Journal Of Consumer Research Research Articles

Focus on Authors

Focus on Authors

Focus on Authors

Focus on Authors

Bibliometric reflections on the history of consumer research

This article analyzes citation data for over 7000 articles published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and Journal of Consumer Research between 1936 and the end of 2009 to address five questions relating to the history of consumer research: What types of articles have been influential in consumer research? Does consumer research have sleeping beauties and shooting stars? How do consumer researchers achieve impact? Has consumer research become more or less influential over time? And finally, how much do older articles inform current consumer research?'

Focus on Authors

Focus on Authors

Benefits and challenges of conducting multiple methods research in marketing

Using multiple methods to study a phenomenon is proposed to produce results that are more robust and compelling than single method studies. This research note investigates the implementation of multiple methods research in marketing. In the main study, we conducted a content analysis of articles published in five leading marketing journals from 1990 to 2008: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and Marketing Science. To aid in interpretation of findings from the content analysis, we gathered verbal data from authors of recent multiple methods studies to gain further insight into the benefits and challenges of conducting and publishing multiple methods research.

Broadening the Scope of Consumer Research

In analyzing the types of submissions we receive, it is clear that the majority fall into one of two bins. The first category of papers consists of psychological pieces that offer theoretical advances with empirical support. These papers sometimes propose a new phenomenon and the process by which it occurs, or they dig deeper into the process underlying an established phenomenon. They provide evidence for the relation between putative causes and observed effects (the theorized process) by testing for mediation, moderation, and boundary conditions. Such papers commonly present several experiments to provide evidence for the underlying process and to rule out alternative process accounts. For example, as a consequence of this detail, the average number of studies reported in the Journal of Consumer Research ( JCR ) papers in the last year is 3.5. The second category of papers consists of qualitative research, much of it conducted within the consumer culture theory paradigm. These papers put the disembodied heads of consumers, which are the focus of the psychological studies, back on their bodies, situate them in a culture and moment, and so provide a rich contextual understanding of consumer behavior. Despite some chafing, these fields work as a team to advance the study of consumer behavior, coming at our understanding from high to low, from big picture to thin slices. Missing from these sets are at least two types of papers that we would be pleased to receive and that we highlight in this essay. The first set is findings papers (heavy …

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Group Norms and the Attitude–Behaviour Relationship

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Group Norms and the Attitude–Behaviour Relationship

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Self‐regulation of Group Members: The Case of Regulatory Focus

Author’s Introduction: In our globalized world individuals are frequently confronted with intergroup encounters. Some of them pass by more smoothly than others. Understanding group members’ motivational dynamics provides the key for positive intergroup encounters and the creation of environments fostering such positive events. For a long time, research on motivation in the domain of intergroup behavior mainly focused on needs and motives such as the need for self-esteem in social identity theory and the need to reduce uncertainty in uncertainty-identity theory. In contrast, approaches to motivation in many other domains of psychological research have switched from such need-based approaches to self-regulation approaches (i.e., theories and models focusing on the processes underlying motivated action). This change of focus from the content of motivation (i.e., need and motives answering the question what motivates behavior) to studying the motivational processes (i.e., self-regulation approaches answering the question how motivation translates in to action) has led to an enormous progress. To give just one example, this approach allows for much more precise predictions of behavior. Only recently research on intergroup behavior has adopted this change of paradigms in research on motivation. The current article summarized one line of research within this domain, namely the work applying regulatory focus theory (one of the dominant self-regulation theories) to intergroup behavior.

Obsolescence: Uncovering Values in Technology Use

Obsolescence: Uncovering Values in Technology Use

Applying the h-index in exploring bibliometric properties of elite marketing scholars

The h-index is a recent metric that captures a scholar’s influence. In the current work, it is used to: (1) obtain the h-index scores of the most productive scholars in the Journal of Consumer Research (JCR), and compare these to other elite scholars (including those of the other three premier marketing journals); (2) demonstrate the relationship between the h-indices and total number of citations of the top JCR producers; (3) examine the h-indices of Ferber winners (best interdisciplinary paper based on a doctoral dissertation published in JCR in a given year) and those having received honorable mentions; (4) explore the relationship between a marketing journal’s prestige and the corresponding h-index score of its editor. These varied analyses demonstrate the multitudinous ways in which the h-index can be used when investigating bibliometric phenomena within a given discipline.

Psychographic measures and sensory consumer tests: When emotional experience and feeling-based judgments account for preferences

The aim of this study is to explore psychological and psychosocial individual differences in order to understand heterogeneous sensory preference clusters identified in consumer tests. We conducted two studies with 100 participants in each. Six seat car fabrics were rated on liking items. A questionnaire composed of the Affect Intensity Measure (AIM) [Larsen, R. J. (1984). Theory and measurement of affect intensity as an individual difference characteristic. Dissertation Abstracts International, 85, 2297B], the Rational-Experiential Inventory (REI), the Iowa–Netherlands Comparison Orientation Scale, (INCOM) [Gibbons, F. X., & Buunk, B. P. (1999). Individual differences in social comparison: Development of a scale of social comparison orientation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 76, 129–142], and the Centrality of Visual Products Aesthetics (CVPA) [Bloch, P. H., Brunel, F. F., & Arnold, T. J. (2003). Individual differences in the centrality of visual product aesthetics: Concept and measurement. Journal of Consumer Research, 29, 551–565] was used. Two clusters of preferences were characterized by the AIM and REI measures. One group, “the velvet fabrics likers”, experienced emotions more intensely than the “non-velvet likers” who in turn, appeared to rely mostly on feelings in the judgment process. We discuss the possible influence of these psychological factors on the significance of sensory input used in the evaluation process.

“Reading” whiteness in consumer research

The concept of whiteness has been widely debated in the social sciences and humanities but has rarely surfaced as a theme in consumer research. This paper introduces whiteness theory as an additional theoretical perspective available to consumer researchers to add to those that are well established. The empirical section of the paper comprises a textual analysis of articles published in the Journal of Consumer Research from 1974–2004. The findings suggest that consumer research is dominated by “white faces” and “white spaces,” resulting in many investigators consciously or unconsciously performing whiteness. The ways whiteness can be re‐articulated to stimulate more interest within consumer research are discussed.

The Use of Persuasion Management Strategies by Identity-Vulnerable Consumers: The Case of Urban Heterosexual Male Shoppers

This paper investigates the relevance of Kirmani and Campbell’s [Kirmani, Amna and Margaret C. Campbell (2004). “Goal Seeker and Persuasion Sentry: How Consumer Targets Respond to Interpersonal Marketing Persuasion,” Journal of Consumer Research, 31 (3), 573–582] typology of persuasion management strategies to one group of identity-vulnerable consumers, heterosexual urban male shoppers of grooming and fashion products. Our informants use seeker strategies to refine their conceptualizations of heterosexual masculinity, or to gain expertise. In addition to the seeker strategies Kirmani and Campbell identify, our informants employ three new seeker strategies and use previously identified sentry strategies as seeker strategies. We offer theoretical and managerial insights for those interested in the shopping behavior of vulnerable consumers, and more specifically, heterosexual urban male shoppers of fashion and grooming goods.

On the Overland Trail: Sheet Music, Masculinity and Travelling ‘Country’

On the Overland Trail: Sheet Music, Masculinity and Travelling ‘Country’

Scientific identity of “top” research journals in the broader discipline of marketing

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to describe the “scientific identity” of the “top” research journals in the broader discipline of marketing by examining the methodological approaches and the geographical affiliations of authors published in selected journals.Design/methodology/approachA sample of “top” research journals in marketing is selected on the basis of expert opinion and journal ranking lists. The selection includes the Journal of Consumer Research (JCR), Journal of Marketing (JM), Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), Journal of Retailing (JR), Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS); and Marketing Science (MS).FindingsThe “scientific identities” of JCR, JM, JMR, JR, JAMS and MS are revealed as being built on quantitative research designs and the North American paradigm of research values. In fact, all journals are US‐based. None was found to be based on a mix of empirical research designs. The selected research journals were found to be narrowly focused, and the lack of variety of “scientific identities” among the journals studied here is discomfiting for the ongoing scientific knowledge building and theory generation in marketing.Research limitations/implicationsFurther studies of the “scientific identity” of individual research journals are desirable in other sub‐disciplines of marketing. A series of questions have been raised that the authors argue are worthy of further attention and debate in the world‐wide research community.Practical implicationsResearchers will benefit from insights into the “scientific identities” of the “top” research journals in the broader discipline of marketing. In particular, researchers can note the particular feature of dogmatic narrowness of research designs that are present in all of these journals.Originality/valueThe study delivers insights into the publishing requirements of “top” research journals in the broader discipline of marketing. It provides some challenging and discomfiting findings.

The Moment and Place for a Special Issue

These are more than interesting times. They are the times in which the ideology and practices of consumption have multiplied across the earth to levels of complexity, subtlety, and influence that were unimaginable just a few decades ago. The problems and challenges related to consumer behaviors today include, but are not restricted to, unhealthy eating, effective and safe use of the Internet, substance abuse (e.g., alcohol, drugs), tobacco consumption, poor financial planning, aging and being elderly, disablements and impairments, indigence and illiteracy, education and socialization of young consumers, sexually transmitted diseases, and environmental deterioration. At the same time, many consumer behaviors support and enhance life. These include, but are not limited to, hobbies, exercise, festivals and celebrations, sustainable consumption behaviors (e.g., efficient water use, recycling), donations and communal consumption, and an array of artistic endeavors (e.g., music, painting). Over the years, unfortunately, the field of consumer research has generally underprioritized scholarship for alleviating problems and advancing opportunities of well-being. Related contributions from the Journal of Consumer Research ( JCR ) have been correspondingly irregular. Since its founding in 1974, the Journal of Consumer Research has been the foremost learned outlet of its kind. It has welcomed a diversity of topics and research paradigms and consistently included the highest quality of theoretical advances and methodological sophistication. However, in reviewing the supplement that the journal published in 2004 of all the abstracts of articles it published during its initial 30 years, inconsistencies and gaps of research on human and earthly welfare become clear. Splitting the first 30 …

Rhetorical issues in writing interpretivist consumer research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumer researchers working in the interpretivist tradition go about composing well founded theorized storylines, in order to convince audiences of the soundness of the theory‐building which emanates from their studies.Design/methodology/approach – An analytical framework was derived from Golden‐Biddle and Locke's study of organizational ethnographers to see how they made their accounts convincing to their audiences. Golden‐Biddle and Locke's analysis revealed 3Ds – authenticity, plausibility and criticality (each with a variety of sub‐dimensions) – that played key rhetorical roles in convincing readers.Findings – Using this analytical framework (summarized in three tables), examples from a variety of authors' work in Journal of Consumer Research ( JCR) were drawn upon to illustrate how interpretivist consumer behaviour authors tackled these three key dimensions: authenticity, plausibility and criticality.Research limitations/implications – Only a lim...

Compulsive buying: Does it matter how it’s measured?

The primary purpose of the present study is to compare and contrast the validity and reliability of the Faber and O’Guinn [Faber, R. J., & O’Guinn, T. C. (1992). A clinical screener for compulsive buying. Journal of Consumer Research, 19, 459–469] and Edwards [Edwards, E. A. (1993). Development of a new scale for measuring compulsive buying behavior. Financial Counseling and Planning, 4, 67–84] compulsive buying scales within a nomological network. Although both psychometric scales were designed to measure compulsive buying, the two instruments appear to be distinct in how they conceptualize the compulsive buying phenomenon. The seven-item compulsive buying scale developed by Faber and O’Guinn (1992) is the most commonly used scale for measuring compulsive buying. The Edwards scale in contrast is not as well-known. Empirical results of the present study suggest that the two compulsive buying scales may be capturing either separate constructs, or different dimensions of the same compulsive buying construct. Edwards (1993) compulsive buying scale, for instance, is correlated with materialism but not with attitudes toward money while the Faber and O’Guinn scale is not correlated with materialism but is correlated with attitudes toward money. The present study’s results suggest, among other things, that it does in fact appear to matter how compulsive buying is measured.

Trying to prosume: toward a theory of consumers as co-creators of value

One important aspect in the service-dominant logic in marketing is the role of customers as co-creators of value. This role typically involves producing products for own consumption, i.e. what Toffler referred to as “prosumption.” This study explores the motivational mechanisms underlying people’s prosumption propensity. A theoretical framework that incorporates ideas from value research and attitude theory, specifically the “theory of trying” (Bagozzi and Warshaw in Journal of Consumer Research 17:127–140, 1990), is developed and tested in the empirical context of food prosumption. The results based on a survey of 380 households show that global values influence domain-specific values in food prosumption, and domain-specific values then affect attitudes, self-efficacy, and on-going behavior before ultimately shaping intentions to engage in prosumption in the future.

Hearth and Hotmail

Hearth and Hotmail