Editorial

Citation

Brian Young, D. (2011), "Editorial", Young Consumers, Vol. 12 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/yc.2011.32112daa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Young Consumers, Volume 12, Issue 4

Welcome to this last issue of 2011. The papers in this issue cover a wide range of topics with authors from all parts of the world – all with a common interest in the consumption practices of young people from early childhood to young adults. Although your Editor spends much of his time trying to deliver papers on time to Emerald each quarter, he also discusses the progress of the journal and looks at, with the help of the Editorial Advisory Board, changes and refinements to Young Consumers. Recently we decided to look at the scope of the journal. Although any division of the life span from conception to death is to some extent arbitrary, the ages covered by Young Consumers are from birth to 25 years i.e. from infancy to young adulthood. We included young adults because there is evidence that people in their early 20s have not yet matured and for example will take risks because their self-control and ability to restrain impulsivity is still developing (Steinberg, 2007). It is also a time of change with many young adults leaving the nest and starting their own families. We have also decided to extend the age band that Young Consumers covers by inviting papers that deal with planning for parenthood. Pregnancy and deciding to have a family is intimately related to consumer issues and consumption practices (pay a visit to your local Toys R Us or Babies R Us) and we welcome submissions in this exciting area.

Turning now to the papers in this issue, Torgeir Watne et al. from Australia were interested in reverse socialization, that is to say how children can effectively socialize their parents to become consumers. Or in the lead author’s words, how young people can educate the old. The focus was on computer related and small high-tech products and mothers were more inclined to seek their children’s (son’s in particular) advice. This is an important contribution to an already developing sub field in our area.

There are two papers on mobile phones. Judy Drennan and her colleagues in Australia have looked at bullying but with a difference. “M-bullying” where mobile phones are used to harass and bully targeted youngsters is one facet of the more general phenomenon of cyber-bullying using communication technology such as social networking. This negative side receives a careful and considered treatment in this valuable paper and results show it’s found in both boys and girls and can devalue self-esteem. Matti Haverila from Finland, a country which is internationally known for mobile phones, has a paper on behavioral aspects of cell phone use amongst youth in that country. This paper contributes to the field of gender differences in consumption as evidence is provided showing that such differences do exist on what she calls safety/security and functionality factors.

Much research and theorizing in consumption and children and youth has emerged recently from the Nordic countries and many readers will be familiar with the various centres of excellence that can be found in these countries. Erika Lundby from Sweden has reviewed much of this literature and presents us with a useful picture of work on tween young consumers, much of it unavailable in English translation. Her review is framed in terms of Bronfenbrenner’s model where the child is placed firmly at the centre surrounded by layers of social influence.

Ivan Buksa and Ann Mitsis from Australia have looked at Generation Y. Generational theory has been used before in this journal (see for example Shelagh Ferguson’s article in issue Vol. 12 No. 3) and these two authors use it to generate hypotheses about positive athletic role models and how word-of-mouth and recommendation of particular brands will function when marketing to this sector. This paper will attract both academics and practitioners alike.

Ulun Akturan and her colleagues in Turkey and France have validated the CSI scale with young consumers in both countries. This inventory assesses consumer styles and by using cluster analysis the authors found the styles of “fashion brand conscious consumers”, “indifferent consumers”, “recreation seekers” and “quality seekers” in both countries. This paper makes a valuable contribution to the literature on CSI with particular reference to developing countries.

Nitin Gupta from India has explored the role of domestic cultural influence on consumption in Indian youth by looking at the relationship between price sensitivity and susceptibility to interpersonal influence. He discovered that there was a relationship and that gender played a role.

Bryan Urbick returns to our pages with the practitioner’s viewpoint on branding for kids. The importance of storytelling in the research of the Consumer Knowledge Centre with examples drawn from current and classic ads gives us valuable insights into the child’s mind. Finally we have our regular column brought to you by GALA, the Global Advertising Lawyers Alliance, where regulations and codes of practice across the world are described. This quarter we look at Japan.

I hope you enjoy reading all of these valuable papers and many thanks to all our reviewers and contributors without whom these regular issues would not be possible.

Dr Brian YoungEditor