James E. Burroughs

Materialism and Well-Being: A Conflicting Values Perspective

Over the past decade, materialism has emerged as an important research topic. Materialism is generally viewed as the value placed on the acquisition of material objects. Previous research finds that high levels of material values are negatively associated with subjective well-being. However, relatively little is known about the relationship between materialism and well-being within the broader context of an individuals value system. In this article, we examine the relationship between material values and other important life values. In addition, we draw on values theory to examine a novel conceptualization of why materialism is antithetical to well-being. Specifically, our theory proposes that the individual orientation of material values conflicts with collective-oriented values, such as family values and religious values. This state of values conflict creates psychological tension, and this tension is associated with a reduced sense of well-being. Using both a survey sample of 373 adults from across the United States and an experimental study of 120 college students, we find considerable support for this conflicting values perspective. Copyright 2002 by the University of Chicago.

Do Reverse-Worded Items Confound Measures in Cross-Cultural Consumer Research? The Case of the Material Values Scale

Most measures of consumer behavior have been developed and employed in the United States. Thus, relatively little is known about the cross-cultural applicability of these measures. Using Richins and Dawsons (1992) Material Values Scale (MVS) as an exemplar, this article focuses on the problems researchers are likely to encounter when employing domestic mixed-worded scales (i.e., scales that contain both positive- and reverse-worded items) in cross-cultural applications. Through an initial study among over 800 adults from the United States, Singapore, Thailand, Japan, and Korea, we show that the cross-cultural measurement equivalence and construct validity of the MVS is challenged by its mixed-worded Likert format. Through a second study among approximately 400 Americans and East Asians, we find that other mixed-worded scales produce similar problems and that the cross-cultural applicability of such scales may be enhanced by replacing items posed as statements with items framed as questions. Copyright 2003 by the University of Chicago.

The Safety of Objects: Materialism, Existential Insecurity, and Brand Connection

Over the past 2 decades, a large body of research has examined how materialism is formed and how this value influences well-being. Although these studies have substantially contributed to our understanding of materialism, they shed little light on this values relationship to consumer behavior. Our research seeks to address this gap by examining the influence of materialism on self- and communal-brand connections. We ground our conceptualization in terror management theory and suggest that materialistic individuals form strong connections to their brands as a response to existential insecurity. We test this premise by conducting a national survey among 314 adults as well as an experiment among 125 college students. Our results provide broad support for our thesis and suggest that the fear of death encourages materialistic individuals to form strong connections with their brands. (c) 2008 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Exploring Antecedents and Consequences of Consumer Creativity in a Problem-Solving Context

Creativity is an underresearched topic in consumer behavior, yet integral in many instances of consumer problem solving. Two experiments were conducted to investigate antecedents and consequences of creativity in a consumption context. The results indicate that both situational factors (i.e., time constraints, situational involvement) and person factors (i.e., locus of control, metaphoric thinking ability) affect creative consumption and that some of these variables have interactive influences. The results also show that acting creatively enhances positive affect.

Television's Cultivation of Material Values

Prior research has shown that television viewing cultivates perceptions of the prevalence of societal affluence through a memory-based process that relies on the application of judgmental heuristics. This article extends this research by examining (1) whether cultivation effects generalize to consumer values such as materialism and (2) whether these values judgments are also processed in a heuristic manner. Data from both a survey and an experiment suggest that television cultivates materialism through an online process in which televisions influence is enhanced by active (rather than heuristic) processing during viewing. This finding stands in contrast to the cultivation of prevalence judgments, which are attenuated by active processing during judgment elicitation. (c) 2005 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..

Pursuing the Meaning of Meaning in the Commercial World: An International Review of Marketing and Consumer Research Founded on Semiotics

From product design and packaging to advertising and retailing, marketers are continually seeking to strategically facilitate meanings that contribute positively to brand images, purchase likelihood, satisfaction, and the like. For their part, consumers are continually acquiring, using, sharing experiences, and disposing in substantial accordance with the meanings they attribute to products, ads, purchase sites, and so forth. However, meaning was underprioritized in marketing and consumer research until the last two decades, partly because it is one of the most complex phenomena to theorize and investigate. As researchers focused more on meaning, hundreds of books and articles drew upon the doctrine of semiotics, which is the study of communication and meaning in terms of the nature and processes of signs (both verbal and non-verbal). The burgeoning scholarship, not surprisingly, was eclectic, fragmented, far-spread, and written in numerous languages, leaving many uncertainties about the contributions of semiotics. In this project, we collected and integrated relevant worldwide research, and we assessed what semiotics has provided for advancing knowledge on meaning in marketing and consumer behavior. We focused on the manner in which semiotics addresses and, in some instances, resolves important intellectual questions about meaning at each stage of an expanded version of McCrackens (1986) model of meaning movement in consumer society. We discuss at each stage the trends and variations in the use of semiotic paradigms, methodological approaches, levels of analyses, geographic origins of scholarship, emphases on different substantive topics, and future research needs. Overall, our review uncovers a profusion, maturation, and rising value of semiotic research on marketing and consumer behavior since the mid-1980s. We finish with a discussion of the continuing intellectual challenges in the area, and we draw some encompassing conclusions on the nature, merits, and future of semiotics in marketing and consumer research.

Facilitating and Rewarding Creativity During New Product Development

In an effort to improve creativity in the new product development process, many firms offer incentive programs, creativity training programs, or both. However, creativity continues to be a construct that is not well understood in marketing, and little research has examined the joint influence of such initiatives on creative outcomes. As a result, there is considerable variance in the way firms approach these issues. A qualitative study of 20 firms indicates that 15 offered some type of incentive program, whereas only 7 engaged in creativity training (a subset of the firms used both). Given that previous research has consistently found that extrinsic rewards offered in isolation actually undermine the creative process (by reducing intrinsic motivation), it seems that many firms may be unwittingly hampering their own creative efforts. However, two experiments demonstrate that the effect of rewards can be made positive if offered in conjunction with appropriate training. Specifically, product creativity was highest when the monetary reward was paired with a dedicated creative training technique. The training alters the influence of the reward such that it reinforces, rather than undermines, intrinsic motivation. Managers can improve the effectiveness of their creative efforts by leveraging the use of incentives and training in combination.

Can Consumer Culture be Contained? Comment on ‘‘Marketing Means and Ends for a Sustainable Society’’

In his wide-ranging essay on the conditions of the modern marketplace, Varey (2010) rebukes the Western capitalist system and its primacy of individual interest, economic growth, and profit motive. Though Varey’s discussion covers a lot of territory, he essentially makes two points: (1) the current system of ever-expanding production and consumption is unsustainable and will ultimately collapse (sowing a lot of individual discontent along the way), and (2) a new system is needed, one founded on a notion of ‘‘welfare marketing,’’ where marketing’s role is to promote sustainability over growth, provisioning over selling, and social over material consumption (see table 1 of his essay). Varey joins a growing chorus of scholars and social activists concerned by the excesses of consumer culture (Dauvergne 2008; DeGraaf, Wann, and Naylor 2002; Frank 1999; Hamilton 2003; Jackson 2009; Kasser 2002; Kassiola 1990; Mick 2006; Myers 2000; Schor 1998; Schwartz 2000; Scitovsky 1992; Speth 2008). The departure point of Varey’s essay is his proposed reformulation of the role of marketing in society. I have been asked to comment on Varey’s essay and thank the Editor for this invitation. Varey is to be lauded for taking on a complex topic, and I hope that marketing and consumer researchers will do more to take up the challenges of overconsumption. While I have no illusions that we will resolve this issue fully here, I will try to clarify what I think are some contradictory positions adopted by Varey in his essay. It seems sensible to consider his two major points in order, first his critique of the free market system and then his proposed alternative of welfare marketing.

Using motivation theory to develop a transformative consumer research agenda for reducing materialism in society

Materialism represents a pervasive value in contemporary society and one that is associated with multiple negative consequences. Although a considerable amount of research has documented these consequences, little research has examined how materialism levels might be reduced. This article presents a research agenda for reducing materialism. The authors begin with an overview of the motivation theory of materialism, a humanistic perspective that holds that materialism is often an outward manifestation of deeper unmet psychological needs and insecurities. Thus, research that contributes to reducing materialism should do so by addressing these more fundamental inadequacies. To this end, the authors outline three emergent research areas that have potential to reduce materialism by enhancing self-esteem—namely, experiential consumption, prosocial giving, and healthy social development in children. The authors review research in each area, consider its relevance to the materialism question, and propose future research directions. They also present the public policy implications of these discussions.

What welfare?: On the definition and domain of transformative consumer research and the foundational role of materialism

M. Csikszentmihalyi, Foreword: Consuming and Evolving. Part 1: Declaring and Projecting Transformative Consumer Research D.G. Mick, S. Pettigrew, C. Pechmann, J.L. Ozanne, The Origins, Qualities, and Envisionments of Transformative Consumer Research. A.R. Andreasen, M.E. Goldberg, M.J. Sirgy, Foundational Research on Consumer Welfare: Opportunities for a Transformative Consumer Research Agenda. B. Wansink, Activism Research: Designing Transformative Lab and Field Studies. J.L. Ozanne, E.M. Fischer, Sensitizing Principles and Practices Central to Social Change Methodologies. Part 2: Economic and Social Issues M. Viswanathan, Conducting Transformative Consumer Research: Lessons Learned in Moving from Basic Research to Transformative Impact in Subsistence Markets. C.J. Shultz II, S.J. Shapiro,Transformative Consumer Research in Developing Economies: Perspectives, Trends, and Reflections from the Field. J.A. Rosa, S. Geiger-Oneta, A. Barrios Fajardo, Hope and Innovativeness: Transformative Factors for Subsistence Consumer Merchants. J.D. Williams, G.R. Henderson, Discrimination and Injustice in the Marketplace: They Come in All Sizes, Shapes, and Colors. Part 3: Technological Edges D.L. Hoffman, Internet Indispensability, Online Social Capital, and Consumer Well-Being. R.V. Kozinets, F.M. Belz, P. McDonagh, Social Media for Social Change: A TCR Perspective. T.P. Novak, Quality of Virtual Life. Part 4: Materialism and the Environment J.E. Burroughs, A. Rindfleisch, What Welfare? On the Definition and Domain of Transformative Consumer Research and the Foundational Role of Materialism. P. McDonagh, S. Dobscha, A. Prothero, Sustainable Consumption and Production: Challenges for Transformative Consumer Research. W. Kilbourne, J. Mittelstaedt, From Profligacy to Sustainability: Can We Get There from Here? Transforming the Ideology of Consumption. Part 5: Enhancing Health S. A. Grier, E.S. Moore, Tackling the Childhood Obesity Epidemic: An Opportunity for Transformative Consumer Research. K.G. Grunert, L.E. Bolton, M.M. Raats, Processing and Acting upon Nutrition Labeling on Food: The State of Knowledge and New Directions for Transformative Consumer Research. C. Pechmann, A. Biglan, J.W. Grube, C. Cody, Transformative Consumer Research for Addressing Tobacco and Alcohol Consumption. M. Fishbein, S. E. Middlestadt, Using Behavioral Theory to Transform Consumers and Their Environment to Prevent the Spread of Sexually Transmitted Infections. Part 6: Consumer Finances G. Loewenstein, C.E. Cryder, S. Benartzi, A. Previtero, Addition by Division: Partitioning Real Accounts for Financial Well-Being. D. Soman, A. Cheema, E.Y. Chan, Understanding Consumer Psychology to Avoid Abuse of Credit Cards. P.A. Keller, A. Lusardi, Employee Retirement Savings: What We Know and What We Are Discovering for Helping People to Prepare for Life after Work. Part 7: Other Risky Behaviors and At-Risk Consumers R.J. Faber, K.D. Vohs, A Model of Self-Regulation: Insights for Impulsive and Compulsive Problems with Eating and Buying. J. Cotte, K.A. LaTour, Gambling Beliefs vs. Reality: Implications for Transformative Public Policy. J.M. Albright, Porn 2.0: The Libidinal Economy and the Consumption of Desire in the Digital Age. A. Litt, D.M. Pirouz, B. Shiv, Neuroscience and Addictive Consumption. S. Menzel Baker, M. Mason, Toward a Process Theory of Consumer Vulnerability and Resiliency: Illuminating Its Transformative Potential. S. Pettigrew, G. Moschis, Consumer Well-Being in Later Life. Part 8: Family Matters R.J. Prinz, Effective Parenting to Prevent Adverse Outcomes and Promote Child Well-Being at a Population Level. A.M. Epp, L.L. Price, Family Time in Consumer Culture: Implications for Transformative Consumer Research. Part 9: Enriching Behaviors and Virtues R. Belk, R. Llamas, The Nature and Effects of Sharing in Consumer Behavior. S.R. Maddi, Resilience and Consumer Behavior for Higher Quality of Life. D.G. Mick, B. Schwartz, Can Consumers Be Wise? Aristotle Speaks to the 21st Century. Part 10: Epilogue D.R. Lehmann, R.P. Hill, Epilogue to Transformative Consumer Research: Suggestions for the Future.In this chapter, we will give a brief introduction to the current practice of nutrition labeling in the USA and the EU. We will then address the question of how nutrition labeling affects consumer behavior, reviewing extant research and proposing an agenda for future research. Our discussion will focus on the effects of nutrition labeling that occur via their impact on consumer behavior. Labeling may also have effects on the supply side: For example, as labeling makes certain nutritional properties of a product more visible, new product development and product reformulation may take place to create positive nutritional profiles. Such effects, while potentially very important from a public health perspective, will not be addressed in this chapter (see Moorman, 1998 and Moorman, Du & Mela, 2005 for investigation of such effects).