Fornell,Claes. Consumer Input for Marketing Decisions,a Study of Corporate Departments for Consumer Affairs. New York: Praeger, 1976

This study examined whether children recognized advergames as a type of advertising and the efficacy of an advertising literacy program. Results indicated that without the advertising literacy education, about three-quarters of the children did not recognize advergames as a type of advertising. However, those with advertising literacy education showed a significantly enhanced understanding. Also, a series of mediation tests showed that recognition of advertising was an indirect-only mediator between the advertising literacy and skeptical attitudes toward advertising. Only those who viewed the advergame as a type of advertising demonstrated more skeptical attitudes toward it.     

Consumer Affairs Departments in the United States and the Netherlands: A Comparative Analysis

Over a decade ago Hansen and Schoenheit (1986), in their Journal of Consumer Policy article, concluded that Consumer Affairs Departments (CADs) offer potential for improving organisational performance in the market place and that their transferability to the European context would be warranted. In this article we trace and analyse the development of Consumer Affairs Departments in the United States and the Netherlands on the basis of fourteen case studies. On the basis of a comparative analysis we conjecture that the application of information technology, the application of communication technology, and personnel management style could be considered as major determinants of differences with regard to CADs in the aforementioned countries. We conclude the article with a number of building blocks that organisations may use in preparing their CADs for the decade to come.     

The Influence of Corporate Psychopaths on Corporate Social Responsibility and Organizational Commitment to Employees

This study investigated whether employee perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) were associated with the presence of Corporate Psychopaths in corporations. The article states that, as psychopaths are 1% of the population, it is logical to assume that every large corporation has psychopaths working within it. To differentiate these people from the common perception of psychopaths as being criminals, they have been called “Corporate Psychopaths” in this research. The article presents quantitative empirical research into the influence of Corporate Psychopaths on four perceptual measures of CSR and three further measures of organizational commitment to employees. The article explains who Corporate Psychopaths are and delineates the measures of CSR and organizational commitment to employees that were used. It then outlines the research conducted among 346 corporate employees in Australia in 2008. The reliability of the instrument used is commented on favorably in terms of its statistical reliability and its face and external validity. Results of the research are described showing the highly significant and negative influence of Corporate Psychopaths on all of the measures of CSR and of organizational commitment to employees used in the research. When Corporate Psychopaths are present in leadership positions within organizations, employees are less likely to agree with views that: the organization does business in a socially desirable manner; does business in an environmentally friendly manner and that the organization does business in a way that benefits the local community. Also, when Corporate Psychopaths are present in leadership positions within organizations, employees are significantly less likely to agree that the corporation does business in a way that shows commitment to employees, significantly less likely to feel that they receive due recognition for doing a good job, to feel that their work was appreciated and to feel that their efforts were properly rewarded. The article argues that academics and researchers in the area of CSR cannot ignore the influence of individual managers. This is particularly the case when those managers have dysfunctional personalities, or are actually psychopaths. The article further argues that the existence of Corporate Psychopaths should be of interest to those involved in corporate management and corporate governance because their presence influences the way corporations are run and how corporations affect society and the environment.     

Consumer Affairs Executives' Opinions on Educational Preparation for Business Careers in Consumer Affairs

Data collected from practicing executive level consumer affairs professionals (CAPs) was used to identify areas they felt were important in preparation for a career in consumer affairs. The business administration major was considered the most useful major, with middle and junior level CAPs most favorable to the business administration major. Important areas of study delineated through factor analysis included consumer oriented subjects, communication skills, marketing, management, ethics and poverty, home economics, and physical sciences. Variations in the relative importance of majors and courses were found by type of company, level of management, and by sex. The study concludes that an interdisciplinary academic program appears to be most desirable for preparing students for a career in consumer affairs.     

Consumer Affairs in Rural New Zealand

Recent changes in many areas of Government policy as well as changes in the private sector have had major impacts on the provision of services in rural areas of New Zealand. This report describes the results of a New Zealand survey of 795 rural consumers. The results emphasise how the problems perceived as most important to people in rural areas are essentially linked to fundamental services such as housing, water, communications, and transport. Though this element of basic needs is covered in the consumer policy literature it is not a feature that tends to be emphasised. The survey also gauges some aspects of rural consumers' knowledge of their entitlements under New Zealand consumer law and their familiarity with, and use of, consumer advisory and support services.     

Employment Opportunities for Consumer Affairs Professionals

This analysis of consumer affairs professionals in business and government describes what functions they perform, where they are employed, what education and experience is required and what their salaries are. Professional educators in the consumer field have generally ignored the career field of consumer affairs professional. Colleges and universities train consumer majors to be educators, researchers, or extension workers, but little attention is paid to the education of consumer affairs professionals for business and government. This article not only attempts to give educators in the consumer field a greater awareness of this relatively new career so that they can develop educational programs more intelligently but also attempts to make business and government more aware of what is being done in this area so they may be able to utilize the talents of consumer affairs professionals.     

Consumer Affairs Responses to Unsolicited Customer Compliments

Whatever their philosophical, methodological and epistemological differences, marketing academics have one thing in common. They are writers. They publish or perish. They produce books, articles, case studies and, on occasion, articles for top-notch journals like JMM. Writing, however, is rarely given much thought by the scholarly community. It is considered a chore, an obligation, a tiresome task between completing the research and seeing it published. This paper examines the often uneasy relationship between marketing and writing. Based upon a study of best academic practice, it shows that there's more to outstanding writing than many suppose. It's not simply a matter of short sentences, plain prose and setting out the facts succinctly. Writing marketing also involves an appreciation of the 3R's, all of which run counter to academic custom and scholarly practice.     

Determinants of Consumer Attributions of Corporate Social Responsibility

Prior research has found attributions to mediate the relationship between the elements of corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and consumer responses to firms; however, the question of what variables determine consumer attributions of CSR remains partially unaddressed. This article analyzes why consumers make attributions of CSR that are either positive (values-driven or strategic motives), or negative (stakeholder-driven or egoistic motives). The results obtained from two empirical studies (n = 197, n = 222) indicate that company–cause fit, corporate ability, and interpersonal trust have a positive influence on the motives that consumers attribute to CSR, whereas corporate hypocrisy has a negative effect. This research contributes to our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying impactful consumer judgments and provides guidance for organizations in responding to such evaluations.     

公司治理、企业社会责任与消费者权益保护问题研究

按照近年兴起的利益相关者治理理论,企业社会责任是公司治理结构的核心特征,公司治理结构的设置必须认同和适当保护消费者等利益相关者的合法权益,以履行社会责任为公司治理的基本目标.本文提出我国当前完善外部法律制度环境是企业履行对消费者的社会责任的前提和基础,完善消费者参与的公司治理的内部和外部机制是建立健全企业社会责任,强化消费者权益保护的重要保障.     

How Corporate Social Responsibility Influences Organizational Commitment

A growing number of studies have investigated the various dimensions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the literature. However, relatively few studies have considered its impacts on employees. The purpose of this study is to analyze how CSR affects the organizational commitment of employees based on the social identity theory (SIT). The proposed model was tested on a sample of 269 business professionals working in Turkey. The findings of the study revealed that CSR to social and non-social stakeholders, employees, and customers were the significant predictors of organizational commitment. However, there was no link between CSR to government and the commitment level of employees.     

Five decades of the Journal of Consumer Affairs: A bibliometric analysis

This study presents a retrospective of the Journal of Consumer Affairs (JCA) using bibliographic analysis between 1967 and 2019. The results indicate that both the number of JCA's publications and citations grew markedly over time. The dominant contributors to the journal are authors affiliated with U.S. institutions. Trends show increasing organizational diversity and collaboration among authors. The journal's central themes are consumer perception, consumer behavior, financial behavior, consumer spending patterns, financial literacy, consumer decision‐making processes, and marketing practices. Statistically significant relationships exist between the following article attributes and citations based on our negative binomial regression analysis. Age has a negative association with citations, but the direction of association turns positive when considering non‐linearity. A positive association exists between the number of authors, references, and U.S. affiliation. A negative relationship exists with article order, non‐academic author, top institution affiliation (FT100), funding, lead article, title length, and conceptual article.     

Consumer Perceptions of the Antecedents and Consequences of Corporate Social Responsibility

Perceptions of a firm’s stance on corporate social responsibility (CSR) are influenced by its corporate marketing efforts including branding, reputation building, and communications. The current research examines CSR from the consumer’s perspective, focusing on antecedents and consequences of perceived CSR. The findings strongly support the fact that particular cues, namely perceived financial performance and perceived quality of ethics statements, influence perceived CSR which in turn impacts perceptions of corporate reputation, consumer trust, and loyalty. Both consumer trust and loyalty were also found to reduce the perceived risk that consumers experience in buying and using products. From these significant findings, we draw several conclusions and implications, including the importance of enhancing firm focus toward its ethical commitment and long-term reputation.     

Consumer Reactions to Corporate Tax Strategies: Effects on Corporate Reputation and Purchasing Behavior

On the basis of an interdisciplinary approach linking taxation, marketing, and corporate social responsibility, the present research investigates the effects of media reports on aggressive and responsible corporate tax strategies (CTSs) on corporate success with consumers. By means of two laboratory experiments (N = 150, 360), we analyze the effects of the CTSs on corporate reputation, consumer purchase intention, and the consumer’s willingness to pay. Our results suggest that aggressive CTSs diminish corporate success with consumers, whereas responsible CTSs enhance it. Nevertheless, consumers are not willing to pay a price premium for products sold by responsible tax-planning companies, but rather punish aggressive tax-planning companies through a slightly lower willingness to pay. Finally, consumers’ tax morale and their attitude toward tax avoidance are important moderating variables. Given the growing level of media interest in taxation, our findings are crucial for assessing consumer-related non-tax costs and the benefits of different CTSs.     

Corporate Narratives of Information Society: Making Up the Mobile Consumer Subject

The purpose of the article is to study how corporate actors participate in the cultural construction of the Information Society. By means of a case study, the article explores how a multinational corporation is involved in forming consumer identities—making up the subjects of consumption—by shaping the interpretive repertoires and cultural practices that are available for consumers as members of the emerging information society. The article elaborates on the ways in which the corporation invokes a discourse of shareholder value in its visionary strategic narrative entitled Mobile Information Society, and how this discourse operates to mobilize consumer conduct in particular ways, by making up, framing and formatting the consumer as a mobile subject of the global economy. The article’s aim is to contribute to the empirical bases of policy debates about the roles and responsibilities of different market actors in the production of the information society.