs because while low-PDB consumers are only sensitive to the monetary losses associated with the demotion, high-PDB consumers are sensitive to both the monetary and psychological losses. More importantly, we find that when consumers receive the appropriate monetary (for low-PDB) or status-symbolic (for high-PDB) compensation, the negative effect of demotion is attenuated. Additionally, we find that proactive approaches are more effective in mitigating negative responses to demotion; accordingly, marketers should warn consumers of a prospective demotion and offer consumers help in maintaining their existing membership tier. Doing so results in a win-win situation where consumers avoid demotion and marketers achieve higher profits. The theoretical and practical implications of the research are also discussed., Author(s): Huachao Gao [sup.1] , Yinlong Zhang [sup.2] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.143640.4, 0000 0004 1936 9465, Peter B. Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria, , 3800 Finnerty Rd, V8P [...]

Drawing from life-history theory and the appraisal-tendency approach toward emotion, this study investigated the effect of anger on consumers' variety-seeking (VS) behavior depending on childhood socioeconomic status (SES) and trait anger. Participants (N = 159) were randomly assigned to either the anger or the neutral condition. The results showed that childhood SES interacts with trait anger to influence VS when people are temporarily in an angry mood but not when people are in a neutral mood. More specifically, people from relatively resource-abundant environments generally tend to seek variety when they are temporarily in an angry mood, independent of trait anger; although those with a low trait anger tend to choose more variety compared to those with a high trait anger. For people growing up from relatively resource-scarce environments, those with a low trait anger tend to choose less variety when they feel angry than those with a high trait anger. The present study extends the current understanding of the effects of emotion on VS. The theoretical and marketing implications of these findings are discussed., Author(s): Jinling Zhao [sup.1] , Carla Childers [sup.2] , Hui Sang [sup.3] , Jiuqing Cheng [sup.4] , Ronaldo Vigo [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.20627.31, 0000 0001 0668 7841, Department of [...]

The present research demonstrates that consumers often feel inhibited from engaging in hedonic activities alone, especially when these activities are observable by others. When considering whether to engage in a hedonic and public activity such as going to a movie alone, individuals anticipate negative inferences from others about their social connectedness that reduce their interest in engaging in the activity. Notably, consumers seem to overestimate how much their enjoyment of these activities depends on whether they are accompanied by a companion. Cues that attenuate consumers' anticipation of negative inferences by making an activity seem more utilitarian or by reducing the anticipated number of observers systematically increases interest in engaging in unaccompanied public activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A conference paper about the impact of big data on the behavior and perception of consumers who are inclined to use the traditional mode of communication and consumers who are influenced by digital technology. The author notes that there is a prevailing views among older marketers and market researchers that cultural and social influences are the main factors that shape consumer attitudes and behaviors, which is further enhanced by communities and neighborhoods.

This study, examined the impact of (a) consumer knowledge about green products on green identity and (b) the introduction of a disposable plastic bag fee on consumer attitude (i.e., store identification, store brand preference, and store brand loyalty). Findings indicate that consumers showed medium levels of knowledge about green products and the plastic bag fee increased consumer identification with the store. These results suggest that appealing to consumer needs for self-definition can help grocery stores maintain long-term relationships (i.e., increase consumer identification with store) if they foster an environmentally-friendly image. To this end, grocery stores should promote sustainability and communicate their progress to customers. Findings further suggest that informed consumers are more likely to value social responsibility than customer service, even if they incur a minor cost. Shedding light on why few individuals who define themselves as 'green' behave in ways that are congruent with this label, these findings can benefit marketing scholars, brand managers, and the economic health of various organizations., As globalization and consumerism increase, both individuals and companies experience social pressure to protect and improve the environment (Hult, 2011). For organizations in particular, sustainability is an opportunity to improve [...]

This article explores informal practices in the food sector. The practices of St. Petersburg consumers who buy food directly from local farmers via various short food supply chains (on-farm sales, collective purchasing, street trade, etc.) are analyzed in the framework of James Scott's concepts of 'everyday resistance' and 'moral economy' and Michel de Certeau's notion of 'tactics.' Consumers' tactics are explored, and informants' attitudes toward conventional retail chains and state agencies are compared to their attitudes to local farmers., With various types of hyper/super/mini-markets and grocery stores on every corner, St. Petersburg is the Russian city with the highest share of retail chains in food retail. Nevertheless, some consumers [...]

Consumers value status goods because of the impression status-product ownership makes on other consumers, and this impression depends on the actual distribution of ownership in population. Explicitly modeling consumer value of status products as coming from the information the product ownership conveys to other consumers, the authors show that a status-product manufacturer can benefit from a competitor's cost reduction because of the competitor's price reduction associated with it. In other words, they show that two status products that are (imperfect) substitutes in the consumer utility function may be complements in the profit function. As a consequence, competition could lead to higher prices than the optimal ones under monopoly ownership of both products. The authors confirm the assumptions that consumer value of a status good depends positively on the proportion of desirable type among owners and negatively on the proportion of the desirable type among nonowners in one experiment. Moreover, they find empirical support for the positive effect of a price reduction of one product on the demand for the other product from another experiment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with collective consumer resistance -- that is, organised forms of reaction against the market. In detail, the paper describes BookCrossing (BC) as an alternative mode of book exchange. This is a moderate form of resistance: BC members do not pursue radical, extremist or extreme forms of reaction. Moreover, they act in an alternative way (gift-giving) compared to the traditional market exchange system. They criticise the market system and their activity presents some interesting 'transformative' properties. Not so paradoxically, these forms of moderate resistance in some way support the market in order to meet new needs: solidarity, democracy, consumers' emancipation. Many contemporary communities (e.g. Wayn, Wikipedia, Couchsurfing) seem to possess traits in common with BookCrossing. It is certain that they are not aimed at market subversion: they are aimed at using the market in a different way, in order to compensate for some of its drawbacks. Taken together, these communities collect millions of people around the world, and their role in the emancipation of the consumer society is growing rapidly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines two important variables for advertisers, ethnicity and product involvement. We investigate the effectiveness of Hispanic-targeted advertising by exploring the impact of ad model's ethnicity on attitudes toward high- and low-involvement products. The results of our quasi-experiment suggest that appealing to strong Hispanic identifiers may be highly desirable in terms of creating favorable attitudes when advertising low-involvement products. For high-involvement products, Hispanic-targeted advertising may not be as effective since ethnicity may not be an important cue. Theoretical implications regarding the impact of distinctiveness theory and practical implications for practitioners trying to spend advertising dollars more efficiently are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article draws upon the utopian studies literature to integrate two strands of contemporary consumer research, the study of place and space and the analysis of consumer/marketer relations. Based on a longitudinal study of a festival shopping mall, we provide an emergent theory of how the utopian marketplace is experienced, a theory that hinges around three interlinked conceptual categories: sensing displace, creating playspace, and performing artscape, which are subverted by the center management's maladroit refreshment of the retail offer. The relevance of this theorization for place-based scholarship, together with its implications for researchers of consumer/marketer relations, is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the majority of consumer research that has studied social influences has focused on the impact of an interactive social presence, in this research we demonstrate that a noninteractive social presence (i.e., a mere presence) is also influential. We conduct two field experiments in a retail setting to show when and how a noninteractive social presence that differs in size and proximity impacts consumers' emotions and self-presentation behaviors. In doing so, we refine Social Impact Theory by identifying boundary conditions under which the theory does not hold. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Critical perspectives on theory play an important and valued role in disciplines across the academy. Feminist perspectives might be expected to be at or near the forefront of critical engagement with consumer behaviour theory, especially given the importance of gender in consumer research. Following a brief upsurge during the 1990s, critical feminist voices have been muted of late. This paper explores some reasons for this. It begins with a brief overview of research on gender and consumer behaviour and how insights from feminist theories and feminist activism began to alter our understanding of gendered consumption. It then discusses how postmodern and postfeminist perspectives have diluted feminism as a critique of gendered consumption. Finally, it argues that a return to materialist feminism would open up possibilities for new and more critical analyses of gendered consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of advertising within consumer culture as an ideological force has received much attention within academic studies in the advertising and marketing disciplines, and has also been the subject of inquiry and debate in related fields within sociology and cultural studies. While many of these works approach the role of advertising in society through textual analysis of advertisements and consumer interpretations of advertising meaning, surprisingly fewer studies have approached the subject from the perspective of the producers of advertising, particularly within the advertising and marketing disciplines. This paper examines how advertisements are encoded with meanings by advertising "creatives" by exploring the practices and processes in which these cultural practitioners engage. A discourse analysis of ethnographic interviews conducted with copywriters and art directors within an Irish advertising agency forms the empirical material for this inquiry. Four central interpretative repertoires are developed from these interview texts which provide insights into the pivotal work of advertising practitioners as cultural intermediaries within consumer culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Data collected among Greenlandic immigrants in Denmark fuel a critical examination of the postassimilationist model of ethnic consumer behavior in a non-North American context. We find that Greenlandic consumer acculturation is broadly supportive of the postassimilationist model. However, acculturative processes in the Danish context lead immigrants to adopt identity positions not entirely consistent with those reported in previous postassimilationist consumer research. Further, we identify transnational consumer culture as an acculturative agent not identified in previous research on consumer ethnicity and question the performative model of culture swapping. Finally, the analysis supports ideas about postassimilationist ethnicity as culture consumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to evaluate responses of gay and heterosexual consumers to gay-friendly and non-friendly cues and the resultant effects on the variables of brand satisfaction, brand commitment, and attitude toward the brand. Variables for predicting brand commitment based on Rusbult's Investment Model are explored. Results suggest that heterosexual consumers, while noticing gay-friendly cues in brand communications, do not develop negative attitudes as a result of exposure to those cues. Further, as gay and lesbian consumers react positively and strongly and heterosexual consumers react neutrally, it is a reasonable strategy for brands to pursue gay-friendly marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buyer-seller relationships have long been of intense interest to marketing academics and practitioners, most particularly within the domain of business-to-business markets, but also more recently within the purview of business-to-consumer markets. This paper looks at the role of gender in buyer-seller relationships. Covering the literature from sales and from consumer behaviour, the general lack of a specific gender perspective in the interactions between buyers and sellers is identified and weaknesses in the current literature are highlighted. It identifies an opportunity to develop and apply feminist research practice to this increasingly important area. The benefits, opportunities, and limitations of the feminist research approach are specified and some initial conclusions presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of Foot and Mouth Disease in the UK, upstream operators in the agrifood sector are being encouraged to undertake more direct marketing of their products. However, little is known about consumer interest in buying local food, and the factors that might influence a positive response. Drawing from the literature on ethical and environmentally responsible consumer behaviour, interest in local food is conceptualised as being related to attitudinal, situational and demographic factors. Discriminant analysis of responses to a survey of shoppers in the north of England finds that attitudinal factors tend to explain variations in local food interest better than demographic factors. In addition, situational factors of urban/rural residency and degree of involvement with farming are also strong discriminators. However, as importance ratings of food choice attributes such as low price and intrinsic quality did not differ significantly according to interest levels in local food, the results imply that even highly interested consumers have pragmatic expectations about local food products that need to be met for marketing strategies to be successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social needs play an important role in the purchase of conspicuous goods. In this article, the authors extend traditional economic models to accommodate social needs, such as desire for uniqueness and conformism, and examine their implications for pricing conspicuous goods. First, in the context of a duopoly, the authors identify the conditions under which the desire for uniqueness can increase demand among some consumers as the price of a product increases. Second, the authors show that though the desire for conformity leads to lower prices and profits. Third, the authors find that consumers purchase high-quality products not because of their desire for uniqueness but despite it. Finally, marketers of conspicuous goods may find it beneficial not to emphasize the functional differences among their products when the need for uniqueness is high. In a laboratory test, the authors find support for the claim that demand for a product among consumers who desire uniqueness may increase as its price increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The significance of religious value systems has long been recognized in sociology and psychology but is not yet fully acknowledged in consumer research. Studies in the marketing literature suggest that religion is a key element of culture, influencing both behaviour and purchasing decisions. This paper examines the influence of religion on consumer choice and is based on the proposition that adherence to a particular religious faith significantly influences shopping behaviour. Using the purchase of a television as the basis, the research examines the contrasting shopping behaviour of Hindus, Muslims and Catholics. The results suggest that religious affiliation should be included in future cross-cultural research and that there is considerable potential for extending research into the influence of religious affiliation on consumer behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the issue of 'fit' between causes, companies, products and brands in the field of Cause Related Marketing (CRM). The linking of charitable causes and commercial ventures via their branded identities has become very widespread in the last ten years. The literature states that obtaining a good 'fit', in terms of the positioning and objectives of both product and charity, is very important to the success of CRM initiatives. However, there is no empirical support for this common assertion. This paper describes an experiment that was designed to test the assumption that 'fit' is important. The results of the experiment indicate that the degree of 'fit' between products and causes does have a significant effect on consumers' evaluations of products that carry a cause 'brand identity' as part of a CRM campaign. The results also indicate that cause cues in low involvement purchase situations create their impact by disrupting existing decision heuristics, rather than by the creation of new heuristics of assessment. This finding has implications for commercial managers when they are assessing the 'fit' and potential benefits of CRM associations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Theory on identity negotiations posits that a person's identity-construction project ceases upon death. We tested this proposition using death-ritual consumption experiences of consumers in Asante, Ghana, West Africa. We found that bereaved Asante consumers engage in conspicuous ritual consumption in pursuit of newer social identities for their deceased and themselves and that funerals involve a reciprocal and continuing relationship between the living and the dead. In addition, we found that terror-management theory is limited in its relevance for non-Western contexts. We also detected limits to the ability to transform global capital into local capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the concept of self for women in consumer culture, as it is played out in an experiential advertising campaign for a U.K. women's magazine called Red. The study qualitatively explores the tensions and ambivalences experienced by female participants in response to a campaign using the notion of self-indulgence and "me time" as they experience it in the context of their everyday lives. It shows how women attempt to reconcile the mixed emotions that the Red campaign evokes in them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-cultural research on advertising has called attention to the important role that core societal values have on advertising production and reception. This study focuses on a core American cultural value, rugged individualism. Drawing on recent scholarship that emphasizes the rhetorical, mythical, and metaphorical bases of advertising imagery, the inquiry identifies seven bipolar tensions underlying the expression of rugged individualism in contemporary print advertisements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an ethnographic investigation into choice for postsecondary education. Findings from the investigation highlight choice experience during which the consumer finds the object of choice to be a perfect fit or to fit like a glove. The article seeks to expand consumer research's repertoire of choice models to grasp more effectively such choices. Practice theory, which emphasizes the sociohistorical and embodied qualities of everyday experience, is used to develop the Fits-Like-a-Glove (FLAG) framework of choice. Overall, the data suggest that FLAG choice entails an embodied, holistic experience of perfect fit arising during a consumer's in situ encounter with an object of choice. FLAG choice is explained by highlighting the sociohistorical shaping of this encounter. By comparing and contrasting it with dominant models of choice in consumer research, the implications of the FLAG framework of choice are brought into relief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to encourage research on the social aspects of consumer behavior, particularly as found in groups of consumers and manifested through group action. Based on work by leading contemporary philosophers, a new concept of social facts is presented that is grounded in the way members of a group see themselves and the implications of this for group action. Group action, in turn, is shown to require different conceptual schemes than commonly used for Individual action or Interpersonal and macro social perspectives. Among other ideas, the notion of what it means for a group member to intend that the group act and how Individual intentions are contributory to group action are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By means of an ethnographic study of a Haitian family in the midwestem United States, this article demonstrates how ethnic consumers ‘culture swap.’ using goods to move between one cultural identity and another as they negotiate relations between home and host cultures. This interpretation of consumer behavior is grounded in a semiotics of performance, emphasizing the dynamic and mutable nature of self, social identity, and cultural identification in global consumer culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the author examines consumer socialization, parental age expectations, and overall patterns of parent-child interactions in a cross-national context. Socialization is defined by a patient, maturational approach to parenting in Japan and by a greater emphasis on autonomy in the United States. Japanese mothers have late consumer-related developmental timetables and maintain greater control over their children's consumption than do American mothers, who encourage and expect the earlier development of independent consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although researchers have conceptualized beauty as unidimensional, modern-day cultural definitions of beauty are multidimensional. This paper focuses on two forms of mass media that play an important role in transmitting information about multiple and diverse cultural ideals of beauty-fashion magazine advertising and music videos shown on music television. We examine the overall prevalence of different beauty ideals and how these are distributed across specific vehicles within each medium. We also compare the emphasis placed on different ideals of beauty across these two communications media (print vs. television) and formats (advertising vs. entertainment). The implications of the findings for understanding the cultural construction of beauty ideals and for understanding how advertising and other mass media communications contribute to them are discussed. Several extensions of the present research are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates (1) how immigrant consumers change their media consumption when they move across cultural boundaries and (2) whether media exposure relates to consumers' acculturation of the new social norms. A total of 938 respondents from four sample groups including Hong Kong residents, long-time and new Hong Kong immigrants to Canada and English-speaking Caucasian Canadians responded to a predesigned questionnaire. It was found that while the immigrant groups did not increase their total media consumption, their consumption across different media types followed both assimilation and ethnic affirmation models. This acculturation process seemed to be affected by immigrants' original media consumption behavior and language ability. Media exposure was found to relate significantly to immigrants' acculturation of the new social norms after influences due to personal characteristics were removed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The advertising literature contains some evidence that offensive advertising is multidimensional in nature, but little is known about the character of these dimensions. In an exploratory study of TV advertising, two different dimensions of "offensive" were identified. These dimensions were labeled Offensive Products and Offensive Execution. This distinction is important both for the study of the construct as well as for advertisers who are faced with decisions on advertising execution. The Offensive Products dimension contains those products related to consumer problems which social norms dictate should not be discussed in public. The Offensive Execution dimension, the dimension over which the advertiser has more control, consists of those ads which are perceived to be offensive by the nature of the execution or themes and/or topics of the ad and not the product itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]