Andrea Prothero

Sustainable Consumption and the Quality of Life: A Macromarketing Challenge to the Dominant Social Paradigm

This article argues that micromarketing cannot examine the relationship between sustainable consumption and the quality of life critically because the essence of the relationship lies in the dominant social paradigm. Only macromarketing can address this relationship effectively. It is within the intellectual purview of macromarketing to expand the domain of inquiry to include technological, political, and economic benefits and costs of consumption, thus challenging the paradigm itself

Sustainable Consumption: Opportunities for Consumer Research and Public Policy

This essay explores sustainable consumption and considers possible roles for marketing and consumer researchers and public policy makers in addressing the many sustainability challenges that pervade the planet. Future research approaches to this interdisciplinary topic must be comprehensive and systematic and would benefit from a variety of different perspectives. There are several opportunities for further research; the authors explore three areas in detail. First, they consider the inconsistency between the attitudes and behaviors of consumers with respect to sustainability. Second, they broaden the agenda to explore the role of individual citizens in society. Third, they propose a macroinstitutional approach to fostering sustainability. For each of these separate, but interrelated, opportunities, the authors examine the area in detail and consider possible research avenues and public policy initiatives.

Education Leadership Styles Impact on Work Performance and Morale of Staff

This paper examines the impact of these trends on the role of the marketing department in the J990s. Essentially, when the buying habits of consumers are being strangely influenced by green and other environmental issues, the paper argues that the marketing concept and subsequent strategies need to be rethought. The paper then imaginatively develops the concept of societal marketing within this framework, arguing for the need for a long term marketing perspective rather than the short term window dressing approach taken by many marketing departments.

The European consumers’ understanding and perceptions of the “organic” food regime: The case of aquaculture

This paper explores consumer understanding and perception of organic food, with specific reference to the relatively new concept of organic farmed salmon. Key themes associated with the term “organic” and its meaning, as determined by consumers, are explored and the role of labelling and regulatory authorities considered. Focus groups in five countries (UK, Germany, Spain, Norway and France) consisting of 196 participants showed that most consumers are confused about the meaning of the term organic and are largely unaware of the organic certification and labelling process. Many consumers were unsure, even sceptical about the concept of organic farmed salmon and display a large amount of distrust in the regulatory process. The implications for the concept of organic food and salmon production and directions for further research are discussed.

Is Green the New Black? Reflections on a Green Commodity Discourse

This article examines the global sustainability movement through the lens of a green commodity discourse as introduced by Prothero and Fitchett. The current wave of sustainability efforts and initiatives is different from the previous incarnations in that it is more global and systems oriented. The authors submit that a green commodity discourse has begun to move the sustainability discourse away from the bonds of the dominant social paradigm (DSP) and toward a more holistic and global perspective. The authors conclude that a new typology that delineates consumption from citizenry will better encapsulate the values and behaviors of green consumers. This new typology allows for better representation of those consumers who are choosing to live a greener lifestyle on a grander scale. These new green citizens reflect more the sustainability ideas and efforts discussed here and seen worldwide.

Greening Capitalism: Opportunities for a Green Commodity

In this article, the authors argue that greater ecological enlightenment can be secured through capitalism by using the characteristics of commodity culture to further progress environmental goals. The authors reject both naive ecological romanticism and revolutionary idealism on the grounds that they fail to offer any pragmatic basis by which greater environmental responsibility can be achieved. Drawing on the now well-established theoretical tradition of post-Marxist cultural criticism, the authors offer a conceptual justification for the development and implementation of a green commodity discourse. For this to be achieved and implemented, prevailing paradigms regarding the structure, nature, and characteristics of capitalism must be revised. Marketing not only has the potential to contribute to the establishment of more sustainable forms of society but, as a principle agent in the operation and proliferation of commodity discourse, also has a considerable responsibility to do so.

Sustainability marketing research: past, present and future

Abstract This paper provides a synthesis and critical assessment of the sustainability marketing literature, from the period 1998–2013, building on a previous assessment from 1971 to 1998. It details research within major marketing journals and critically assesses this research in relation to the on-going conversation which focuses on marketing’s relationship with the natural environment. Differences in the content and depth of sustainability coverage in marketing journals are considered. Potential avenues for future sustainability marketing research are proposed, with a particular call for theoretical and managerial reflections which tackle broader systemic and institutional issues within the discipline.

Buying into motherhood? Problematic consumption and ambivalence in transitional phases

Current theory on transitional consumption seems to rest on the premises that (1) consumption facilitates role transitions; (2) consumers know how to consume their way through these transitions; (3) consumers are motivated to approach new roles; and (4) consumption solves liminality. This perspective, however, offers an incomplete picture of consumption’s role in the management of major life transitions. This article explores the ways in which ambivalence is woven through consumption experiences in times of liminality. It reviews prior research on consumption, role transitions, and ambivalence in the context of women’s transition into motherhood. Findings are presented from an international interpretive study of women’s consumption experiences during their transition to motherhood. This paper’s findings suggest that while consumption can indeed play a positive role during role transitions, it can also, at other times, make transition a complicated, complex and confusing process.Title Buying into motherhood? Problematic consumption and ambivalence in transitional phases Authors(s) VOICE Group; Davies, Andrea; Dobscha, Susan; Geiger, Susi; Prothero, Andrea; et al. Publication date 2010 Publication information Consumption, Markets and Culture, 13 (4): 373-397, Special Issue: Consumer Culture Theory 2008 Publisher Routledge (Taylor & Francis) Item record/more information http://hdl.handle.net/10197/4966 Publishers statement This is an electronic version of an article published in Consumption Markets & Culture, Volume 13, Issue 4, 2010. Consumption Markets & Culture is available online at: www.tandfonline.com//doi/abs/10.1080/10253866.2010.502414 Publishers version (DOI) 10.1080/10253866.2010.502414

Producing Environmentally Acceptable Cosmetics? The Impact of Environmentalism on the United Kingdom Cosmetics and Toiletries Industry

The Cardiff Business School, University of Wales, is currently undertaking a research programme on the influence of environ‐mentalism upon the United Kingdom cosmetics and toiletries market. This paper examines four main areas in relation to the environment and the development of environmentally acceptable products. The survey considers products and their environmentally acceptable attributes; the research of companies into the production of environmentally acceptable products; the production processes of companies and the environmentally conscious activities of companies.

The Institutional Foundations of Materialism in Western Societies: A Conceptualization and Empirical Test

Studies of materialism have increased in recent years, and most of these studies examine various aspects of materialism including its individual or social consequences. However, understanding, and possibly shaping, a society’s materialistic tendencies requires a more complete study of the relationship between a society’s institutional patterns and the acceptance of materialism by its members. Consequently, the current study examines five of the institutional antecedents of materialism to understand better how and why it develops as a mode of consumption within a society. More specifically, a model relating materialism and a set of institutionalized patterns of social behavior referred to as the dominant social paradigm was developed and tested in a study of seven industrial, market-based countries. The results suggest that the economic, technological, political, anthropocentric, and competition institutions making up the dominant social paradigm are all positively related to materialism. The implications of the relationship are then discussed.