Isabelle Szmigin

Shopping for a better world? An interpretive study of the potential for ethical consumption within the older market

This paper presents an interpretive study of older consumers and their potential for ethical consumption. Although latterly marketers are recognising the value of older consumers, research has not yet examined their attitudes and behaviour towards ethical consumption. From the collection of individual interviews conducted for this study, it would seem that older people share a sense of moral responsibility in their purchase behaviour, and as a community are willing to engage in affirmative purchasing and boycotting. Although there are perceived barriers to their participation in broader ethical purchasing activities, they would appear to be a potentially significant force in the consumer resistance movement. The findings suggest that as a group, older consumers should be considered as an important target market for ethical marketers who wish to benefit from their collective sense of social obligation.

Three forms of innovation resistance: the case of retail payment methods

Abstract Research on the market reaction to consumer innovations has almost exclusively concentrated on the characteristics and behaviours of the adopters of new products. Non-acceptance of innovations has generally been attributed to the failure of “laggards” to keep up with the times. From a study of the cognitive styles of users of debit and credit cards, three varieties of innovation resistance were identified: rejection, postponement and opposition. It is suggested that innovation resistance can no longer be regarded as a potentially negative aspect of target markets for new goods and services but rather a response based on rational choices. From a managerial perspective the reasons why new products are not accepted, which may be identified from a qualitative research approach, should prove useful in further new product development.

Online community: enhancing the relationship marketing concept through customer bonding

Purpose – To revisit relationship marketing in the context of the digital economy.Design/methodology/approach – The paper develops a conceptual framework (the customer bonding triangle) that enables greater understanding of the contributions of service delivery and online communities in the development of bonds in interactive relationships. The function of the three key elements of the framework (namely service value, technical infrastructure and interactivity) in enabling bonding via internet communities, is developed.Findings – Suggests that firms rethink the role and nature of the consumer and that in order to facilitate bonding firms must make use of systems that are tightly integrated yet can also incorporate flexibility to help develop better understanding amongst participants.Originality/value – Provides a framework to help understand key elements in interactive relationships.

From relationships to experiences in retail financial services

This study investigates the nature of customer‐supplier interaction that currently exists within Irish retail financial services. Specifically, issues relating to the role, meaning and importance of financial service interaction within the context of current demand‐ and supply‐side relationship marketing issues are explored. Although the literature proposes that the relationship marketing (RM) approach is particularly applicable to the financial services sector, the research findings raise questions as to the appropriateness of general RM theory to the current nature of interaction between consumers and their financial services providers. In an age of increased depersonalisation and automation impacting upon financial service quality and delivery, the paper questions the relevance of the “relationship” concept and proposes the notion of an “experience” as a far more relevant and meaningful construct. The nature and importance of this experience to consumers is explored and three levels of customer experience are conceptualised which are identified as brand, transactional and relationship experience.

The Older Consumer as Innovator: Does Cognitive Age hold the Key?

In the light of changing demographics and the increasing importance of the older consumer to marketing, this paper seeks to identify whether some older consumers may be identified as more innovative in their consumption than others. As a first step towards a fuller understanding of these consumers, the authors suggest using and comparing two measures, one related to domain specific innovative behaviour and the other concerned with the cognitive age of consumers. It was proposed that those consumers with a younger cognitive age might be more likely to be innovative in their consumption behaviour than others of the same chronological age. In this study the authors looked at innovative behaviour towards holiday destinations. The authors found no evidence of a younger cognitive age being linked to domain-specific innovativeness and suggest that this could be due to older consumers becoming increasingly ageless in their consumption behaviour.

Explicit, non-integrated product placement in British television programmes

The rapid increase in the volume and variety of product placement approaches has outpaced research in the field. There is a marked shortage of studies that address particular product placement (pp) techniques in specified situational contexts. This paper reports the category of pp known as explicit, non-integrated product placement in the context of British television programmes. The study used a small convenience sample of young, mixed-nationality TV viewers who were familiar with the British and non-British shows on British commercial TV. Their attitudes to and recognition of pp in this context were explored. The findings are set within a wider-ranging review of previous research, and suggest important implications for promotional practice and fu ture research.

Inhabiting the contradictions: Hypersexual femininity and the culture of intoxication among young women in the UK

This paper contributes to debates on post-feminism and the constitution of contemporary femininity via an exploration of young women’s alcohol consumption and their involvement in normative drinking cultures. We view femininity as a profoundly contradictory and dilemmatic space which appears almost impossible for girls or young women to inhabit. The juxtaposition of hyper-sexual femininity and the culture of intoxication produces a particularly difficult set of dilemmas for young women. They are exhorted to be sassy and independent – but not feminist; to be ‘up for it’ and to drink and get drunk alongside young men – but not to ‘drink like men’. They are also called on to look and act as agentically sexy within a pornified night-time economy, but to distance themselves from the troubling figure of the ‘drunken slut’. Referring to recent research on young women’s alcohol consumption and our own study on young adults’ involvement in the culture of intoxication in the UK, we consider the ways in which young women manage to inhabit this terrain, and the implications for contemporary feminism and safer drinking initiatives.

Consumer equity in relationship marketing

The paper examines the current state of relationship marketing in the consumer services market. It questions whether relationships are mutually beneficial to suppliers and customers and argues that the relationship is managed by the retailer primarily for their gain whereas the customer might benefit more from alternative, immediate rewards. This leads to a consideration of how value and equity within relationship marketing might be viewed using social psychology as a basis for re‐examining the nature of supplier‐customer relationships. Concepts from branding and brand repertoires are also considered in terms of understanding what type of relationship might be most appropriate for consumers. Two case studies are explored to support the suggestion that some consumers are looking for different types of relationship to those currently on offer. Management must consider carefully what this might imply both in terms of future consumer behaviour and how competitive action between retailers may develop.

Managing Quality in Business‐to‐business Services

Focuses on business‐to‐business services and requirements for different types of quality in suppliers′ relationships with clients. Reviews the relevant literature in the areas of quality, relationship marketing and services. Goes on to classify quality and satisfaction in this area under the headings of “hard”, “soft” and “outcome” quality. Draws attention to the industrial buying literature where the importance of developing and maintaining relationships has been well covered. Proposes different clients will have different requirements, particularly in the areas of hard and soft quality, both between one another and over time. Studying and meeting, where feasible, individual clients′ requirements may improve the relationship and prove profitable for both partners. Concludes by charting some problems and opportunities that arise during a business‐to‐business service relationship and presents the idea of the “relationship cycle” as a means of identifying this process in detail.

Social marketing, individual responsibility and the “culture of intoxication”

Purpose – Social marketing initiatives designed to address the UKs culture of unhealthy levels of drinking among young adults have achieved inconclusive results to date. The paper aims to investigate the gap between young peoples perceptions of alcohol consumption and those of government agencies who seek to influence their behaviour set within a contextualist framework.Design/methodology/approach – The authors present empirical evidence from a major study that suggests that the emphasis of recent campaigns on individual responsibility may be unlikely to resonate with young drinkers. The research included a meaning‐based and visual rhetoric analysis of 261 ads shown on TV, in magazines, on billboards and on the internet between 2005 and 2006. This was followed by 16 informal group discussions with 89 young adults in three locations.Findings – The research identified the importance of the social context of young peoples drinking. The research reveals how a moral position has been culturally constructed ...