Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Protecting Low-Income Consumers In The Era Of Digital Grocery Shopping: Implications For Wic Online Ordering, Qi Zhang, Priyanka Patel, Caitlin M. Lowery

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is now expected to allow participants to redeem their food benefits online, i.e., via online ordering, rather than only in-store. However, it is unclear how this new benefit redemption model may impact participants’ welfare since vendors may have an asymmetric information advantage compared with WIC customers. The WIC online ordering environment may also change the landscape for WIC vendors, which will eventually affect WIC participants. To protect WIC consumers’ rights in the new online ordering model, policymakers need an appropriate legal and regulatory framework. This narrative review provides that …

An Examination Of Consumer Perceptions Of Sponsorship Authenticity Between A Major Beer Brand And Professional Women’S And Men’S Hockey Leagues, Matthew Reid

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol sponsorship of women’s professional hockey in North America began in 2019, yet men’s professional hockey has received financial support from alcohol brands for decades. The purpose of this thesis was to examine consumer perceptions of sponsorship authenticity as they relate to beer sponsorship of professional men’s and women’s hockey leagues. Moreover, this study examined the differences of gender on perceptions of authenticity towards the two alcohol and sport sponsorships, as well as two correlations: first, between alcohol consumption and sponsorship authenticity, and second, between attitudes towards alcohol sponsorship and sponsorship authenticity. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was utilized, and its …

Consumers’ Subjective Well-Being In Brazil: Suggested Extensions For Researching A Market With Continental Dimensions, Igor De Jesus Lobato Pompeu Gammarano

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This commentary starts by recognizing, in the lead article of this issue, the importance of studying empirically the relationships between marketplace activities and consumers' perceived subjective well-being in Brazil. The commentary then presents a number of ways in which future research studies of this type can be strengthened, in terms of geographical coverage, methods employed and analytical-interpretive tools used. The commentary also offers literature links to a variety of consumption modes, from minimalist to hedonic; pointing out that subjective well-being is influenced by these styles/modes of consumption.

Rise Of Social Media Influencers As A New Marketing Channel: Focusing On The Roles Of Psychological Well-Being And Perceived Social Responsibility Among Consumers, Jihye Kim, Minseong Kim

Integrated Strategic Communication Faculty Publications

This empirical research investigated the structural relationships between social media influencer attributes, perceived friendship, psychological well-being, loyalty, and perceived social responsibility of influencers, focusing on the perspective of social media users. More specifically, this study conceptually identified social media influencer attributes such as language similarity, interest similarity, interaction frequency, and self-disclosure and examined the respective effects of each dimension on perceived friendship and psychological well-being, consequently resulting in loyalty toward social media influencers. The authors collected and analyzed data from 388 social media users in the United States via Amazon’s Mechanical Turk with multivariate analyses to test the hypothesized associations …

New England’S Underutilized Seafood Species: Defining And Exploring Marketplace Potential In A Changing Climate, Amanda Davis

Masters Theses

New England’s seafood industry has been searching for opportunities to diversify their landings and build resilience as it faces socio-economic challenges from a changing climate. Developing markets for underutilized species is one way the New England community could help their seafood industry build resilience. This thesis identified New England’s underutilized fish species and explored their marketplace potential by examining their availability in a changing climate, current availability to consumers, and consumers’ responses. In Chapter I, I account how New England’s seafood preferences have changed over time. In Chapter II, I identify New England’s seven underutilized seafood species: 1) Acadian redfish …

Determinants Of Organic Cotton Apparel Purchase: A Comparison Of Young Consumers In The Usa And South Korea, Tae-Im Han

STEMPS Faculty Publications

The purpose of this research was to examine consumers from distinct cultural groups and identify similarities and differences in their green purchase behaviors. The sample consisted of consumers from the U.S.A. and South Korea and the theory of planned behavior was used as a theoretical framework to test the influence of diverse constructs on consumers' purchase intentions toward organic cotton apparel. For both countries, perceived behavioral control (PBC) and descriptive norms were strong predictors of purchase intentions and injunctive norms strongly influenced attitude formation. However, the study also found different results between the two groups. For example, while attitude was …

Attitudes Of Canadian Citizens Toward Farm Animal Welfare: A Qualitative Study, Jeffrey M. Spooner, Catherine A. Schuppli, David Fraser

David Fraser, PhD

As part of a larger project to determine if there are animal-welfare-related values shared by some commercial food–animal producers and non-producers in Canada, open-ended, semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit opinions about animal welfare among 24 urban and rural residents not involved in commercial animal production. All participants possessed a self-described interest in food animal well-being and were therefore assumed to represent the views of Canadian non-producers most apt to engage in efforts to shape the animal welfare policies of governments and businesses. Participants described animal welfare in moral or ethical terms, expressed virtually unanimous support for animals having access …

The Cult Of Cultural Consumption In The United States: How Class Stratification Shapes The Social Realms Of Consumer Brand Perception, Nelligan Rose Boff

Honors Theses

An individual’s social position shapes taste culture as it pertains to fashion and branding. The purpose of this research is to develop more knowledge on who or what social factors are driving consumer’s perception of the brands they want, or don’t want to buy. The perspective of consumption seems to transcend self-interest alone and this thesis aims to analyze the extension of that transcendence. Brands are not merely relating to consumers through a relationship of functional need, but also interfere and are driven by social relationships between consumers. There is evidence that suggest that consumers might interact with brands that …

Reconceptualizing Markets: Hip- Hop Artists, Marketing, Distribution, And Consumers, Ronald Pikes

Theses and Dissertations

Sociologists have made many contributions to the current understanding of markets. In spite of these contributions, individuals and market practices in sociology are generally overlooked, but both are important because individuals and their practices give markets their form. By overlooking market practices, sociologists disregard two of the most important forces within markets, distribution and marketing. These oversights significantly reduce our ability to understand how modern economic markets operate. Thus, the focus of this study is centered on market actions of independent hip-hop music artists and consumers of hip-hop music especially in regards to music distribution technology. Data was collected via …

Assessing Alabama Consumer Attitudes And Beliefs About Locally Or Regionally Produced Livestock And Products, Nii O. Tackie, Jannette R. Bartlett, Akua Adu-Gyamfi

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

Abstract

Local and regional food production has gained increased interest of consumers in recent years. The study, therefore, focused on assessing consumer attitudes and beliefs on local or regional livestock products. Data were obtained from a convenience sample of 432 participants from South Central Alabama, and were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including chi-square tests. A majority of respondents thought using chemicals and additives in locally or regionally produced beef or goat meat was a serious hazard. Therefore, many were willing to pay more for meat certified as locally or regionally produced. Also, most agreed or strongly agreed with statements on …

Attitudes Of Canadian Citizens Toward Farm Animal Welfare: A Qualitative Study, Jeffrey M. Spooner, Catherine A. Schuppli, David Fraser

Farm Animal Welfare Collection

As part of a larger project to determine if there are animal-welfare-related values shared by some commercial food–animal producers and non-producers in Canada, open-ended, semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit opinions about animal welfare among 24 urban and rural residents not involved in commercial animal production. All participants possessed a self-described interest in food animal well-being and were therefore assumed to represent the views of Canadian non-producers most apt to engage in efforts to shape the animal welfare policies of governments and businesses. Participants described animal welfare in moral or ethical terms, expressed virtually unanimous support for animals having access …

The Role Of Self Concept In Consumer Behavior, Marisa Toth

Graduate Research Symposium (GCUA) (2010 - 2017)

Understanding the processes that underlie consumer behavior has become an increasingly important area of research, especially for businesses and marketers. One of the most commonly studied variables believed to impact consumer behavior is self-concept.

The purpose of the current study is to examine the influence of self-concept in consumer behavior and identify factors that influence the relationship. Specifically, what is the relationship between different aspects of the self-concept and the consumption of publicly and privately consumed luxuries and necessities? Furthermore, how will this relationship be affected by the level of self-monitoring an individual displays?

An Eriksonian Approach To Consumer Identity, Sandra Rathod

Open Access Dissertations

Rathod, Sandra R. Ph.D., Purdue University, December 2013. An Eriksonian Approach to Consumer Identity. Major Professor: Richard A. Feinberg.

Ego development is the fifth stage in Erikson's Lifecycle Development theory (1959) and is a major psychosocial stage beginning in adolescence and lasting into emerging adulthood. Past research based upon Marcia's Ego Identity Status Paradigm (1996) has investigated a number of ideological and interpersonal domains relevant to one's ego identity, however in today's consumer societies, where what you have is at least as important is who you are or what you do, an Eriksonian approach to consumer ego identity (CEI) has …

Will "Smarter" Marketing End Social Discrimination? A Critical Review, Frances Grodzinsky, Andra Gumbus, Stephen J. Lilley

School of Computer Science & Engineering Faculty Publications

Purpose - There are two claims made by the web marketing/advertising industry. 1) By collecting, managing, and mining data, companies serve consumer’s best interests and 2) by adopting sophisticated analytics web marketers avoid discriminations that disserve individuals. Although we share an interest in ending social discrimination, we are more circumspect about pronounced individualism and technological fixes. Despite its appeal, or perhaps because of it, we should not accept the claim at face value. In this paper we argue that social discrimination may not disappear under smarter marketing; more overt forms may wane only to be replaced by more subtle forms. …

Location And Tracking Of Mobile Devices: Überveillance Stalks The Streets, Katina Michael, Roger Clarke

Professor Katina Michael

During the last decade, location-tracking and monitoring applications have proliferated, in mobile cellular and wireless data networks, and through self-reporting by applications running in smartphones that are equipped with onboard global positioning system (GPS) chipsets. It is now possible to locate a smartphone-user's location not merely to a cell, but to a small area within it. Innovators have been quick to capitalise on these location-based technologies for commercial purposes, and have gained access to a great deal of sensitive personal data in the process. In addition, law enforcement utilise these technologies, can do so inexpensively and hence can track many …

Slides: Envirofit: Making The World Fit For Humanity, Jessica Alderman

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Jessica Alderman, Director, ENVIROFIT

15 slides

Slides: Meeting The Needs Of Women Through Clean Cooking Solutions, Corinne Hart

2012 Energy Justice Conference and Technology Exposition (September 17-18)

Presenter: Corinne Hart, Program Manager, Gender and Markets, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

20 slides

Process Flow Mapping Of Consumers In A High Involvement Service Purchase Process: An Exploratory Study, Robert G. Grant, Elias Kyriazis

Robert Grant

This paper reports on an exploratory study undertaken to deal with the intricacy of consumer behaviour in a buying process for a complex high involvement service bundle spanning both offline and online channels. A key finding is that consumers switch repeatedly between online and offline channels and between different types of information source to satisfy their search needs. This offers a challenge for communications management if organisations wish to add customer value by minimising their customer time and effort search costs. Prior online channel research has not acknowledged off-line information complementarity for complex high involvement search. Travel agents and principal …

Our Celebrities Our Selves: Reconstructing Ourselves As Online Personalities, Arne Baruca

WCBT Faculty Publications

Celebrity influence on consumer behavior at the online macro level is the motivation for this study that addresses the nature of celebrity consumption and how consumers apply that consumption to develop their online self-presentation.

The sample for this study is limited to consumers with active accounts at online social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. Methodology is a three-part design. A multi-factor qualitative exploratory study (n=73) reveals four celebrity-consumer relationships whose proposed measurement scales are tested in a quantitative pilot study (n=85). Finally, a large sample study (n=593) is used to test the measurement model and to test the proposed …

Influence Of Consumers' Online Decision-Making Style On Comparison Shopping Proneness And Perceived Usefulness Of Comparison Shopping Tools, Young Park, Ulrike Gretzel

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Applications to support online comparison shopping are expected to become increasingly available to consumers. However, not all consumers equally engage in online comparison shopping and, thus, would not necessarily benefit from such tools. The study proposes that the perceived usefulness of comparison shopping tools depends on consumers‟ comparison shopping proneness, which in turn is influenced by consumers‟ online decision-making styles. An online survey using a consumer research panel was conducted to test the hypotheses in the context of travel comparison shopping tools. The results suggest that some consumer decision-making style dimensions influence comparison shopping proneness while others have no influence. …

The Coke Side Of Life:An Exploration Of Pre-Schoolers' Constructions Of Product And Selves Through Talk-In-Interaction Around Coca-Cola, Olivia Freeman

Articles

Abstract Purpose – This paper proposes the activity-based focus group as a useful method with which to generate talk-in-interaction among pre-schoolers. Analytically, it aims to illustrate, how transcribed talk-in-interaction can be subjected to a discourse analytic lens, to produce insights into how pre-schoolers use ‘Coca-Cola’ as a conversational resource with which to build product-related meanings and social selves. Design/methodology/approach - Fourteen activity-based discussion groups with pre-schoolers aged between two and five years have been conducted in a number of settings including privately run Montessori schools and community based preschools in Dublin. The talk generated through these groups has been transcribed …

Empowerment-Based Advocacy Conducted By Not-For-Profit Organizations, Margery C. Saunders

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study explores the advocacy patterns of over 200 nonprofit human service providers active in both anti-violence and anti-poverty service arenas. A mailed survey to organizations associated with three statewide advocacy organizations in New York State examined the organizational factors associated with three advocacy activities: case advocacy, public policy education, and legislative issue advocacy. Using empowerment theory, predictors that captured the degree of ethnic diversity of an organization's staff and board, and whether or not consumers served on the staff or board, and whether having social workers as advocates were examined along with other control variables to explain the conditions …

Consumers' Difficulty With Learning By Analogy Of Really New Products: Selection Criteria Of Effective Analogies, Amina Ait El Houssi

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Research in marketing and consumer behavior has suggested that analogies may be useful to enhance consumer learning of really new products. However, mixed results on the effectiveness of analogies have also been found indicating the risk of communication failure. In this paper several aspects of analogical thought that may negatively influence the use of analogies as learning devices for really new products are identified. For effective use of consumer learning by analogy of really new products several criteria are proposed for the selection of an appropriate analogy. In an exploratory study these criteria are used to find explanation for the …

What Motivates Consumers To Write Online Travel Reviews?, Kyung Hyan Yoo, Ulrike Gretzel

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

The Web provides a fertile ground for word-of-mouth communication and more and more consumers write about and share product-related experiences online. Given the experiential nature of tourism, such first-hand knowledge communicated by other travelers is especially useful for travel decision making. However, very little is known about what motivates consumers to write online travel reviews. A Web-based survey using an online consumer panel was conducted to investigate consumers' motivations to write online travel reviews. Measurement scales to gauge the motivations to contribute online travel reviews were developed and tested. The results indicate that online travel review writers are mostly motivated …

A World Of Flux Requires Information Literacies In The Community And Workplace, Lynda S. Kriflik, George K. Kriflik

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper outlines two studies that explored alternative methodologies that assisted individuals to identify and critically reflect on their preferred way of being. Central to both studies is the importance of critical reflection as the pathway to fully informed decisions. In one study the researcher explored how managers considered information issues that influenced their leadership style, including the risks that stem from individual attitudes and actions. The other explored consumer reactions to food system risk and the information desired to reduce such risk. Both studies highlight the need to facilitate the enhancement of information literacies in the workplace and in …

The Limitations Of Consumer Response To Csr: An Empirical Test Of Smith's Proposed Antecedents, Alan Pomering, Sara Dolnicar

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

Despite an increase in consumer expectations for business to do more for society than deliver on economic conditions and many firms' increasingly adopting socially-responsible stances, marketplace behaviour highlights a gap between what consumers report they expect from firms and what they are prepared to reward. In an effort to rationalise this gap, Smith (2000) has proposed three limits on consumers' ability to respond to firms' socially-responsible practices, or corporate social responsibility (CSR). Based on a study in Australia's retail banking sector, a high-contact service context, this paper empirically tests Smith's three proposed limits to consumers' CSR response. Key findings include …

Process Flow Mapping Of Consumers In A High Involvement Service Purchase Process: An Exploratory Study, Robert G. Grant, Elias Kyriazis

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This paper reports on an exploratory study undertaken to deal with the intricacy of consumer behaviour in a buying process for a complex high involvement service bundle spanning both offline and online channels. A key finding is that consumers switch repeatedly between online and offline channels and between different types of information source to satisfy their search needs. This offers a challenge for communications management if organisations wish to add customer value by minimising their customer time and effort search costs. Prior online channel research has not acknowledged off-line information complementarity for complex high involvement search. Travel agents and principal …

Diffusion Of Internet Banking Amongst Educated Consumers In A High Income Non-Oecd Country, Cedwyn Fernandes, Raed Awamleh

Faculty of Commerce - Papers (Archive)

This study analyses the internet banking channels and service preferences of educated banking consumers in the UAE and examines the factors influencing the intention to adopt or to continue the use of internet banking among both users and non users of internet banking.

It is shown that although the banking sector in the UAE is a regional leader, internet banking in the UAE is yet to be properly utilized as a real added value tool to improve customer relationship and to attain cost advantages. The Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) was used to identify factors influencing the intention to adopt and …

Determinants Of Consumer Behavior In An E-Commerce Environment, Xiang Xue

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Online specialty food and beverage marketing has developed rapidly in the last decade. With the obvious increase in the sales income, researchers showed more and more interests in this promising market. Previous studies in this field primarily focused on the demographic profiling of the online specialty food consumers as well as initial analysis in the factors that motivate their purchase behavior. However, it is far from fully explaining consumer's online shopping activities. In order to solve these problems, new methods should be attempted to determine the factors influencing consumer's online buying behavior. A cluster analysis was developed to identify what …

The Effects Of Ethnicity, Ethnic Salience And Ethnic Identification On Consumers' Sources Of Information And Purchase Behavior, Patricia Wooten Humphrey

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if there were any significant differences in the search and purchase behavior between white and black consumers due to ethnicity, ethnic identification, ethnic salience and ethnic situation.

The sample was chosen from two universities, one predominately white, the other predominately black. Of the 360 questionnaires administered, 345 were usable. The sample was representative of the student population of each university with respect to age, gender, and ethnicity. Statistical techniques used were ANOVAs, t-tests and paired comparisons.

The findings indicate that ethnicity plays an important role in an individual's sources of information used …