Recommending Books for Purchase (Bulletin 62 - May 2020): Consumer Behavior

This book addresses challenges and opportunities in research and management related to new advertising and consumer practices in brand communications with multiple touchpoints. It specifically relates to new insights into how profitability and customer engagement are affected by multiple and very diverse consumer touchpoints in an omni-connected world. Advances in Advertising Research are published by the European Advertising Academy (EAA). This volume is a selective collection of research presented at the 17th International Conference in Advertising (ICORIA), which was held in Valencia (Spain) in June 2018. The conference gathered more than 180 participants from over 27 countries all over the world.

This book focuses on the concept of "brand hate" and consumer negativity in today's digital markets. It explores the emotional detachment consumers generate against valued brands and how negative experiences affect their and other consumers' loyalty. It is almost impossible not to run into hateful language about companies and their brands in today's digital consumption spaces. Consumer hostility and hate is not hidden and silent anymore but is now openly shared on many online anti-brand websites, consumer social networking sites, and complaint and review boards.  The book defines consumer brand hate and discusses its dimensions, antecedents, and consequences as well as the semiotics and legality of such brand hate activities based on current brand dilution arguments. It describes the situations which lead to anti-branding and how consumers choose to express their dissatisfaction with a company on individual and social levels. This newly updated edition discusses recent research findings from brand hate literature with new cases and extended managerial analysis. Thus, the book provides strategic perspectives on how to handle such situations to achieve better functioning markets for scholars and practitioners in marketing, psychology, and consumer behavior. 

This book offers a comprehensive analysis of Chinese consumers from multiple perspectives, from the megatrends to their values and psychological changes. The book examines in detail the digital and mobile transformation of the consumers, the way their lifestyle, social interactions and shopping habits have changed, and the opportunities they offer to marketers. The analysis and insights are based on the author's first-hand observations of the metamorphosis of the consumers and consumption in China over the last fifteen years.

This book examines consumer behavior using the "life course" paradigm, a multidisciplinary framework for studying people's lives, structural contexts, and social change. It contributes to marketing research by providing new insights into the study of consumer behavior and illustrating how to apply the life course paradigm's concepts and theoretical perspectives to study consumer topics in an innovative way. Although a growing number of marketing researchers, either implicitly or explicitly, subscribe to life course perspectives for studying a variety of consumer behaviors, their efforts have been limited due to a lack of theories and methods that would help them study consumers over the lifecycle. When studying consumers over their lifespan, researchers examine differences in the consumer behaviors of various age groups (e.g., children, baby boomers, elderly, etc.) or family life stages (e.g., bachelors, full nesters, empty nesters, etc.), inferring that consumer behavior changes over time or linking consumption behaviors to previous experiences and future expectations. Such efforts, however, have yet to benefit from an interdisciplinary research approach. This book fills this gap in consumer research by informing readers about the differences between some of the most commonly used models for studying consumers over their lifespan and the life course paradigm, and providing implications for research, public policy, and marketing practice. Presenting applications of the life course approach in such research topics as decision making, maladaptive behaviors (e.g., compulsive buying, binge eating), consumer well-being, and cognitive decline, this book is beneficial for students, scholars, professors, practitioners, and policy makers in consumer behavior, consumer research, consumer psychology, and marketing research.

Unpacking the complexities of Nordic consumer culture, this edited collection responds to the growing interest in regionalism within consumer research and marketing. By taking a closer look at the interaction between the state and the market in Nordic countries, the authors examine how consumer behaviour is impacted by the region's unique context. Important elements of Nordic culture are explored, such as its underlying element of mythology and the concept of 'hygge,' an object of global consumption. Those studying consumer behaviour, branding, and marketing more generally, will find this book a fascinating contribution to research.

With major retailers closing brick-and-mortar stores every month and the continued shift to online shopping, there is a major push to strengthen customer loyalty by improving the customer experience. The two most important qualities that consumers look for are convenience and efficiency. Finally a source is available that will give retailers and companies in general the insight needed to enhance customer satisfaction while improving the overall shopping experience. This book uses the world-leading findings from the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) and its accompanying Global Customer Satisfaction Index (GCSI) - invaluable, incomparable sources of consumer insights and information, to inform best practices for improving the consumer experience, better satisfying customers, and achieving profitable customer loyalty today and into the rapidly changing future. This book will help us understand where we were, where we are today, and where we are heading tomorrow in providing exceptional customer experiences. It is a must-read for marketing professionals and customer-focused senior executives alike.

This timely edited collection offers a multidisciplinary perspective on social commerce, a phenomenon that has gained increasing interest over the last 8 years. Investigating how social media can be used to generate value for brands beyond customer relationship purposes, the skilled authors explore how social media users co-create value for businesses, influence other consumers and generate electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM). Providing insights from practitioners and academics, this book goes further than simply exploring e-commerce and social media, and addresses the real relevance of social commerce in today's business landscape. With a selection of contemporary case studies and a Foreword written by Inthefrow's creator, Victoria Magrath, Social Commerce will be an engaging read for those studying consumer behaviour, online marketing, and e-commerce.

This textbook provides students with real-world social marketing case studies from different countries and regions around the world, taking learners from classroom theory to practice. The primary objective is to clearly portray to students distinct, identifiable steps that are essential for successful social marketing campaigns. Core social marketing practices are applied to each case to help students master social marketing principles and apply them to their own real world social marketing activities in order to affect positive social change. This textbook first provides the tools necessary to understand the effective applica- tion of social marketing, and then offers 24 case studies exemplifying effective social marketing efforts from all around the world. Specifically, Part I clearly and concisely explains the principles of social marketing in five chapters: * Upstream vs. downstream social marketing, SWOT, competition * Fundamentals of social marketing, ethics * Formative and Evaluative Research * Theories applied in social marketing * A historical perspective on social marketing Part II features 24 social marketing case studies that demonstrate the application of social marketing principles. All 24 cases follow a consistent structure that includes: * Background * Positioning * SWOT * Research * Objectives * The 4 P's * Target audience * Evaluation * Barriers and benefits * Discussion * Competition This format allows for students and professors to easily and effectively select individual cases and compare between cases. This textbook also allows instructors to encourage critical thinking by having students compare and contrast not only the cases themselves, but the applications used. In addition, teaching guides with answers to discussion questions, suggestions for activities inside and outside of the classroom and further readings are available to assist professors in teaching from this book.