Canan Corus

The Philosophy and Methods of Deliberative Democracy: Implications for Public Policy and Marketing

Urgent social problems increasingly arise at the intersection of the interests of business leaders, policy makers, and consumers. The authors argue that deliberative democracy offers a fruitful approach for understanding marketings impact on society by revealing the complex and often conflicting network of interests among stakeholders. Deliberative methods hold promise for easing constraints on civic engagement and increasing consumer empowerment. The authors explore the historical and philosophical underpinnings of deliberative democracy. Specifically, they evaluate popular methods and applications of deliberative democracy and examine the implications for public policy and marketing.

The “Response-to-Failure” Scale: Predicting Behavior Following Initial Self-Control Failure

Whereas most existing self-control research and scales focus on singular self-control choice, the current work examines sequential self-control behavior. Specifically, this research focuses on behavior following initial self-control failure, identifying a set of key cognitive and emotional responses to initial failure that jointly underlie post-failure behavior. The tendency to experience these responses is captured in a new scale, the Response-to-Failure scale, which the authors develop and test in three consumer domains: eating, spending, and cheating. The results support the use of the same emotional and cognitive factors to predict post-failure behavior across these three domains, providing evidence of the generalizability of the scale structure. The data support the scales structure, nomological and discriminant validity, and test–retest reliability across five studies. In five additional studies, the scales predictive validity is demonstrated beyond other existing relevant scales. The authors also develop and test a short form of each domain scale. Finally, the authors discuss the implications for understanding post-failure behavior and suggest practical uses for the scale.

Poverty and Intersectionality: A Multidimensional Look into the Lives of the Impoverished

Subsistence consumers are disadvantaged and marginalized on many levels, including financial deprivation, poor health, lack of access to resources, and social stigmatization. The disadvantages experienced by subsistence consumers are interconnected and co-constitutive; being disadvantaged in one domain often intersects with other disadvantages, contributing to an overall vulnerability within the market system. Drawing from the intersectionality paradigm, the authors examine an overlooked low-income community that shares elements of subsistence contexts. The findings reveal multiple ways in which a trailer park community residents experience and manage intertwined disadvantages. Several overlapping identity categories (i.e., socio-economic status, health status, and type of housing) vis-à-vis structural and relational dynamics are fleshed out. Implications for research on subsistence marketplaces and the usefulness of the intersectionality approach for macromarketing research are discussed.

Moralities in food and health research

Abstract Society has imposed strict rules about what constitutes a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ food and ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ eating behaviour at least since antiquity. Today, the moral discourse of what we should and should not eat is perhaps stronger than ever, and it informs consumers, researchers and policy-makers about what we all should consume, research and regulate. We propose four types of moralities, underlying sets of moral assumptions, that orient the contemporary discourses of food and health: the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ nature of food items, the virtue of self-control and moderation, the management of body size and the actions of market agents. We demonstrate how these moralities influence consumer behaviour as well as transformative research of food and health and develop a critical discussion of the impact of the underlying morality in each domain. We conclude by providing a few guidelines for changes in research questions, designs and methodologies for future research and call for a general reflection on the consequences of the uncovered moralities in research on food and health towards an inclusive view of food well-being.

An intersectionality framework for transformative services research

The authors introduce the theory of intersectionality which refers to the interactivity of social identities such as race, class, and gender in shaping individuals’ experiences. Intersectionality is explored using cases and examples from healthcare services, which involve high contact encounters with consumers who may possess multiple disadvantages (e.g. low income, illness, immigrant status) and therefore make for interesting contexts for intersectional analyses. Intersectionality is proposed as a framework that can shed light on the experiences of consumers who belong to multiple disadvantaged social groups, such as being black and low income, immigrant, and in poor health. Detailed guidelines for conducting intersectionality-driven services research are provided, which take into account the interconnected nature of multiple disadvantages. The authors emphasize that intersectionality offers a holistic look at the co-created nature of services and it can be instrumental in designing tailored and fair services to improve consumer and societal well-being.

Critical Literacy Programs: Can Business Literacy be a Catalyst for Economic and Social Change?

While literacy is widely believed to be a driver of well-being and economic development, the actual performance of many literacy programs fails to deliver on these promises. Many existing literacy programs are based on an autonomous model of literacy, which assumes that literacy skills are ideologically neutral and can be easily applied, regardless of the social context. Yet literacy practices are socially constructed and can serve to reinforce the status quo and existing interests or these practices can be used to challenge inequities and inspire social change. An ideological model of literacy is used to critique a range of literacy programs that employ livelihood training and various forms of business literacy. Finally, the role of business literacy practices as an impetus for change is explored.

Exploring spatial vulnerability: inequality and agency formulations in social space

Abstract The authors derive from critical urban geography and consumer research on vulnerability to investigate the ways in which vulnerability within social space is shaped and negotiated. Multiple power dynamics and ideological tension around the production and consumption of social space are explored through diverse examples within the contexts of spaces of consumption, public space as shared good and digital space. The authors offer a conceptualisation of spatial vulnerability and a framework to understand, critique and transform socio-spatial disadvantages. The spatial perspective offered in this article illuminates the ways in which marketplace vulnerability can be institutionalised and become pervasive through and within spaces of everyday life. Yet, the creative and radical potential of social space in managing spatial disadvantages is also explored along with theoretical, managerial, public policy and practical implications.

Transforming Poverty-Related Policy with Intersectionality

Despite progress toward poverty alleviation, policy making still lags in thinking about how individuals experience poverty as overlapping sources of disadvantage. Using the lens of intersectionality, this article identifies the gaps that arise from a conventional focus on isolated facets of poverty. Insights generated from an analysis of extant scholarship are used to develop a road map to help policy makers develop programs that address the complex experience of poverty and promote transformative solutions.

Towards a Macromarketing and Consumer Culture Theory Intersection: Participatory and Deliberative Methodologies

This article provides a discussion on the use of an alternative paradigm towards a cross-fertilization of CCT and macromarketing. Researchers at the intersection of CCT and macromarketing can benefit from both research traditions’ relative strength: the deep sociocultural focus of CCT and the structural lens of Macromarketing. To facilitate this dialogue, the authors propose an innovative and inclusive approach to research design and data collection. More specifically, the action research paradigm that is driven by an agenda for an egalitarian participation into the social sphere, a multidimensional wellbeing, and a reflexive social change is introduced. The discussion on an action research-driven research design and methodology also builds upon the key insights of Macromarketing and CCT traditions and offers a detailed framework for researchers who wish to bring an alternative and fresh look into a CCT/Macromarketing alliance.