Melissa S. Burnett

Conceptualizing Guilt in the Consumer Decision‐making Process

Consumer purchase decisions can be influenced by many emotions, including guilt. Guilt which enters into the consumer purchase decision is identified as “consumer guilt” and may provide opportunities for marketers to influence the consumer decision process. A negative emotion which results from a consumer decision that violates one′s values or norms, explores the consumer guilt construct in a series of focus groups. The groups were composed of subjects representing various age, religious affiliation, occupation, and income groups. Four types of consumer guilt were identified: financial; health; moral; and financial responsibility. Consumer guilt is further classified in terms of anticipatory and reactive states, occurring in both decisions to purchase as well as not to purchase, and as it relates to focus on oneself or others.

Marketing Product Innovations to the Elderly: Understanding the Barriers to Adoption

Discusses five barriers to new product adoption by older people. Offers marketing solutions to these barriers: sell value, communicate through children, segment the elderly market, design intergenerational products, utilize relationship marketing and promote product trial. Concludes that marketing innovations to the elderly is different than for other age groups, with a requirement to focus specifically on need, not newness.

Managerial and Peer Influence on Ethical Behavioral Intentions in a Personal Selling Context

This article evaluates the relationship between the ethical behavioral intentions of 374 future salespeople and the ethical climate of the firm. The ethical philosophy (high or low) of top management, immediate sales managers, and the peers of potential sales people were examined to see if they influenced: (1) comfort levels with the philosophy of the firm and (2) likelihood of engaging in unethical sales behavior. Ethical behavior measures included 14 situations such as deceptive sales tactics, deceptive pricing, and unethical behavior toward the employer.