Euro Stories: The Irish Experience of Currency Change

This paper presents an overview of an interview study carried out in the Republic of Ireland approximately 1 year after the introduction of the euro in January 2002 and also compares the Irish experience to that of the other initial Eurozone countries. The new currency seems to have been rather more positively received in Ireland than elsewhere. Irish adults had a generally more positive attitude towards the new currency and seemed to have adapted to it rather well. Nevertheless, they shared some common experiences and problems with citizens of other countries, such as the perception that the introduction of the euro raised inflation more than it actually did, confusion of notes and coins and the use of coping strategies involving price conversion to the former currency. The implications of the Irish experience for policy are discussed.     

Effects of the Euro Changeover on Consumer Behaviour: Introduction to the Special Issue

This paper introduces the special issue “Effects of the euro changeover on consumer behaviour” by briefly reviewing the contents of the included papers. The introduction follows the organization of the papers in three sections each focusing on a common set of issues. In the first section, research revealing the perceived and actual problems consumers face after the euro changeover is described. Research illuminating learning and adaptation to the euro changeover is the focus of the second section. A special problem is the misperception of inflation after the euro changeover. Research on this problem is addressed in the third section. In a final section, the main findings and their policy implications are summarized.     

The Euro Changeover and Numerical Intuition for Prices in the Old and New Currencies

This study examines how numerical intuition for prices in euros and in the Portuguese currency escudos developed in Portugal after the euro changeover. Estimates of prices of 40 different products were collected in the two currencies and at four different times from November 2001 to April 2004. The results regarding price estimates in euros were more in accordance with a relearning hypothesis considering that price estimates become progressively more accurate by a process that is related to purchase frequency. It was also suggested that this is a very slow process and that prices in the former currency are not simply forgotten. On the contrary, the escudos remained a general benchmark for an extended period. The results regarding estimated price intuition and use of intuition in estimating prices are also consistent with a slow adaptation process. Implications for future euro changeovers are discussed.     

Integrating Consumer Rights into Copyright Law: From a European Perspective

Until recently consumers and consumer-interests have been virtually absent not only from the rules of copyright but also from copyright’s discourse. This has been so even though the combination of an expansion of copyright and a devaluation of the internal balancing mechanisms raise concern from a consumer perspective. There would, therefore, seem to be a need to incorporate a consumer perspective into copyright analysis. To integrate consumer interests in copyright law, this study recommends action aimed at two levels. On the general level it is suggested to rebalance copyright in order to recognize the interests of users on the same level as right holders. On the concrete level it is suggested to change the limitations found in copyright to ease access to reuse elements of previous works. It is also proposed to reinforce the rule on private copying and to consider measures to secure access to basic information.

Consumer Law and the Environment: From Consumer to Citizen

This paper addresses the question of the relationship between consumer law and the protection of the environment. In contradiction to those who see the goals of consumer protection and environmental protection as being close to each other, this paper presents the relationship as one of conflict rather than one of harmony. Consumer law as an expression of the consumer society promotes goals which sometimes run counter to the environmental interest. This clearly comes to the fore when analysing the main consumer rights and their relationship to environmental issues. However, despite this basic incompatibility, the book of consumer law also contains some small stories of environmentally constructive behaviour. The telling of these good stories would require us to transcend the boundaries of traditional consumer law and to replace "the consumer" by "the citizen" who is interested not only in his own consumption but in all aspects of social life. In support of this development certain consumer law measures can be used to raise the awareness of consumers regarding environmental issues.     

Understanding the vulnerability of blind consumers: adaptation in the marketplace,personal traits and coping strategies

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to examine the vulnerability perceived by blind consumers in the marketplace. By analysing the narratives of 16 people that have acquired blindness, we develop an understanding of the internal and external factors that affect their degree of vulnerability and identify their coping strategies. Data analysis consisted of content interpretation and a search for the meaning of the particular experiences, events and states reported by the respondents. Results show how emotional well-being, consumption-facilitating social support, acceptance, autonomy and perceptions about marketplace difficulties all relate to coping mechanisms.     

Consumer cosmopolitanism: Review and replication of the CYMYC scale

Extant marketing literature mainly focuses on explaining why consumers might prefer domestic products and refrain from buying foreign products but, however, is weak in explaining why consumers might intentionally opt for foreign products. Against this background, consumer cosmopolitanism has gained increasing attention as a potentially relevant consumer characteristic for explaining foreign product preference and choice. However, empirical evidence on the impact of consumer cosmopolitanism on consumption behavior remains scarce. This paper identifies the absence of an appropriate measurement instrument as a main reason for this lack of empirical studies by providing (a) a review of cosmopolitanism scales used in other research fields, and (b) a replication with extensions study of the CYMYC scale, the only consumer cosmopolitanism scale currently available. The findings highlight a need for a new scale to measure the consumer cosmopolitanism construct. To stimulate further research in this direction, the paper proposes a conceptual definition of consumer cosmopolitanism along with a nomological network to guide the scale development process.     

Consumer normalcy: Understanding the value of shopping through narratives of consumers with visual impairments

This paper extends our understanding of the symbolic and experiential value of shopping. By exploring the narratives of consumers with visual impairments, consumer normalcy is shown to be an important value of shopping implicit in discussions of shopping experiences. The informants often achieve consumer normalcy, which they reveal consists of four dimensions: participating or being-in-the-marketplace (I am here), achieving distinction through the marketplace (I am me), demonstrating competence and control (I am in control), and being perceived as an equal in the marketplace (I belong). The consumer normalcy construct reveals to readers how shopping experiences contribute to identity and the tension between acceptance by others and individual agency. Reality differs between informants, but their collective realities inform how consumers realize their self and consumption aspirations by shopping.     

Consumer response to economic crisis and lessons for marketers: The Turkish experience

Private consumption is the largest component of gross domestic product (GDP). It has a substantial impact on the speed of recovery from an economic crisis. This paper aims to examine the behavior of consumers, firms, and government in Turkey in response to the recent global economic crisis. Turkey was one of the few countries that emerged from the economic downturn relatively quickly. The demographics of consumers, the solidity of financial sector, and the government policies led to a speedy recovery from the crisis through an increase in consumption expenditures. During the initial shock, consumers switched to cheaper goods and decreased consumption expenditures in total. The government emphasized that the impact of crisis would be limited. The opening of credit lines, the temporary reduction in value-added tax and special consumption tax on certain commodities, aggressive marketing campaigns, and a rosy future drawn by chambers of commerce and NGOs in specific promotional activities were influential in increasing consumption. This paper discusses the consumer response to and the marketing lessons derived from this experience.     

基于完善我国消费者权益保障制度的思考——兼评《消费者权益保护法》

为更好的保护消费者合法权益,规范市场主体生产经营行为,构建和谐的消费关系,我国消费者权益保障制度应当与时俱进,大胆吸纳公益诉讼制度;进一步优化完善商品召回制度;承认"职业打假人"的法律地位;强化消费者协会的职能;才有助于在全社会营造出商业诚信文化氛围,最终成为扩大内需,拉动经济持续增长的内在动力。     

Purchasing Power: Consumer Empowerment and Adaptation to the Free Market in Russia

Summary This article explores adaptations in Russian consumer behavior to market capitalism, impediments to that process, and the effects citizens survival strategies may have on Russias continued political and social evolution. Capitalism not only brought Russians a market economy of unenforced legislation, insufficient regulatory institutions, and widespread corruption, but also new ideas including individual rights, self-reliance, and increased expectations for market transactions, which contribute to public mobilization and legal reform designed to protect and empower consumers. Despite the ambivalence many citizens feel toward the market and the difficulties associated with the struggling economy and widespread mafia influence, emerging consumer advocacy groups have begun holding businesses and the government accountable. Evidence suggests that consumer concerns are serving as a vehicle for public mobilization in areas that are broadly significant to Russias lingering problems. Finally, though the focus of this paper is on Russian consumers, it is believed that many of the conclusions generated could be extended to other countries with emerging markets.     

Forging relationships to coproduce: A Consumer Commitment Model in an extended service encounter

Consumer commitment is essential to ensure the service success in extended and complex services, wherein the service drop-out rates are often appalling. To build a more robust consumer commitment theory and provide solutions for the critical issue of high service drop-out rates in complex and extended services, this study develops a model of consumer commitment and tests it using survey data from consumer clients in a national debt management program in the U.S. The results reveal that calculative commitment only leads to consumers’ intention to remain, whereas affective commitment leads to a broader range of coproduction behaviors (i.e., individual initiative and civic virtue). Moreover, besides consumers’ relationship investment, perceived organizational support enhances both types of consumer commitment. It also increases consumer compliance. This study contributes to the consumer commitment theory by examining additional drivers and behavioral outcomes of commitment and by revealing the differential effects of different types of commitment on behavioral outcomes.     

Triple acculturation: The role of African Americans in the consumer acculturation of Kenyan immigrants

The role of a subcultural group in the consumer acculturation of Kenyan immigrants is examined. Our findings demonstrate that particular immigrant consumer behaviors are influenced by triple acculturation forces: dominant; subcultural and original culture. We find that immigrants do not arrive in the United States aware of their need to acculturate to a subcultural group. Critical incidents alert the immigrants of the need to acculturate to the African American subculture in order to fulfill some basic consumer goals such as accessing hair care, nightclub entertainment and church services. Progressively, immigrants begin to incorporate triple acculturation forces in their consumer decision making. The immigrants learn to be innovative as well as to engage in satisficing as they navigate the new consumption environment. This research contributes to acculturation studies by extending the models of Berry (Berry JW. Acculturation as varieties of adaptation. In: Padilla AM, editor. Acculturation: theory, model and some new findings, Boulder, CO: Westview Press; 1980. pp. 9-25) as well as Penaloza (Penaloza L. Altravesando Fronteras/Border Crossings: a critical ethnographic exploration of the consumer acculturation of Mexican immigrants. J Consum Res 1994;2:32-54[June]) by incorporating the role of a subcultural group in this process.     

Consumer acceptance of food irradiation: a test of the recreancy theorem

Consumers living in both developed and developing nations rely upon foods that have been produced and processed in many countries and in a wide variety of ways. Therefore, it is not surprising that they express concerns about the safety of their food supplies. A technology proposed to improve consumer trust in food safety is irradiation. Despite extensive education efforts and endorsements given by many health‐related organizations worldwide, food irradiation has been slow to gain widespread acceptance. This ineffectiveness of diffusion efforts might indicate a need to broaden our theoretical perspectives of consumer acceptance of controversial technologies. Most theoretical approaches explain acceptance primarily as a function of perceived risks associated with a technology. The recreancy theorem, in contrast, explains acceptance as a function of public trust in societal institutions to effectively manage a technology. This study investigated the extent to which the recreancy theorem explained acceptance of food irradiation by US consumers, while statistically controlling for perceived risk and social‐demographic variables. The study used a longitudinal field design to survey one adult each in 116 households located in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area during the first large‐scale market test of irradiated food. The results indicate that the recreancy theorem might provide a valid conceptual approach to gaining a broader understanding of consumer acceptance of controversial new technologies.     

色谱质谱技术在消费品安全检测中的应用进展

随着REACH、RoHS等各类法规的持续出台及人们对消费品安全问题的不断重视,日用消费品中有毒有害物质检测成为近年来分析化学的研究热点。本文以邻苯二甲酸类增塑剂、有机锡类化合物为例,回顾了色谱质谱技术在消费品（如纺织品、电子电气产品、涂料、木制品等）安全检测中的应用情况,并对未来的研究方向做了初步展望。     

Consumer response to uncertain promotions: An empirical analysis of conditional rebates

We formulate, estimate, and analyze a model of consumer response to promotions where consumers' receipt of the promotional reward is uncertain. The model incorporates consumers' risk aversion and their subjective assessment of the probability that they will get the reward. It is used to assess the effectiveness of a “conditional rebate”, where the uncertainty arises because the reward is contingent on an external event, versus a traditional rebate, which is similar in all respects except that it is certain. We estimate the model using a conjoint choice experiment. Response to conditional rebates is highly segmented and related to perceived thinking costs and savings and entertainment benefits of conditional rebates as well as to event involvement and gambling proneness. In our application, conditional rebates are more cost effective than certain rebates, mostly because consumers' subjective probability of the event occurring is higher than what market wisdom suggests.     

Consumer boycotts: The impact of the Iraq war on French wine sales in the U.S.

The French opposition to the war in Iraq in early 2003 prompted calls for a boycott of French wine in the US. We measure the magnitude of consumers’ participation in the boycott, and look at basic evidence of who participates. Conservative estimates indicate that the boycott resulted in 26% lower weekly sales at its peak, and 13% lower sales over the 6 months period that we estimate the boycott lasted. Although theory suggests consumers would not participate in boycotts due to a free-rider problem, these findings indicate that businesses should be concerned that consumers may boycott their products. We also find that neither political preferences nor media attention are important determinants of boycott participation.

Shopper Response to Front-of-Package Nutrition Labeling Programs: Potential Consumer and Retail Store Benefits

A myriad of front-of-package (FOP) nutrition labeling systems have been developed by both food retailers (e.g., Walmart, Safeway, Hannaford) and manufacturers (e.g., Kellogg's, General Mills) to help consumers identify more healthful options at the point-of-purchase. Given the uniqueness of these different approaches, two studies examine the effects of alternative FOP systems on shoppers’ product evaluations, choices, and retailer evaluations. When a single food item is evaluated in isolation, both the reductive and evaluative systems had a positive effect on product evaluations. However, when several choice options are presented simultaneously in a realistic retail environment, the evaluative (reductive) system has a stronger (weaker) influence on product evaluation and choice. Results also show that FOP nutrition labeling systems have both direct and moderating effects on attitude toward the retailer and perceived retailer concern for shoppers. These retailer-related outcomes, in turn, mediate the effects of the labeling system on shoppers’ intentions to patronize the retailer. Results suggest that FOP nutrition labeling may help retailers build a non-price competitive advantage.     

If you can’t beat them, let them join: The development of strategies to foster consumers’ co-creative practices

Faced with the challenges of consumer resistance due to the separation of roles between producer and consumer, as well as overpowering marketing tools and techniques, a company can resolve the problem by letting consumers join in the process of value co-creation. Advocating the consumer-oriented perspective, this article explains how and why consumers co-create, which leads to the development of a typology of consumers’ co-creative practices. Four interrelated categories (participation-for-self, creation-for-self, participation-for-others, creation-for-others) are illustrated with the proposed four Cs strategies—choice, complement, cause, and communality—to foster these different practices accordingly. From well-established to newly-developed, these consumer-oriented strategies work to enhance deeper consumer involvement yielding a possibility to attain continual and interconnected benefits for a company. However, implementation is based on a company's readiness and willingness to achieve different degrees of commitment. This article promotes collaborative efforts between consumers and companies, and highlights mutuality of benefits which leads to sustainable relationships.     

Consumer creativity: Effects of gender and variation in the richness of vision and touch inputs

This study investigates the influence of vision and touch inputs and gender on the creativity of consumer-derived product concepts. Manipulating vision and touch richness affects how much information is apprehended from product components. Tests include solid three-dimensional components (rich inputs) and line-diagram two-dimensional components (impoverished inputs). In a controlled laboratory setting, consumers imagined products, and the product concepts' creativity was assessed on functionality and novelty. Results show that higher vision levels and touch inputs enhance the product concept's functionality, while lower levels of vision and touch inputs enhance novelty. Gender modestly affects both functionality and novelty, with women generally more creative in designing products than men.