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Purpose Despite years of research into consumer socialization, little research examines men’s roles in consumer socialization processes. The purpose of this paper is to attend to this gap and to investigate consumer socialization processes in single-father households. Design/methodology/approach To study consumer socialization processes, this paper develops its insights using grounded theory, deploying qualitative data to develop theory. The data include long interviews with both fathers and their children used to understand the processes of consumer socialization. Findings This paper finds six socialization processes: entrustment, entrainment, education, emprise, estrangement and elevation. These processes emerge based on different types of household resource gaps or aspects of men’s gender identity. Research limitations/implications The main implications are to study the roles played by cultural context and family type in socialization processes. Studies could examine whether the processes uncovered here occur in other family settings, as well as whether they vary based on children’s age and gender. Practical implications Household brands, products and services could target resource-scarce households using appeals that portray offerings as a means to develop children’s responsibilities, independence and involvement in household management. Marketers could also use advertising appeals that depict playful product usage and learning situations or more broadly position brands as identity brands making them more appealing to men who are striving to be better fathers. Originality/value This paper uniquely identifies a number of previously uncovered consumer socialization processes, as well as factors that influence them.

In this manuscript, we investigate the central role of perceived frontline service employee (FSE) authenticity and the process by which it impacts purchase intentions, taking into account the represented brand's authenticity. While brand authenticity has previously been shown to enhance consumer outcomes, we find that FSE authenticity is a separate significant predictor of purchase intentions. Further, we find that FSE authenticity enhances purchase intentions by increasing perceived trust and perceived quality. However, this finding only holds for brands that do not emphasize their authenticity, indicating that brand managers should differentially emphasize FSE authenticity based on their brand's positioning. Furthermore, we investigate the robustness of these effects across both experience and credence services, and find that FSE authenticity is especially important in credence service contexts.

Payment timing is conceptualized as a payment characteristic useful in explaining motivations to prefer payment types. Cash, debit cards, and online banking represent consumers' preferences to pay now, while credit cards and loans represent the inclination to pay later. Based on a grounded theory study, a payment‐timing model is developed to theorize consumers' choices of payment types with differences in payment timing. The model presents four motivations for payment‐timing preferences: (1) the extent of rewards salience, (2) the perception of financial stress, (3) adopting heuristics for money management, and (4) the influence of perceived financial ability. Consumers choose payment‐timing options that best suit their financial strategy to manage payments in pursuit of their consumption objectives.

This paper addresses the dearth of research regarding why the golf industry, specifically in the United States, is stagnating and, in some cases, losing participants. We focus on why Millennials ar...

The fashion industry is responsible for bringing some of the worst consumption practices out of individuals by reinforcing tendencies for overconsumption throughout society. Consuming too much has led to negative economic, societal, and environmental consequences. The purpose of this paper is to understand whether promoting a style orientation among consumers (rather than a fashion orientation) will lead to more sustainable apparel consumption. Data collected from 6,386 consumers across five countries that are considered to be leaders in sustainable development (Sweden, Netherlands, Germany, the U.K., and the U.S.) suggest that promoting style can be a potential solution to attain slow fashion and, thus, improve sustainable apparel consumption. We further examine the role of hedonism and materialism in influencing sustainable practices in the industry. Based on the findings, the paper emphasizes the need for the collective effort of different actors, especially the role of government, in creating a more sustainable fashion system.

Scarce shopping situations often seem to have a greater value for consumers and trigger extreme behaviors. This study examines the effects of scarcity that is strategically created by the marketer ...

Though most acculturation research investigates movement across national boundaries, many other types of boundaries may exist (e.g. rural to urban migration). Rural migrant workers focus on their adaptive and exploratory consumption practices to assemble a liquid identity in China. In essence, this research examines the nature of the transitions that the vast group of Chinese (over 280 million) endures as migrant workers seek to assemble new identities through consumption activities in a liminal space. We find that family relations and government policy hinder migrants’ adjustments to urban life. Thus, we contribute to macromarketing by enriching the theories of liquid identity, boundary work, and acculturation.

Purpose The understanding of the motives for consumers’ support of business underdogs is generally limited. The purpose of this paper is to help address this important research topic by conceptualizing underdog affection as a theoretical construct capturing the emotional attachment held by some consumers toward underdog business entities and advances two perspectives (self- and other-oriented) to unravel its motivational underpinnings. Design/methodology/approach To test the conceptual model, a survey study was conducted involving 365 respondents drawn from an electronic alumni association list from a medium-sized Midwestern university in the USA. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analyses were used to validate the scales, and the structural equations modeling method was used to test the hypothesized effects. Findings The data support most of the hypotheses (eight out of nine). Under the self-oriented perspective, commerce underdog affection is positively influenced by underdog orientation, need for uniqueness, nostalgia proneness, and hope, and is negatively impacted by their materialism level. Only hope did not impact consumer underdog affection. Under the other-oriented perspective, balance maintenance, top dog antipathy, and empathic concern positively influence underdog affection. The other-oriented factors, especially top dog antipathy and balance maintenance, show stronger effects on commerce underdog affection than self-oriented factors. Research limitations/implications The sample was geographically restrictive in the sense that it measured only one group of respondents in the USA. The conceptual model is limited in terms of its coverage of the consequences of underdog affection. While discriminant validity is established in the scale development phase of the study, relatively close relationships do exist among some of these theoretical constructs. Practical implications Given the significant evidence linking consumers’ underdog affection to underdog support in commerce, small locally owned businesses could use underdog positioning advertising to differentiate themselves against national retailers. Due to their tendency to display higher underdog affection in commerce, people with higher levels of balance maintenance, top dog antipathy, underdog orientation, emphatic concern, and nostalgia proneness, and lower levels of materialism can be segmented for marketing purposes. Social implications This research indicates that there are ways in which small business entities and non-profits alike can operate in a business setting that is increasingly more competitive and challenging for underdog entities. Originality/value This study integrates the various underdog studies across contexts to examine motives to underdog affection, a construct not yet operationalized in business studies. In addition, hypotheses linking eight specific antecedents to commerce underdog affection, via two theoretical perspectives, are empirically examined to assess relative as well as absolute effects.

We raise a number of concerns as to how rapidly the world is ageing, and not just the developed world. Whereas there is much coverage of the forthcoming budget problems facing the developed world in terms of dealing with commitments to the elderly through programmes such as Medicare, Social Security and Medicaid in the USA, there is less awareness that much of the developing world is ageing at a more rapid rate and is, in fact, less prepared for handling its ageing population. The article’s purpose is not only to increase awareness of the coming problems, but also to point out specific issues that marketers need to devote much attention.

‘Masculinity’ is changing globally. We investigate the adjustments made by Chinese male models as they work in a domain that had previously belonged primarily to women. Using a liminal lens to view the models’ adjustments, the study discovered that they perceive themselves to be subordinated to other participants in the advertising industry: designers, makeup artists, directors, clients, and even female models. While the changing nature of ‘masculinity’ globally has created many more opportunities for male models, we found that the norms of the advertising industry require a major reinvention of the models’ self-perceptions of masculinity.

The literature on scarcity has generally examined consumers’ attitudes towards scarce products and suggested that scarcity messages have a positive effect on the evaluation of and attitude toward the scarce object. However, literature has largely failed to explain consumers’ feelings or reactions to human-controlled scarce environments. This study examines how deliberate product scarcity influences the consumers’ behavioral responses, and provides an understanding of consumers’ reactions to conditions of scarcity that are strategically created by marketers. The context of this study is fast fashion retailers, as they are known to create extreme human-induced scarcity. We conducted 21 face-to-face interviews with fast fashion store managers, consumers, and an industry expert. Further, observational research was also conducted to observe the consumer buying behavior across 10 different fast fashion stores. The objectives were to (1) help the interviewees think about the various strategies adopted to...

Consumers frequently purchase self-gifts, i.e. gifts for themselves, for a variety of reasons. Recently, certain items bought as self-gifts have begun to incorporate an element of surprise, as in the case of subscription boxes. Little is known to date, however, about how surprise can influence the self-gifting process. Through a qualitative study, we develop a multi-stage framework illustrating how surprise: (a) transforms the initial stages through heightened anticipation and immersion, and (b) bifurcates the final stage depending on the outcome valence, i.e. positive or negative surprise. Implications for manufacturers and retailers of such products and experiences are then discussed.

Fast fashion is a retail strategy where retailers adopt marketing approaches to respond to the latest fashion trends by frequently updating products with short renewal cycles and turning the inventory at a rapid rate. Along with short renewal cycles, fast fashion retailers stock limited quantities of products per style and deliberately manipulate merchandise on the retail floor. They are also known to adopt shorter, more flexible supply chains such as quick response, just-in-time, and agile supply chains. Fast fashion retailers like Zara, H&M, and Forever 21 in recent years have taken the fashion industry by storm. This chapter provides an overview of the fast fashion industry, examining both the micro and macro perspective of this fast rising phenomenon. At the micro level, the chapter examines fast fashion and its effect on consumer, supply chain, and retail environment. At a macro level, the chapter examines the influence of the throwaway culture on environment and society as a whole.

Gender refers to ways men and women socialize into the male and female roles that are commonly attributed to them. These roles are continuously (re)constructed within and through our daily activities. Prior literature suggests a need for more research in investigating how men and women construct their identity in various exchange situations and in various cultural settings. This paper explores the situational construction of male and female identities (especially the male one) when shopping for fashion products in environments with strategically created scarcity. The findings of this study suggest that, when shopping for fashion products in scarce environments, men and women tend to exhibit gendered behaviors that are considered more consistent with their traditional gender norms. We find that men, although concerned about their appearance, adhere to urgent buying behavior. This behavior helps men maintain some of their traditional masculine identity. In addition, they do not participate as frequently in the in-store hoarding and in-store hiding that are more frequently exhibited by women and that are more consistent with a feminine identity. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The study investigates consumers' responses to global positioning in advertising from the perspective of self. It is suggested that consumers' attitudes toward the brand advertised through global positioning are influenced by their ideal selves and cosmopolitan orientations and these influences are moderated by one's self-esteem level. Study 1 shows that attitudes toward the globally positioned brand are more positive for those with ideal selves that are more congruent with personal traits associated with globally positioned brands, but only for those with high self-esteem. Interview results from study 2 suggest that low self-esteem informants make use of the global brands associated with ‘Western’ as a means of signaling their social selves in order to obtain social approval and that high self-esteem informants attend to ad content, whether the ad employs global or local positioning.

The purpose of the research is to explore the well-being/QOL of the ageing population in China. Specifically, the study investigates the experience/meaning of ageing and the strategies that consumers deploy to cope with ageing issues through internet communication. The results show that older people have found creative ways to cope with ageing by recalling the frugal experiences in the past, and purchasing small items as emotion enhancers. The findings also indicate that older Chinese bloggers have limited acquisition desire, do not wish to be a burden on their children, and worry greatly about their future financial status, especially given concerns about the healthcare system.

The study investigates individual differences in attitudes towards brands being positioned as underdogs in advertising from an emotional perspective. We argue that the personality trait of empathic concern moderates the underdog effect on brand attitude and that the moderating effect is mediated by empathic response to the advertisement. We conducted three experiments with ads using top-dog and underdog appeals. Those who have stronger empathic concern showed more favourable attitudes towards the brand advertised through underdog positioning, and the effect of empathic concern was mediated by the empathic response to the underdog positioning advertisement. For managers, targeting consumers who have high levels of empathic concern could result in more favourable attitudes towards underdog businesses when using underdog appeals.

Purpose– This study aims to examine the major influences of food choices of Chinese teenagers within a dynamic food marketing environment.Design/methodology/approach– The paper reports findings from semi-structured interviews with high school students which examine teenagers’ guidelines for selecting food, along with their actual eating behavior.Findings– The results reflect on how four major influences – personal, family, peer and retailer – may intersect to affect the eating behaviors of Chinese adolescents, as they navigate an intense education schedule during a time of rapidly changing cultural values. Different norms of food choice – nutrition, food safety, taste, body image, price, convenience, sharing, friendship and fun – are evoked according to the social context and concurrent activities of the teenagers.Social implications– The findings offer tentative insights related to the potential for promoting healthier eating habits for adolescents in urban areas of China.Originality/value– The study demonstrates how, within this rapidly changing food environment, food retailers are creating alliances with teenagers to meet needs of convenience, speed, taste and social interaction.

The broader objective of this study was to measure the attitudes of consumers regarding the brand displayed by this strategy as well as to highlight recall, recognition and purchase intentions generated by product placement on consumers from both Brazil and the USA. Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient ensured the reliability of survey instruments. The study involved the use of the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for the hypothesis testing. This study used the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to assess both the convergent and discriminant validities instead of using the Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) or the Principal Component Analysis (PCA). This reinforced for the use of the regression Chi Square and T statistical tests in further. Only hypothesis H3 was rejected, the rest were not. T test provided insight findings on specific subgroup significant differences. It can be concluded that product placement varies markedly in the U.S. from Brazil based on the influence of a range of factors. In order for product placement to become more competitive in the promotional marketing, there will be the need for researchers to extend focus from the traditional variables and add knowledge on the conventional marketplace.DOI: 10.5585/remark.v12i2.2507, The broad objective of this study was to measure the attitudes of consumers regarding the brand displayed during product placement in movies as well as to highlight recall, recognition, and purchase intentions generated by product placement for consumers from both Brazil and the USA. Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient ensured the reliability of survey instruments. The study involved the use of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) for the hypothesis testing. This study used Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to assess both the convergent and discriminant validities instead of using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) or Principal Component Analysis (PCA). This reinforced the use of the regression Chi Square and T statistical tests. Only hypothesis H3 was rejected, the rest were not. A t-test provided insight findings on specific subgroup significant differences. It can be concluded that product placement varies markedly in the U.S. from Brazil based on the influence of a range of factors. In order for product placement to become more competitive in promotional marketing, there is the need for researchers to move beyond traditional variables and add knowledge about the conventional marketplace.DOI: 10.5585/remark.v12i2.2507&nbsp

Building on prior theorizing on hope, dramaturgy of emotions, and the notion of transfiguration, this paper examines how the Weight Watchers brand elicits and embodies hope among its consumers. Based on the findings from a qualitative study of Weight Watchers, the authors propose a three-stage conceptualization of brand-centric hope cultivation. This conceptualization highlights the importance of collective processes in hope emergence, elevation, and emplacement in which religious vernacular guides how Weight Watchers express and experience brand-centric hope.

Despite the marketing opportunities associated with consumers' perceptions of sacredness in many service consumption experiences, academic research on what drives consumers' sacredness perceptions is limited. Using the context of golf, the study investigates the antecedents to ritual experiences and perceptions of sacredness in service activities. Survey results among more than 700 male and female golfers indicate that flow and communitas impact sacredness perceptions somewhat differently between men and women. While flow impacts sacredness for both genders, the influence of communitas on sacredness is significant only among men. Desire for privileged status and its impact on sacredness, however, impacts only women. Results further indicate a strong mutually reinforcing relationship between flow and communitas. Sacredness can have powerful influences on customers in creating lasting and potentially reoccurring experiences. Managers should realize that creating welcoming environments can enable extraordina...

The growing concern over violence in the media has led to vast amounts of research examining the effects of violent media on viewers. An important subset of this research looks at how humor affects this relationship. While research has considered this subset in television programming, almost no research has explored this in the context of advertising. This paper builds on the little research that exists by examining the effects of combining humor and violence, as well as the theoretical approaches that underlie these effects. A content analysis is conducted to identify the prevalence of violence, humor, and the combination of these elements in a longitudinal sample of Super Bowl commercials (2005, 2007, and 2009). Further, we investigate the relationship between the joint occurrence of humor and violence in ads and ad popularity. We conclude that violent acts are rampant in these commercials and that many acts are camouflaged by the simultaneous presence of humor, especially in the most popular ads.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: to describe and evaluate the life grid as a methodology for historical research; and to provide an example application investigating the dynamics of family meals over a lifetime by pairing life course theory with the life grid method of obtaining oral histories.Design/methodology/approachTo explore how the meanings and processes of meals change, the authors conducted interviews with 15 respondents aged 80 years old and over, on the topic of family meals.FindingsThe paper discusses the merits of using the life grid method to analyze lifetime family consumption behavior. The findings of this example study provide insight as to how the roles, responsibilities, and loyalties of our participants had changed through births, deaths, marriages, wars, economic periods, illnesses, and the process of aging, leading to changes in dining.Originality/valueThe benefit of the life grid method described in this paper is its ability to minimize recall bias. In addition, the overt process of cross‐referencing events throughout the course of the interviews via the life grid method proved to be a helpful aid in identifying patterns and symmetries during the interpretation stage.

The authors briefly discuss the dynamic area of family globally and overview the issue’s articles dealing with the interface of family with public policy and marketing processes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate male (and father) role portrayals in advertising from a masculine theoretical perspective. We note that the traditional masculine hegemony in the US is still seen almost exclusively in television commercials, even at a time when masculine roles in society are changing rapidly. We summarize the literature on masculinity, noting its changing nature, and discuss the role of advertising in maintaining the status quo. We then present results from three content analyses of commercials during programs targeted to adult males, females, and children. Results suggest that portrayals of gender roles in commercials have not become more gender neutral. While women are being shown in less stereotypically traditional roles, male portrayals still reflect a very traditional masculine perspective. We conclude that male confusion concerning what masculine roles are expected of them is being exacerbated by their portrayals in commercials.

Remittances from immigrants in developed countries to their families back home constitute economic flows nearly comparable to the levels of foreign direct investment and greater than those of international aid. Even those who immigrate due to political strife (refugees) are likely to leave loved ones behind and to send money home, if it is feasible. This article looks at remittances as only one type of social exchange within the relevant social network (the family). A categorization of immigrants is presented (expatriates, sojourners, and pathfinders) based on their motives for emigrating and used, subsequently, to explain their relative propensities to remit. The article ends by discussing the implications that the changing nature of the family institution globally may have for the flow of remittances in the future.

Marketers frequently position business concerns – whether brands, teams, or stores – as the non market-dominant entity (or the “underdog”). This article examines the motives for underdog support through in-depth interviews and a focus group. Findings suggest that underdog consumers support underdogs out of empathy, as a way to ensure the maintenance of equal opportunity in competition, and as a way to provide personal inspiration. Some motives for underdog support can be interpreted to be anti-consumption (or, at least, anti-corporate) in nature. On the other hand, many underdog consumers support and identify with underdogs not necessarily as a way to keep the top dog down, but as a means to keep the little guy competing. Rather than solely “vote-against” behavior, “vote-for” behavior is very evident as well.

Golf is male dominated and consists of rituals and ritualized behaviors that both reflect and help create hegemonic masculinity. Using in-depth interviews with amateur committed women golfers, we explored how women negotiated masculinized rituals in golf. Our data indicated three ways: (a) accommodating (i.e., acknowledging masculine rituals and working around them), (b) unapologetic (i.e., challenging masculine rituals that threaten entitlement to golf and attempting to create women inclusive alternatives), and (c) remaining unaware (i.e., focusing on golf as a sport and ignoring or denying masculine dimensions of golf rituals). Many of the women golfers studied experienced communitas (i.e., a heightened sense of community), but not at the same level of engagement as most male golfers.

This study explores the comparative effects of two antecedents of enduring involvement in determining whether social versus psychological effects are more important in establishing enduring involvement with an extended service encounter. Specifically, the authors look at the effects of communitas—a social effect—and flow—an individual psychological effect—to determine which has a stronger impact on one's enduring involvement in golf. Self-determination theory argues that flow should be more important than communitas in establishing enduring involvement because of higher levels of volitional control; the findings support this premise. From a practical perspective, these findings should help extended service managers determine which service environments or strategies (e.g., social atmosphere strategies vs. game improvement strategies) to emphasize when trying to establish loyal participants. The moderating effects of gender and participation frequency on the relationships between communitas and enduring involvement and between flow and enduring involvement are also examined.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to determine which two dimensions of music, happy/sad or liked/disliked, have significant effects on shopping intentions, thereby providing guidance for decision‐makers in service environments.Design/methodology/approachSubjects viewed videotapes of an unfamiliar store in an experimental research design. Subjects were exposed to one of several musical treatments while viewing and were asked to speak their thoughts about the store aloud. Happy/sad musical treatments were determined through pretests while subjects' unprompted comments were used to assess like/dislike for the music. Subjects also reported intentions to shop in the stimulus store. The hypothesized model was then tested.FindingsHappy/sad music had a significant direct effect on shopping intentions while the direct effect of liked/disliked music was marginally significant. However, the combination of the two music dimensions investigated is perhaps most noteworthy. Shopping intentions were greatest when subjects were exposed to happy music that was liked.Research limitations/implicationsOnly a women's clothing store service setting with a limited target market was utilized. Care should be taken when generalizing beyond this setting and subject group.Practical implicationsHappy music that is liked by the target market can significantly increase intentions to shop in a retail service environment.Originality/valueLittle research has been done investigating the effects of the affective, or happy/sad, component of music in service settings. This study helps fill that gap in the literature. In addition, studies investigating music's effects in retail environments often examine only one dimension of music. The value of assessing effects of multiple dimensions of music is demonstrated.

Manufacturing opportunities in urban China have led to the mass migration of over 270 million rural residents to urban areas. We investigate the resulting upheaval in Chinese society using a macromarketing framework, especially the effect on the family unit. A qualitative study of 34 adult migrants in Shanghai is used to put a human face on the challenges faced by those distant from their families of origin (and in many cases their own children) and yet ostracized by most of those in urban society.

A pattern found in many marketing systems, “male breadwinning,” is contingent upon overlapping and shared ideologies, which influence the economic organization and thus the type and number of relationships in those systems. Implementing a mixed-methods research methodology, this article continues and extends previous work in macromarketing on the interplay of markets, ideology, socio-economic organization, and family. A qualitative study illuminated the main ideologies behind male breadwinning and a model was developed to advance the theoretical analysis of the phenomenon of male breadwinning. An experiment in the form of a vignette study was subsequently designed and administered. The qualitative study and the vignette study both show ideologies interact in the way individuals make sense of them or allow them to influence their decisions. The results have implications for the way families and markets are organized, such as the supply of labor of men and women and the offerings of care-related public and private services in a broader marketing system.

Although there are many recent studies explore the antecedents of customer engagement behavior (CEB), few empirical studies have explored the mechanisms that connect these antecedents to CEB. Based on self-schema theory, this research uses experiment and investigation methods to explore the influence of the type of customer-invested resource (time vs. money) and customers' regulatory focus (promotion-focused vs. prevention-focused) on CEB and the mechanisms that underlying this process. The results of two empirical studies show that promotion-focused customers initiate more recommendation and complaint behaviors when the amount of time (vs. money) spent in the shopping experience is emphasized, whereas this effect does not exist for prevention-focused customers. A self-concept connection mediates the moderating role of regulatory focus in the relationship between types of resources and recommendation, whereas this mediating role of self-concept connection does not exist in complaint. In summary, the influence of customer-invested resources on CEB varies according to a customer's regulatory focus.

The golf industry is currently undergoing a “churning effect” whereby players are leaving nearly as quickly as they enter; this effect is especially prevalent among women. We examine interviews from male and female golf professionals, as well as transcripts from interviews with female participants of various playing levels and experience, in order to determine the reasons women not only leave golf, but more importantly, why they stay. Our data indicate that once golfers have become hooked on the game, interpersonal and structural constraints have more influence on participation than intrapersonal constraints, whereas women new to golf face intrapersonal constraints (mainly related to ability) and structural constraints (but ones somewhat different from frequent participants). We suggest strategies that might reduce the intrapersonal (helping new players of both sexes achieve a minimal level of mastery), interpersonal (development of a more gender neutral environment to reduce the likelihood of “differentness” being noted), and structural (provision of child care facilities at the course, reducing the 18-hole mentality) constraints.

The relationship between ad memory and context involvement has been investigated mainly in the contexts of TV and magazine advertising. Little research has been conducted to examine this relationsh...

Counterfeit products and the brand pirates who make, distribute, and sell them continue to be a challenge for many marketers around the globe. Estimates of global sales for bogus products are in the hundreds of billions of dollars and recent evidence suggests that fakes are prevalent in both developed and developing countries. We investigate brand/product counterfeiting from a consumer search perspective. As the quality of counterfeits improves, it is becoming more difficult for the consumer to identify them. Interviews with 102 international informants yield a picture of the cues consumers use to detect counterfeits and the roles of face and taste in decisions to purchase or not to purchase fake goods. We conclude with a discussion of some managerial implications. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Consumer vulnerability is a sometimes misunderstood or misused concept that is equated erroneously with demographic characteristics, stigmatization, consumer protection, unmet needs, discrimination, or disadvantage. This article seeks to clarify the boundaries for what is and what is not consumer vulnerability. By explicating the key themes of consumer vulnerability from previous studies in the consumer research and marketing literatures, the authors build a definition and model to explain that consumer vulnerability is multidimensional, context specific, and does not have to be enduring. The authors clarify that multiple and simultaneous internal and external factors contribute to consumer experiences of vulnerability. They conclude by proposing some ways the consumer-driven definition of consumer vulnerability can be implemented into research and policy decisions. Most important, their implementation focuses on treating consumers as they wish to be treated, not as well-meaning others think they should be treated, and on directing policy toward facilitating individual empowerment.

Resource theory and the human capital argument remain the dominant theoretical perspectives for understanding household choice. Yet households in which wives earn more than their husbands do not reflect either one, possibly due to the assumption in these perspectives that all resources are pooled. Two studies investigated household resource allocation. The first found that when the woman was the chief wage earner, joint pools of money were used to cover routine expenses but separate pools were also used for several reasons. The second study investigated the apparent differences in wife-as-chief-earner households and husband-as-chief-earner households and found support for the results of the first.

The cultural similarity hypothesis posits that differences between the home and host cultures for sojourners will relate directly to their difficulties adapting to the host culture. The personal fit perspective suggests that the individual's idiosyncratic response to the cultural environment determines successful cultural adaptation. Two studies of expatriates were conducted to investigate the role of cultural similarity and personal fit in the adaptation process. The findings suggest that it is not the cultural similarity between home and host but an individual's ability to fit into the host culture that results in successful adaptation.

Coating and encapsulation of powders are specialized technologies that impact a wide variety of products. In this work particle coating is achieved by condensing organic material onto ultrafine particles via an aerosol technique. Transmission electron microscopy was used to examine the coating morphology thus obtained and thickness of the coatings range from 1 to 7 nm . The experimental observation suggests that materials with a lower melting point such as stearic acid favor the formation of more uniform coating. No significant change in the coating morphology was discovered when enhanced mixing and longer residence time was used. However, substantial improvement of coating uniformity was obtained when cooling rate was significantly lowered which allowed more time for organic liquid to remain mobile to wet particle surface, suggesting surface wetting plays a significant role in the coating formation process.

Specialty magazines contain a rich array of contextual cues with regard to the focal products, and these cues can influence the consumer's processing of advertisements for such products. This study, conducted in Korea, investigates such an editorial context effect on the retrieval of the advertised brand from memory. The results suggest that subjects exposed to the advertisement in a specialty magazine have poorer discrimination ability than those seeing the advertisement in a general audience magazine. Also, within the context of the specialty magazine, advertisements promoting analytic processing outperform advertisements promoting non-analytic processing in terms of higher recall of ad claims and more favorable brand judgments.

The objective of this study was to develop the capabilities to determine the effect of operational parameters on the morphology of powders produced by spray drying. A device used for monitoring morphological characteristics of a single suspended droplet was constructed. It allowed for monitoring and recording the images of a drying droplet as a function of time. The experimental drying was carried out for a number of systems that highlighted the effects of different controlling parameters, such as drying temperature and initial solute concentration. The experiments demonstrated that the shell structure of a drying droplet played an important role in determining the final dried particle morphology. In addition, the shell structure of a drying droplet varies from material to material, which increases the difficulty in the modeling prediction. Several materials with different physical properties, such as solubility and latent heat of crystallization, were investigated. Two sets of experiments, Ca(C 2 H 3 O 2...