LITERACY AND THE CONSUMER

There is an increasing need for a minimum level of functional competence on the part of consumers and citizens. People must for the sake of their own, their families' and their communities' well-being be able to read and understand information, 60% of which is communicated in print. They must also be able to decode and follow instructions and labelling, and above all react appropriately to warnings. In all parts of the world there is a growing recognition that reading can provide the key to consumer competence, and that the desire for such competence is often a major motivation in seeking out literacy. Unfortunately, much of the information imparted by governments, industries and the professions cannot be absorbed by the majority of people because it is not expressed in ways and terms which they can generally understand. This paper examines some of the failures in consumer communications, which particularly affect those of low reading ability, and points the way to improvement.     

HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION AND MARKET EMPLOYMENT: DUAL AVENUES OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

A theoretical model of the economics of production and consumption within the household is developed into an empirical path model. With data from a representative Iowa sample the impact of household production on expenditure patterns is examined with estimates of the implied income equivalence or marginal value of nonmarket production.     

Development of a home food production frequency scale

This paper reports on the development of a home food production frequency scale. The scale is survey based and consists of the summed score of six items answered on a five-point Likert scale. Similar to other assessment scales that measure family characteristics such as family cohesion, adaptability or family stress, home food production frequency can be used as a convenient alternative to time-use measures of home production. The scale's validity and reliability is assessed revealing considerable potential for its use to ascertain relationships between home food production activity and other family variables and to specify more fully empirical models in home economics research.     

Culture's Influence on Business Negotiations in Four Countries

The usefulness of a theoretical model of the determinants of business negotiation outcomes is tested in a simulation with business people from four countries (the United States, Japan, Brazil and Spain). The article is an extension of Graham, Mintu, and Rodgers (1994), and also directly tests Hofstede's and Hall's theories of culture. A problem-solving approach results in higher negotiation outcomes for Americans when their partners reciprocate. Role (buyer or seller) is the key determinant of profits for Japanese negotiations; that is, buyers do better than sellers. For the Spanish negotiators, a problem-solving approach actually yielded lower profits. For the Brazilians, interpersonal attractiveness lead to higher partner satisfaction.