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Consumer Research (consumer + research)
Selected AbstractsThe posthuman: the end and the beginning of the humanJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 2 2010Norah Campbell Posthumanism is used as a collective term to understand "any discursive or bodily configuration that displaces the human, humanism, and the humanities" (Halberstam and Livingston 1995:vii, emphasis added). There are compelling reasons for introducing posthumanism to consumer research. Consumer research often theorises technology as an externalised instrument that the human creates, uses, and controls. In the 21st century we are beginning to realise that, far from being a mere tool, technology is the centre of critical thought about culture and about nature. It has recently been suggested that marketing and consumer research now need to think about technology in a manner which reflects its ubiquity, its deeper symbolic and aesthetic dimensions, and the ways in which it can radically change humanness and human-centred approaches to researching the world. Posthumanism is fundamental to theorising humanness in an era that is witnessing the complexification of new technologies. To follow a posthuman mode of thinking will lead to important ethical and metaphysical insights. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Packaging design, consumer research, and business strategy: The march toward accountabilityDESIGN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, Issue 4 2002Scott Young It may not be science, but there are research techniques to measure the effectiveness and leverage the results of package designs. Scott Young articulates the possibilities, the limits, and the best uses of this type of design research. Perhaps more valuable, he recommends specific steps managers can take to build collaborative and productive relationships among designers, experts in research, and decision makers in marketing and sales. [source] Epicureanism and the poetics of consumptionINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 4 2010Dawn Wood Abstract Consumption, ,to use up, to destroy', is a dirty word. It conjures piles of rubbish; it suggests an extravagant attitude. We, each one of us hoping to be a unique, careful individual, can feel offended at being referred to as ,the consumer'. Yet, ,to consume' is not only a human activity, it is one of the fundamental processes of nature, a natural aspect of the creative process. In this paper, I will emphasize connections between the creative research process, poetics and consumerism. I suggest that research can be envisioned as a cycle of consumption and renewal. Our tools in such a natural philosophy are the contemplation of natural events, and the insights that a poetic understanding of language can give us. To this end, I draw on the ancient Epicurean philosophy, as demonstrated in De rerum natura, written by the Roman poet, Lucretius, in the first century BCE. Lucretius gave a scientific explanation of the universe, in poetry, to demonstrate that natural laws can be derived by reason, contemplation and by the use of the senses. Further, Lucretius' use of language, as a creative medium, modelled the actions of the universe. This insight provides a link between poetry, science and research, one which is still relevant to twenty-first-century scientific research generally. In this paper, I will suggest that it is also specifically relevant to the design and practice of consumer research. For instance, both research and creativity are aspects of that urge to move beyond subjectivity, towards knowledge that is whole and shared. In Epicureanism, subjective engagement provides access to that which is universal. We can conceive of consumerism, and of consumer research, in the same terms, as a striving for completion, and as a poetic, natural and reciprocal act, involving the transformation of the consumer, and that which is consumed. [source] Doing sensory ethnography in consumer researchINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 4 2010Anu Valtonen Abstract This paper is a contribution to sensory-aware cultural consumer research. It suggests that while the audio-visual domain is unquestionably a crucial ingredient of contemporary consumer culture, there is a pressing need to explore the role of the other senses as well. The study works towards a practice-based culturalist approach to sensory ethnography, a perspective that allows consumer scholars to empirically account for the cultural aspects of the senses. Through an empirical case study on sport fishing, the paper scrutinizes the challenges and opportunities related to conducting sensory ethnography. In addition, it discusses the benefits of this approach in consumer research. [source] Preference for green packaging in consumer product choices , Do consumers care?INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSUMER STUDIES, Issue 5 2008Joonas Rokka Abstract In this paper, consumer environmental choice is studied by analysing the relative importance of green packaging when compared with other relevant product attributes. The empirical study is based on a choice-based conjoint analysis of preferences for functional drink products of a sample of 330 consumers using these products. Our choice-based approach on environmental behaviour brings new insights to previous research, which predominantly relies on attitude models. Results indicate that consumers differ in their preferences for packaging, brand, price and convenience of use of daily products. In addition, various distinctive consumer segments can be identified on the market. Contrary to several previous studies, we found that the largest consumer segment, one-third of consumers, favoured environmentally labelled packaging as the most important criteria in their choice. The findings emphasize the increasing importance of ethical and environmental dimension in product choices. We also propose that the attention in environmental consumer research should be shifted from general attitude studies towards the study of actual product choices. [source] The posthuman: the end and the beginning of the humanJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 2 2010Norah Campbell Posthumanism is used as a collective term to understand "any discursive or bodily configuration that displaces the human, humanism, and the humanities" (Halberstam and Livingston 1995:vii, emphasis added). There are compelling reasons for introducing posthumanism to consumer research. Consumer research often theorises technology as an externalised instrument that the human creates, uses, and controls. In the 21st century we are beginning to realise that, far from being a mere tool, technology is the centre of critical thought about culture and about nature. It has recently been suggested that marketing and consumer research now need to think about technology in a manner which reflects its ubiquity, its deeper symbolic and aesthetic dimensions, and the ways in which it can radically change humanness and human-centred approaches to researching the world. Posthumanism is fundamental to theorising humanness in an era that is witnessing the complexification of new technologies. To follow a posthuman mode of thinking will lead to important ethical and metaphysical insights. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The application of Memory-Work in consumer researchJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 1 2009Thyra Uth Thomsen Memory-Work is by origin a feminist, social constructionist method devoted to the investigation of socially constructed and culturally embedded phenomena. In this paper, Memory-Work is presented to consumer research in order to (1) widen the methodological scope of interpretive consumer research and thus advance new insights, (2) present a method well known to other scientific fields that may supplement micro-social studies of consumer's practices with more macro-cultural insights, and finally (3) to illustrate the application of the general method to the study of consumer behaviour. Apart from a few notable exceptions, Memory-Work has not yet been applied to consumer research and its benefits for this kind of research have not been discussed. This paper seeks to fill this gap, by illustrating how consumer research may apply and benefit from Memory-Work. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A current overview of consumer neuroscienceJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 4-5 2008Mirja Hubert The emerging discipline of neuroeconomics employs methods originally used in brain research for investigating economic problems, and furthers the advance of integrating neuroscientific findings into the economic sciences. Neuromarketing or consumer neuroscience is a sub-area of neuroeconomics that addresses marketing relevant problems with methods and insights from brain research. With the help of advanced techniques of neurology, which are applied in the field of consumer neuroscience, a more direct view into the "black box" of the organism should be feasible. Consumer neuroscience, still in its infancy, should not be seen as a challenge to traditional consumer research, but constitutes a complementing advancement for further investigation of specific decision-making behavior. The key contribution of this paper is to suggest a distinct definition of consumer neuroscience as the scientific proceeding, and neuromarketing as the application of these findings within the scope of managerial practice. Furthermore, we aim to develop a foundational understanding of the field, moving away from the derisory assumption that consumer neuroscience is about locating the "buy button" in the brain. Against this background the goal of this paper is to present specific results of selected studies from this emerging discipline, classified according to traditional marketing-mix instruments such as product, price, communication, and distribution policies, as well as brand research. The paper is completed by an overview of the most prominent brain structures relevant for consumer neuroscience, and a discussion of possible implications of these insights for economic theory and practice. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A sociological perspective of consumption moralityJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 5 2007Robert Caruana This paper considers how a sociological perspective of morality can inform understandings of consumption. In light of recent research that identifies moral forms of consumption practice at a socio-cultural level (e.g. ,ethical consumers' and ,voluntary simplifiers') it is apparent that an important relationship between consumption, society and morality continues to be of relevance and interest to consumer research. However, research into ethical consumption, fair trade, sustainability, green consumption and more recently consumer citizenship presuppose certain assumptions about the moral nature of the subject at the centre of their investigations whilst not evidencing an explicit or coherent understanding of the underlying sociological conception of morality itself. Accordingly, there is a need for consumer researchers framing their studies at a sociological level to be clearer about the conceptual nature of morality and, moreover, how it relates in a meaningful way to the theoretical claims made in their research. In response, this paper examines the dominant paradigmatic conceptualisations that constitute a sociological perspective of morality. Particularly, it considers (1) how a number of key sociological perspectives on morality can locate streams of consumer research better than is currently the case, (2) how these perspectives suggest that current research into fair trade and ethical consumption invoke a certain type of morality whereas a broader concept is available and finally (3) how a pluralist sociological conception of morality will allow consumer researchers to reframe the types of questions they can ask and so too the types of answers they may find. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Communication about consumption: a family process perspective on ,green' consumer practicesJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 6 2006Alice Grønhøj Family decision-making still constitutes a niche of consumer research. The preference towards using individualist approaches is even more prevalent in research on environmentally oriented consumer behaviour. However, many green consumer practices involve several family members, who may be able to exert significant influences on household subscription to these practices. The present study used qualitative research methods to examine family member interaction in relation to four topics: organic food, water and energy, waste and transport. Results show that peaceful as well as more conflict-ridden, day-to-day influences between family members are a common phenomenon, even when it comes to inconspicuous, everyday consumer behaviour. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A typology of motor vehicle consumers using motives for leasing versus financingJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 4 2006Philip J. Trocchia Previous consumer research suggests that individuals who finance high-cost items tend to differ from those who lease the same items. Some differences are economic, such as income and wealth, while other dissimilarities involve non-economic issues such as personal preferences. We employ non-hierarchical cluster analysis to create consumer segments of motor vehicle lessees and financers based on motives for leasing versus financing and demographics. Five segments were uncovered. Lessees predominate in two categories: budget gourmets and automotive hedonists. Another two categories, utility seekers and basic transportation seekers, are mainly comprised of financers. The final group, mature luxury seekers, consists of a roughly equal mix of lessees and financers. Differences between the segments are addressed here, along with a discussion of findings and implications. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Life events and brand preference changesJOURNAL OF CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR, Issue 2 2003Anil Mathur Abstract Three types of variable have been used to explain brand preference changes: consumer characteristics, marketing mix factors and situational influences. The study presented in this paper focuses on the relationship between life events experienced by individuals, resultant stress and lifestyle changes and changes in brand preferences. Based on theory and past research, a model is proposed and tested. The data support the notion that brand preference changes may be viewed as the outcome of adjustments to new life conditions and changes in consumption lifestyles that reflect consumer efforts to cope with stressful life changes. Implications for consumer research are also discussed. Copyright © 2003 Henry Stewart Publications. [source] PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF FOOD RISK ISSUES AND FOOD RISK MESSAGES ON THE ISLAND OF IRELAND: THE VIEWS OF FOOD SAFETY EXPERTSJOURNAL OF FOOD SAFETY, Issue 4 2005MARTINE DE BOER ABSTRACT Food safety experts have a key role in constructing food risk messages and thus their perceptions will influence how food risk issues are communicated to the public. This research examined the perceptions of food safety experts regarding public understanding of food risk issues and food risk messages on the island of Ireland. It also looked into expert views of the barriers to effective food risk communication and how to improve food risk messages. One hundred and forty-three experts, working in areas related to food safety, completed an online questionnaire. Questionnaire and statement design was guided by the results of four in-depth interviews with food safety experts. The findings indicate that most experts surveyed have little confidence in the public's understanding of food risk issues, their assessment of food risks, their ability to deal with scientific information and their food safety practices. Experts are of the view that the public under-assesses the risk associated with some microbiological hazards and over-assesses the risk associated with other hazards such as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. The opinion of experts with regard to GMOs is not supported by previous consumer research. Experts noted that the level of education and age were important determinants for the level of understanding of food risk issues and messages. Experts were of the view that early intervention via school curricula was the best method to improve public understanding of food risk messages in the long term. Furthermore, experts are of the view that the media have the ability to improve awareness and knowledge about food risk issues but believe that the media tend to communicate information that is misleading. The majority of experts also believe that they should communicate uncertainty but are not confident that the public is able to cope with this uncertainty. Many of the experts also indicated a desire for training on how to interact with the media. The results may be used by those experts who are involved in the construction of food risk messages to improve the design and communication of food risk messages. [source] EVALUATION OF REPLICATED PROJECTIVE MAPPING OF GRANOLA BARSJOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES, Issue 5 2010JESSICA KENNEDY ABSTRACT The application of projective mapping to quickly gather information on overall product differences provides a unique way to probe consumer perceptions and gather product information. A group of 15 consumers performed a projective mapping exercise three times on a set of eight "berry flavored" granola bars, including descriptors of the products. The projective mapping task was performed in replicates to evaluate the consistency of results obtained via this technique. Analysis of the replications by multifactor analysis indicated for the majority of consumers, that the three individual maps did not show a high degree of similarity (80% of RV coefficients < 0.5). However, consensus maps from the three replications indicated a similar group perception of the products over the replications, as depicted by hierarchical multifactor analysis. Terms collected from the maps were summarized and regressed into the product space for interpretation, both in terms of consumer criteria used to differentiate among products and identification of key product attributes. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS The findings from this study add to the growing knowledge on projective mapping. The results presented here aimed to substantiate the value and reliability of projective mapping when used with consumers. Although projective mapping is not a replacement for quantitative descriptive analysis, it is an efficient tool for consumer research; as well as product or category exploration which can be utilized early in the product development process. The addition of descriptors directly onto the maps by panelists makes it possible to use projective mapping as a stand-alone method by increasing the amount and interpretability of data provided by panelists. When used with consumers, projective mapping links the consumer perception of the product space with a consumer-driven lexicon. [source] FOUNDING A NEW SCIENCE: MIND GENOMICSJOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES, Issue 3 2006HOWARD R. MOSKOWITZ ABSTRACT We present in this article our vision for a new science, modeled on the emerging science of genomics and the technology of informatics. Our goal in this new science is to better understand how people react to ideas in a formal and structured way, using the principles of stimulus,response (from experimental psychology), conjoint analysis (from consumer research and statistics), Internet-based testing (from marketing research) and multiple tests to identify patterns of mind-sets (patterned after genomics). We show how this formal approach can then be used to construct new, innovative ideas in business. We demonstrate the approach using the development of new ideas for an electronic color palette for cosmetic products to be used by consumers. [source] Understanding the Rise of Consumer Ethnography: Branding Technomethodologies in the New EconomyAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2009Timothy de Waal Malefyt ABSTRACT In this article, I aim to contribute to the ongoing discussion on the changing public role of anthropology by exploring the rise of branded ethnographic practices in consumer research. I argue that a juncture in the "New Economy",the conjoining of corporate interest in branding, technology, and consumers, with vast social changes,may explain the rapid growth of ethnography for consumer research and predict its future direction. An analysis of branded propaganda from ethnographic vendors that claim their technology-enhanced methods innovate "classic" anthropological practices discloses the way corporations employ technologically mediated means to focus on the reflexive self in consumer research. In this analysis, I reveal that technological methodologies are central to the production of branded ethnographic practices, as forms of branding and technology legitimate consumer,corporate flows of interaction. The conclusion raises awareness to the ways in which modern branding practices reconstruct anthropology in public discourse. [Keywords: branding, consumer research, ethnography, reflexivity, technology] [source] Functional foods: An Australian perspectiveNUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 2008Linda TAPSELL Abstract There are many definitions of functional foods, although with a common element of providing some functional advantage to consumers, and they are almost universally associated with food innovation. In Australia, the National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods (NCEFF) was established with five-year federal innovation funding to help build capability in functional food research and development. This review sets the context for the NCEFF science program, by first outlining global concepts of functional foods and the nature of the scientific enterprise associated with it. The review provides a working definition of functional foods, describes the types of research reported in Medline in the last year and compares this with the NCEFF program of research. The ,working space' for functional foods was found to relate to the nutritional and food sciences, regulatory conditions, consumer/market and health concerns and industry opportunity. The term is appearing increasingly in Medline, mostly under review articles, but also with respect to in vitro and animal model studies, human clinical trials and consumer research. The spectrum of research undertaken in the NCEFF science program was consistent with this pattern. The review found that Australian researchers and practitioners have the capacity to deliver on major fronts in the functional foods domain and to be part of the challenges for food and nutrition research that have been exposed through the functional food phenomenon. [source] Consumers' intentions to remain loyal to online reputation systemsPSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 9 2010Hui-Chih Wang The implications of recent consumer research for information system usage in the e-marketplace are still poorly understood. However, understanding consumers' intentions to continue to use these systems remains a priority in practical marketing management, as leading marketplaces such as Amazon.com have widely embraced online reputation systems as a useful tactic in online marketing. The re-ported study proposes an approach that differs from past research on this theme by incorporating Foxall's style/involvement model, which relates innovative behavior to cognitive style and involve-ment in the product area. Based on a sample of 387 buyers from a top e-marketplace in Taiwan, the findings indicate that consumers' underlying style/involvement levels significantly shape their continuance use intentions toward online reputation systems. The paper argues that consumers' cognitive styles and involvement levels should be adopted by researchers as major influences on system users' decision making in virtual purchase environments. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Determinants of price mark-up tolerance for green electricity , lessons for environmental marketing strategies from a study of residential electricity customers in GermanyBUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 5 2010Torsten J. Gerpott Abstract This paper develops hypotheses on the effects of various attitudinal and perceptual variables as well as socio-demographic characteristics of residential electricity customers on an individual's willingness to pay a mark-up for electricity generated from renewable energy sources compared with the price due for electricity from conventional sources. The hypotheses are tested with data from a standardized telephone survey of 238 household electricity consumers in Germany. 53.4% of the participants are willing to pay a mark-up for green electricity. 26.1% report a price tolerance equal to a 5,10% increase in their current electricity bill. Binary logistic and ordinal regression analyses indicate that price tolerance for green electricity is particularly influenced by attitudes (1) towards environmental issues and (2) towards one's current power supplier, (3) perceptions of the evaluation of green energy by an individual's social reference groups, (4) household size and (5) current electricity bill level. The findings are used to derive suggestions for energy related informational activities of public institutions, green marketing strategies of energy companies and future consumer research regarding demand for pro-environmental goods. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source] STATISTICAL ANALYSES FOR R -INDEXJOURNAL OF SENSORY STUDIES, Issue 6 2006JIAN BI ABSTRACT R -index is an important statistic for testing and measuring product effects. The validation and merits of R-index are to a great extent due to the fact that it is closely related to the famous Mann,Whitney U statistic. Based on this fortunate relationship, statistical analyses for R-index are explored. The statistical analyses include estimations of R-index and its null and nonconditional variances with and without assuming continuity of data; difference and similarity tests using R-index; powers and sample sizes for the tests; linking R-index with Thurstonian , (or d,). The new techniques developed in the paper extend greatly the original R-index analysis for categorical ratings data. It is expected that the recognition of the profound theoretical origin of R-index and the available statistical analyses for R-index will provide the impetus for the resurgence of interest in using R-index in sensory and consumer researches. [source] | ||||||||||||||||