Introduction to the Special Issue on transformative consumer research: Developing theory to mobilize efforts that improve consumer and societal well-being

Abstract

The third biennial Transformative Consumer Research Conference at Baylor University in June 2011 encouraged consumer researchers from around the world to address some of the world's most pressing social and economic problems. Researchers discussed with conceptual rigor nine substantive areas: addiction; food for thought; innovative research methods; materialism; youth, risk and consumption; multicultural marketplaces; poverty and subsistence marketplaces; sustainable products; and transformative services research. This introductory paper summarizes the contributions of the post-conference articles on these nine areas that appear in this special issue, and it highlights the importance of conducting consumer research to obtain theoretically-grounded findings that offer practical solutions to serious human problems.