Journal of Consumer Marketing

Stephen J. McConnell; Jennifer E. Dubas

doi: 10.1108/07363760410558645pmid: N/A

Unfair and deceptive marketing claims are becoming a mainstay of product liability litigation in the United States, and therefore, marketing experts will continue to play a significant role in these cases. Too often, judges permit individuals with no legitimate expertise in marketing to offer expert opinions about the intent and effect of a defendant company's advertisements. Many times, these opinions are premised on unscientific research or even no research at all. To protect the legitimacy of the marketing discipline, not to mention the litigation process, judges, lawyers, and marketing professionals should apply more stringent standards when determining who qualifies as a marketing expert and when assessing whether that expert's opinions have a legitimate basis.

Samsinar Md. Sidin; Dahlia Zawawi; WongFoong Yee; Ruhana Busu; Zalfa Laili Hamzah

doi: 10.1108/07363760410558654pmid: N/A

The objective of this research is to investigate the effects of sex role orientation on role structure in family decision making in Malaysia. Four different purchase decisions were examined. A total of 240 couples were interviewed separately in four major cities in Malaysia. Structured questionnaires were used to interview husband and wife separately. It was found that there is no difference in sex role orientation among the four cultural groups of families. Also it was found that wives with higher levels of education have more modern sex role orientation. The effect of sex role orientation on wives' relative influence was found for the purchase of furniture, electrical appliances and groceries.

Cheng Lu Wang; Zhen Xiong Chen

doi: 10.1108/07363760410558663pmid: N/A

Previous studies conducted in developed countries have demonstrated that ethnocentric consumers are more willing to buy domestic products. This study investigates the moderating roles of quality judgment of domestic products and conspicuous consumption (CC) in the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and willingness to buy domestic products (WBD) in the context of a developing country, namely the People's Republic of China. The results support the hypothesis that the impact of ethnocentrism on consumer WBD tends to be weaker when consumers judge them as being of lower quality, or when consumers hold higher CC values. The conceptual and managerial implications for developing countries, including China, are discussed.

Marylyn Carrigan; Isabelle Szmigin; Joanne Wright

doi: 10.1108/07363760410558672pmid: N/A

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.

Hyokjin Kwak; George M. Zinkhan; Elizabeth P. Lester Roushanzamir

doi: 10.1108/07363760410558681pmid: N/A

Compulsion to buy is an important but neglected aspect of consumer behavior. This research uses cross‐cultural data from the USA and South Korea to study compulsive consumption behavior by focusing on individual factors. Three compulsive consumption behaviors (i.e. compulsive buying, compulsive substance abuse, and compulsive gambling/lottery play) are analyzed via structural equation modeling. The findings reveal that comorbidity (i.e. coexistence of more than two related compulsive consumption behaviors) is found in both countries. With one exception, the predicted personality traits (i.e. obsessive thoughts, risk‐taking tendencies) are significantly related to compulsive consumption behaviors in both countries.