Representing the political consumer: liquid agencies in the production of consumer voice

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the consumer role in marketplace transformation by examining how political consumers become produced in food retailing. It attends to situated representational practices in a Swedish consumer cooperative that seeks to strengthen consumer voice in markets. Combining notions of political and symbolic representations, the paper demonstrates the production of spokespersons for the cooperatives’ owners who, in turn, work to engage other consumers to voice and enact concerns in the cooperative. Four stages of representational practices are identified: (s)electing, equipping, engaging, and enacting. These practices are conceptualised as part of processes of agencing and concerning: (s)electing and equipping work to arrange consumer agencies, while engaging and enacting refer to ways of concerning others that put agencies into motion. Agencies are proposed as liquid in character and the capacity of consumers to shape markets comes into effect depending upon how agencies continuously become connected to each other.     

Scoring More After Service Failures: Why Do Customers Overclaim?

ABSTRACT

More and more customers attempt to claim what they can, rather than what they are offered by the service firm after service failures. The present article empirically investigates the role of situational characteristics in triggering the intention to overclaim through a mediating process of customer's cognitive and emotional responses to the service failure. The model goes beyond predicting the likelihood of overclaiming behavior and offers some insights related to the magnitude or the extent of such claims. The results indicate that cognitive and affective drivers of overclaiming behavior have different impacts on the magnitude or the extent of such claims.     

消费需求与国内旅游消费需求的周期性波动同步吗——基于MS-VAR模型时变特征的分析

系统把握消费需求与国内旅游消费需求的周期运行规律与联动机制,是提升我国消费需求与旅游消费需求的协同增长水平、促进需求结构转型升级的关键。文章基于宏观动态演进视角,构建马尔科夫区制转移向量自回归模型（MS-VAR）,通过变量协整分析、模型拟合、周期阶段划分以及格兰杰因果关系检验等动态计量分析过程探究二者周期联动规律。结果证实,消费需求与国内旅游消费需求的周期波动具有同步性,且这一关系形式实则是消费需求周期波动引发旅游消费需求同步变动的结果。文章认为,二者周期同步变动本质上是经济转型过程中,消费结构根据实际购买力水平和消费倾向,不断变更总体消费规模和服务型消费比重,以实现整体消费与局部支出协同增长的自组织与他组织过程。增强二者协同增长水平和推动消费结构优化转型,则需要产业政策与消费政策的共同调节和适时引导。     

Asymmetric effects of exchange rate movements on traditional and modern services exports: Evidence from a large emerging economy

The service sector in India has emerged as the ‘new engine of growth’ with an increasing share in output and exports. In this paper we analyse the effect of real exchange rate movements on service exports of India, incorporating goods exports, financial development, FDI inflows, world demand and the role of globalization as drivers. We find that while traditional service exports are negatively and significantly affected by the real exchange rate movements, the modern service exports are negatively but not significantly affected. By applying the asymmetric cointegration approach, the results also confirm the non-existence of any asymmetric relationship between the real exchange rate and service exports in India. Further, the results also show that the supply augmenting and demand-side factors are more dominant than the exchange rate to affect service exports from India.     

Measuring responsible financial consumption behaviour

Sound consumption decisions determine individuals’ well‐being; responsible financial consumption behaviour (RFCB) affects not only their finances but also their societal status and emotional state. The failure to manage personal finances responsibly may result in serious long‐term consequences for individuals and society overall. In order to evaluate the concept of RFCB, this study combines two established theoretical frameworks—the family management system and the theory of planned behaviour. The paper investigates the relationships among RFCB, responsible financial attitudes, financial literacy and behavioural control. Its theoretical model is tested on a random sample of 494 respondents and analysed using PLS‐SEM. The results confirm the formation of responsible consumption behaviour by six formative elements: self‐control in spending, planning for the future, seeking information, education, rational decision‐making and solvency. The findings also indicate that all three focal variables have a direct effect on RFCB.     

New insights into socially responsible consumers: The role of personal values

Given increasing interest in both socially responsible consumption behavior (SRCB) and socially responsible corporate practices in marketing, this study addressed the effects of several personal traits on SRCB (i.e., personal values, collectivism, age, and gender). Findings from an online survey revealed that consumers who valued self‐transcendence (e.g., benevolence and universalism) were more likely to engage in socially responsible consumption (e.g., recycling, avoiding, or reducing usage of products that do long‐term damage to the environment) than those who valued social status and prestige, social power, authority, and wealth. Furthermore, the findings show that older adults and women tended to engage in more SRCB than younger adults and men. Findings also indicate that age and gender were antecedents to the values of self‐transcendence and self‐enhancement.     

The effects of consumer empowerment on risk perception and satisfaction with food consumption

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

Consumer anticipation: antecedents,processes and outcomes

ABSTRACT

Marketing managers use anticipation as a marketing tool, particularly for new or improved products, services or experiences. Academic interest in consumer anticipation has focused on its outcomes, especially effects on the forthcoming substantive consumption. However, inadequate attention has been given to consumer anticipation as a complex process per se. A systematic review of the literature arrives at a conceptual definition which sees consumer anticipation as a mental process by which consumers consider the physical, experiential, social, emotional or behavioural consumption outcomes that are expected to accrue to the self from a yet to be realised consumption decision or experience. Antecedents of consumer anticipation, its underlying mental processes and consequences are identified and discussed. Frameworks for operationalising consumer anticipation in practical contexts are discussed.     

The Influences of Portion Size,Context and Package Characteristics on Snack Food Consumption: Evidence from a U.S. Rolling Cross-Sectional Survey

Using a rolling cross-sectional sample of over 40,000 U.S. snack food consumers during 2004–2010, we build a three-dimensional model to study how portion sizes, consumption context, and package characteristics jointly affect the amount of food consumed. As with prior research, we find that consumption does increase with larger portions. However, this effect diminishes significantly when accounting for the consumption context and packaging characteristics as consumption drivers. Most important is how the snack is presented to consumers at the point of consumption (type, size, and quantity of packages). We also find that snacking on impulse, alone, with a beverage, or while watching television increases the amount consumed, whereas socializing or snacking at home decrease consumption. We test our model over seven snack types (potato chips, crackers, cheese puffs, nuts and seeds, tortilla chips, pretzels, popcorn), and find that our results hold even for products with different cross-category granularity, palatability, and satiety.     

Is an Increase in Organic Consumption Accompanied by A Healthier Diet? A Comparison of Changes in Eating Habits among Danish Consumers

Several studies have shown that consumers with a high organic consumption often have dietary habits that include more fruit and vegetables but less red meat. This paper takes a novel approach by investigating whether changes in consumption of organics and improvements in dietary habits also are related. The results show that many consumers seem to improve their diet while increasing the organic consumption. Further, the study suggests that some households already have a relatively healthy diet in terms of fruit, vegetables, and meat consumption, when they start buying organic food. When organic consumption reaches a certain level, further increases in organic consumption are more likely to take place at the same time as dietary habits are improved. References to health and climate considerations seem to be the most important motivations for reducing meat consumption, while higher availability of organics is the most important reason for increasing organic consumption.