Carolyn Costley

Comparative versus noncomparative advertising: A meta-analysis.

Previous research and reviews on comparative advertising report mixed results. The authors report the results from a meta-analysis that examines the efficacy of comparative advertising. The analysi...

Consumer Affective Reactions to Product Problems When the Timing of Warranty Expiration Varies

Abstract An experiment explored how timing of product failure in relation to warranty coverage influences consumers’ affective reactions to product breakdowns. A total of 131 subjects read scenarios describing a recently purchased product needing repairs and the warranty coverage on the product. Consumers’ reactions to product breakdown were examined by collecting and analyzing the affects expressed in subjects’ thought listings (e.g., anger, happiness, defiance, regret). When the breakdown just missed being covered by the warranty subjects reported more anger compared to when the problem occurred within the warranty coverage period or long after warranty expiration. Conversely, when the breakdown occurred just prior to warranty expiration, subjects reported more happiness compared to when the breakdown occurred earlier.

Spirals of distrust vs spirals of trust in retail customer service: consumers as victims or allies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine “nasty” retail shopping experiences. The paper aims to consider implications of distrust related to theft control measures in retail customer service.Design/methodology/approach – Storytelling as a “memory‐work” method draws on phenomenology, hermeneutics, and the narrative. Researchers and participants worked together as co‐researchers to analyze and interpret “lived” experiences contained in their written personal stories. The authors extend this understanding in the context of existing literature.Findings – Distrust pervaded the stories, which focused on shoplifting accusations (real and imagined). As a violation of implicit trust, distrust provoked intense moral emotions, damaged identities, and fuelled retaliation. Findings illustrate a pervasive downward “spiral of distrust” in the retail context.Practical implications – Results suggest that retailers use store personnel rather than technological surveillance to control theft. Interacting with custom...

Capturing their dream: Video diaries and minority consumers

This paper describes the characteristics and benefits of a visual ethnography method called “video diary.” The authors illustrate the special features of the method based on their experiences in using it to understand consumer acculturation of Pacific Islanders in New Zealand. In brief, research participants benefit from the control and voice that video diaries give them. Researchers benefit from “saturated description” and collaborative analysis. The benefits of video diaries are particularly suited to ethnographic research with people from collectivist or vulnerable groups. Video diaries can be used alone or along with other ethnographic methods and the authors recommend them to consumer researchers, who want to understand routine and private aspects of consumers’ lives or any aspect of culture. Their range of use is limited only by one’s imagination.

Happiness, Consumption, and Being

Does having things make people happy; does buying, consuming, or giving bring happiness? In an increasingly materialistic era, it seems that people might believe so. Despite our consumption culture, research tells us that the desire for material possessions relates more to unhappiness than to happiness (Belk, 1985; Burroughs & Rindfleisch, 2002; Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; La Barbera & Gurhan, 1997; Mick, 1996; Richins, 1987; Sirgy et al., 1998). Economists find that subjective well-being increases, then levels off as national levels of discretionary income increase (Csikszentmihalyi, 1999; Diener, 2000; Meyers, 2000). Furthermore, many economists cite correspondence between happiness and relative income (Blanchflower & Oswald, 2004; Solnick & Hemenway, 1998; Stutzer, 2003) to explain the stagnation of average happiness despite rises in national incomes. Increasing one persons income relative to others decreases the others’ happiness so that pursuing money to achieve happiness becomes a zero-sum affair; average national happiness does not change (Lee, 2006).

Being the Victim: Retail Crime and Loss Prevention

Shoplifting is an issue for retailers. / Extensive research on retail crime and its costs highlights the need for retailers to counter shrinkage costs. This paper, however, highlights a tension between preventing losses and building relationships. Viewing loss prevention as a technical problem disregards the negative relational consequences for consumers, employees, retailers, and society.