I complain for your good? Re-examining consumer advocacy

Marketplace helping behavior such as opinion leadership, market maven, and purchase pals that benefit others has been extensively studied. A diverse but similar to other marketplace helping behaviors is the concept of consumer advocacy. Extant review of literature reveals that customer advocacy and consumer advocacy are conceptually different. The former is an organization level construct, and the latter is an individual consumer's ‘generalized tendency to share market information’. It is argued that a following dissatisfactory service encounter, consumer advocates would indulge in market placing helping behavior such as negative word of mouth to prevent other consumers' from having similar marketplace disappointments. Hence, prior studies link consumer advocacy to ‘altruistic tendencies’. On the basis of self-construal theory, this study investigates the motivations for consumer advocacy. Using a scenario-based experimentation implemented in survey method; we establish that consumer advocacy is motivated by an amalgamation of altruism and self-interest. We also operationalize third-party complaint construct and empirically test whether consumer advocacy is a predictor.     

The neglect of the older consumer

This review of the literature concerning the older consumer discusses the reasons for the neglect of this large, lucrative and growing market by practitioners and academics in the fields of consumer affairs, marketing and gerontology. The authors consider the effects of continuing to ignore these ‘forgotten consumers’, and the possible benefits of recognizing and supplying the important market they constitute.     

Using social and consumer values to predict market‐place behaviour: questions of congruency

Social values and consumption values, although intricately linked, are not exactly the same. Nonetheless, marketers contend that the central premise of social value monitoring is that, if one understands people’s values, one can better predict how they will behave in the market‐place. This paper challenges this assumption because policy analysts and industries are relying on both the consumer and social value profiles at a time when society and the market‐place are undergoing a profound transition. Using Canada as a case study, the general societal values of consumers identified by pollsters are discussed relative to nine consumer values espoused by marketers. This comparative analysis suggests that many of Canadians’ alleged consumer values seem to be in direct conflict with their espoused social values. This conclusion implies that the validity of using social values as a proxy variable or predictor for consumer values needs to be examined by researchers and policy analysts. Also, future dialogue needs to occur about adhering to the convention of monitoring social and consumer values using public opinion polls while not marrying this process with public judgement dialogues. Finally, other countries are urged to examine the situation in their market‐place so as to facilitate cross‐cultural comparative analysis of consumer market‐place values.     

A new look at faith-based marketing: The global halal market

Faith-based marketing, or addressing consumers’ religious sensibilities with faith-friendly offerings, represents a new wave of growth for companies. While kosher goods and Christian movies are well-known examples of this trend, companies continue to overlook opportunities for growing faith-based segments. Representing the fastest-growing faith-based consumer group in the world, Muslims, in particular, are a largely untapped segment. Forward-looking companies such as Nestlé, Walmart, and McDonald's consider this segment as the next ‘one-billion’ market, after China and India, and are developing strategies to appeal to the Muslim consumer. We focus on the key to tapping into the sizable Muslim spending power: halal marketing. Contrary to common belief, halal marketing is not confined to dietary goods. Rather, it pertains to a diverse range of offerings from cosmetics to tourism that represents a global market worth $2.1 trillion annually. Modern interpretations of halal echo the claims of organic and fair-trade industries, broadening the appeal of halal to mainstream consumers. Despite the vast opportunities in halal marketing, winning the pocketbooks of Muslim consumers involves cultural, operational, and geopolitical challenges. We provide an overview of this emerging market and offer five lessons for successful halal marketing.     

Business policy,ethics and society

This section will cover (a) definition of business policy: strategic decisions in the enterprise; (b) ethical behaviour above and beyond the requirements of the law: what might this involve e.g. in respect of products and markets in which the business is prepared to operate? (c) does business have a responsibility towards ‘society’? For example, should businesses decide without being legally required to do so, to undertake activities which they think are in the national interest even if this may appear to conflict with strictly commercial interests? (d) if ethical/social decisions are required, who is to make them — at what levels of an enterprise — e.g. does the board make them all or are they also expected below board level? This section will also cover: (e) practical examples in the light of changing attitudes towards business and market behaviour in the 1980's and 1990's; (f) implications of attitudes towards corporate crime and of behaviour which may not be illegal but which may be regarded as ‘unacceptable’: this will be discussed with examples from experience in Australia and other countries. The section will first explain the meaning of the phrase ‘business policy’ and will briefly outline the kinds of strategic decision which have to be made in business enterprises. It will go on to consider whether there are things a business ‘ought’ or ‘ought not’ to do even if they are within the law. The section will illustrate these problems with examples in the light of changing attitudes towards business policy and market behaviour in the 1980's and 1990's. It will take into account some recent cases of corporate crime in Australia and elsewhere and also of behaviour which while neither against the law or outside the power of the board, might be thought ‘inappropriate’.     

Consumer Brand Engagement in Social Media: Conceptualization,Scale Development and Validation

In the last three decades, an influential research stream has emerged which highlights the dynamics of focal consumer/brand relationships. Specifically, more recently the ‘consumer brand engagement’ (CBE) concept has been postulated to more comprehensively reflect the nature of consumers' particular interactive brand relationships, relative to traditional concepts, including ‘involvement.’ However, despite the growing scholarly interest regarding the undertaking of marketing research addressing ‘engagement,’ studies have been predominantly exploratory in nature, thus generating a lack of empirical research in this area to date. By developing and validating a CBE scale in specific social media settings, we address this identified literature gap. Specifically, we conceptualize CBE as a consumer's positively valenced brand-related cognitive, emotional and behavioral activity during or related to focal consumer/brand interactions. We derive three CBE dimensions, including cognitive processing, affection, and activation. Within three different social media contexts, we employ exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses to develop a reliable, 10-item CBE scale, which we proceed to validate within a nomological net of conceptual relationships and a rival model. The findings suggest that while consumer brand ‘involvement’ acts as a CBE antecedent, consumer ‘self-brand connection’ and ‘brand usage intent’ represent key CBE consequences, thus providing a platform for further research in this emerging area. We conclude with an overview of key managerial and scholarly implications arising from this research.     

Consumer Power: A Comparison of the Old Economy and the Internet Economy

From the very beginning of the Internet, a decisive shift from supplier power to consumer power was predicted by several authors and is still maintained in recent literature. Although the Internet has grown rapidly within the last years and electronic markets have evolved, a theoretical framework for consumer power on the Internet still cannot be identified. Few authors have taken efforts to apply common concepts of power theory to the characteristics of the Internet. Based on the concept of French and Raven, this paper analyses consumer power in traditional markets and then compares it to the situation on the Internet. This comparison shows that the Internet enables consumers (a) to overcome most information asymmetries that characterize traditional consumer markets and thus obtain high levels of market transparency, (b) to easily band together against companies and impose sanctions via exit and voice, and (c) to take on a more active role in the value chain and influence products and prices according to individual preferences. A broad literature review reveals that empirical findings confirm these hypotheses to a great extent. The authors conclude by summarizing the results and drawing implications from two different angles, namely from a marketing and a consumer policy perspective.     

Consumer education and the OECD electronic commerce consumer protection guidelines

This paper explores the implications of e‐commerce transactions and the lack of consumer protection regulation on consumer educators and curricula. The discussion is divided into five sections: conceptualizing e‐commerce; the juggernaut of e‐commerce; consumer education defined, especially consumer protection in the electronic market‐place; the Organization for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) 1998 Ottawa conference on electronic commerce; and the implications of this fluid market and policy context on consumer educators. Empowerment of the consumer, the ultimate objective of consumer education, is a total challenge in the global electronic market‐place, but a challenge that must be embraced by staying informed, becoming a consumer advocate, as well as educator, and remaining ever vigilant as curricula are developed for the domestic consumer transacting in an electronic global market.     

An investigation of consumer intention to use pick-up point services for last-mile distribution in a developing country

Pick-up point services are one response to last-mile distribution challenges in the e-commerce growth scenario. However, in large cities in developing countries where the low-income and high-income groups are clearly divided, differences in consumer behavior between income groups may affect service distribution. The literature shows that most consumers may use pick-up points when available. However, the service implementation is facing huge inertia. A survey was carried out with 396 consumers in São Paulo, and a conceptual framework was proposed to expand the Diffusion of Innovation Theory to reveal these behaviors. Data were accessed using advanced structural equation modeling techniques (Multigroup and IPMA) to conduct a case study. The findings suggest that ‘Trialability’, ‘Compatibility’, and ‘Relative advantage’ constructs most affect consumer behavior. Location security and accessibility are matters of great concern. The higher preference to use the pick-up point system comes from low-income consumers (social classes D and E); almost 96% of them reported being affected by delivery issues. They also prefer personal attendance and supermarkets as safe and accessible locations. Higher social classes (A and B) still prefer home delivery. This research will help retailers to understand how to operate in a given market to provide an effective, fair, and sustainable service, promoting its diffusion.     

Construction of consumer choice in the market: challenges for environmental policy

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

The place of debt in establishing identity and self‐worth in transitional life phases: young home leavers and credit

Consumption behaviour has long been linked to identity and notions of the self, with these concepts becoming ever more relevant in a global culture of consumption where materialistic behaviours and attitudes are seen as determinants of self‐image. Against this landscape of consumption, Generation Y is oft criticized as the ‘want it now’ generation, focused on hedonic acquisition of possessions and brands. This group was born into a society that reinforces the self through having and have been encouraged to consume since childhood. Debt is increasing in the youth market, with most teenagers now having access to credit cards and university graduates entering the workplace with high levels of consumer as well as educational debt. This study examines the consumption behaviour of two sets of young adult consumers: recent home leavers and those who have lived away from home for a longer period of time, examining their experience with debt in a framework of self‐identity. Core themes to emerge from this research are centred on the place of debt in establishing identity and self‐worth in transitional life phases.     

Consumer-Owned Community Flour and Bread Societies in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries

Between 1759 and 1820, 46 or more community flour and bread societies were established in England and Scotland. They were self-help retail organisations set up in response to rising bread and flour prices and to the perceived malpractices of intermediaries in the corn market. Unadulternated ‘pure’ flour and bread were sold to members at ‘prime cost’. The societies were a rudimentary form of ‘co-operative’ business organisation and were either owned directly by consumers or were operated indirectly through a friendly society. There were four main categories of flour and bread company, small flour clubs, shipwright societies (in naval dockyards), friendly society corn mills, and joint stock flour and bread companies. The large societies such as the Hull Anti Mill, the Sheffield Club Mill, and the Birmingham Flour and Bread Company were vertically integrated consumer organisations operating with transferable stock in breach of the 1720 Bubble Act. The means used to manage the societies were a combination of friendly society and company approaches. These institutions received actual or tacit support from the authorities and successfully fought the prosecution of the three largest societies.     

Young Europeans abroad in Scotland: an exploration of how their attitudes to consumer credit reflect dimensions of culture

Nineteen young Europeans from across the Continent took part in in‐depth interviews where a wide range of consumer‐related issues were explored. These issues ranged from specific consumer behaviours and consumer value gained to consumer protection and other aspects of policy. Respondents were postgraduates studying at Scottish universities or young professionals currently working in Scotland. The interviews were structured around a number of key themes that were developed both from the literature and from an in‐depth pilot study. One of these themes was designed to explore the respondents’ attitudes towards saving and borrowing, in particular, consumer credit; and this forms the focus for the current paper. The theme had been developed initially with reference to Hofstede’s cultural dimension of ‘uncertainty avoidance’. However, it also successfully illuminated some of the other cultural dimensions in Hofstede’s typology. As anticipated, respondents tended to benchmark consumer culture in their home country against that of the host country (Scotland). What was surprising was the consensus with which they considered the Scottish/British consumers to be the ‘odd ones out’. This observed convergence appears to indicate that historical cultural differences between continental and Anglo‐Saxon cultures survive and may be stronger and more sustained than any differences between the post‐World War II socialist and market democracies.     

The effect of income growth on the mix of purchases between disposable goods and reusable goods

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

消费认知、政府规制与中国食品安全--一个综述及其引申

尽管影响食品安全的因素众多,但食品安全问题本质上是经济问题,仍无法脱离基本的供需矛盾。本文从有效需要的角度出发,以消费认知和政府规制为两条主线对相关前沿的研究文献进行了梳理,并将其纳入到一个基本的供需分析框架中。通过文献研究发现,频发食品安全事件是粗放型经济增长的阶段性产物,而消费认知的偏误以及政府规制的合理程度对食品安全市场的有效供给具有很强的引导作用。食品安全治理中的政策制定与制度安排不能仅着眼于对供给的约束,如何提振有效需求则更有利于监管资源的优化和规制效果。对于中国食品安全问题的研究目前仍主要停留在一种概述性、工具性的研究阶段或某一领域的经验性研究,关于食品安全经济的内在价值和深度机理性研究还十分缺乏。     

Therapeutic servicescapes: Restorative and relational resources in service settings

This article introduces the concept of ‘therapeutic servicescapes’ to the retailing and services discipline. In the health literature, therapeutic landscapes emerge when physical and social conditions in a geographically bounded space combine to produce an atmosphere that is conducive to human well-being. Traditionally, therapeutic landscapes have been associated with natural and leisure settings, such as parks, green spaces, and beaches. This work breaks new ground in the marketing domain by linking therapeutic landscapes to commercial retail establishments. This study empirically demonstrates the extent to which physical and social conditions may combine in a customer-centric grocery store to positively enhance customers' well-being and promote feelings of attachment to the establishment. Furthermore, this study reveals that customers' future behavioral intention are driven by the store's impact on their well-being and their desire to maintain ‘place attachment.’ From a managerial perspective, this work recommends that retail and consumer service organizations facing online competition focus on creating architectural and human resource conditions that promote consumer well-being and place attachment.     

Consumer rights of the elderly as vulnerable consumers in South Africa: some comparative aspects of the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008

Although consumer protection is not a new concept in South African law, the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 (CPA) now provides for a much more comprehensive and encompassing mechanism to protect consumers. Consumers are protected, not only in the provision of goods and services, the conclusion of contracts but also in the promotion and marketing thereof. The CPA further provides special protection to a particular type of consumer which is the vulnerable consumer and includes elderly consumers. Importantly, and for the first time in the history of South African law, the consumer is provided with eight core fundamental consumer rights. As this contribution is an attempt to provide an interdisciplinary analysis from a legal perspective, identification of what is considered to be an ‘elderly' consumer, needs to be assessed by referring to relevant empirical studies from both an international as well as South African perspective. The focus of this study is on the protection of the elderly as a category of vulnerable consumers in terms of the CPA. The investigation will attempt to show that the elderly is protected in terms of all eight of the fundamental consumer rights within the CPA. Special reference will be made to two fundamental rights of the consumer in terms of the CPA. First, the elderly consumer's right to equality in the consumer market (Part A of the CPA) which provides additional protection as the CPA also refers to the Constitutional right to equality. Second, the elderly consumer's the right to fair and responsible marketing (Part E of the CPA) which in terms of the research is compared with the EU Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Certain problems regarding elderly consumers are identified and the importance of consumer rights as well as the implementation of the correct consumer policy is argued.     

Young consumers’ food preferences within selected sectors of the Hospitality Spectrum

In society, young consumers are influenced by an array of factors within their home, school and social environments. The adolescent period is one in which the individual becomes a more independent consumer, exerting increased degrees of independence and a subsequent freedom of preference. Such independence may be particularly apparent within the social environment, despite young consumers generally being categorized under the ‘family market’, within the Hospitality Spectrum. The aim of the study was to analyse young consumers’ food preferences within the home, school and social environments, with particular reference to the role of the Hospitality Spectrum. Young consumers for the study, are defined as being between 11 and 16 years, segmented into two age groups: 11–13 years and 14–16 years. The selected sectors of the Hospitality Spectrum which were studied, were the fast food service and school canteen sectors. In order to fulfil the research aim and objectives, a range of research instruments and analysis techniques were used. The results of the study to date would illustrate that tentative steps have been taken within the school and fast food sectors, to bridge the ‘gaps’ between business supply and consumer preferences. Gender differences were found in food selections within school canteens and fast food establishments, with females more likely to select ‘British’ styled fast foods at school and males more likely to select ethnic foods at fast‐food establishments. No significant differences were found between the two age segments. It is vital that the increasingly important role of the young consumer segment is recognized, in particular considering them as individuals rather than as a part of the ‘total’ family consumer package. However, in market segmentation young consumers are an important consumer group and it must not be overlooked that they will be the future adult consumers. The Hospitality Spectrum must therefore treat this group with respect for the consumer service industry to achieve its full potential. The results of this Northern Ireland study indicates that although the young consumer segment is viewed as important within the selected sectors of the Hospitality Spectrum, the extent of their full potential has yet to be recognized.     

Willingness to act and environmentally conscious consumer behaviour: can prosocial status perceptions help overcome the gap?

Green marketing has not shown expected results in recent years in terms of real changes in behaviours, products and market structures as had been anticipated. Consumer behaviour plays an important role in making these changes happen, and drivers of environmentally conscious consumer behaviour still need to be examined. Concepts of ‘concern’, ‘information about environmental impact’ and ‘willingness to act’ are seen as the key predictors of environmentally conscious consumer behaviours. Although green marketing has been able to address genuinely concerned consumers, additional insights are needed regarding how to appeal to more mainstream consumers. Thus, this paper proposes an extended model of environmentally conscious consumer behaviour in which the gap between willingness to act and actual environmentally friendly consumption is addressed by the moderating role of ‘prosocial status’ perceptions. In the model, ‘concern’ is positively related to ‘willingness’ and both ‘willingness’ and ‘information’ are positively related to ‘behaviour’, while ‘prosocial status’ perceptions moderate ‘behaviour’. The model was verified using a quota sample of 319 general population respondents from a Central European country. According to data, ‘prosocial status’ perceptions increase the positive association between ‘willingness’ and ‘behaviour’ and could be incorporated into green products and advertising to signal personality traits like kindness and intelligence. One possible implication for marketers is that women have a higher average representation in groups of people with high prosocial status perceptions.