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Examines the characteristics of young innovators (i.e. those in a group who accept the innovation first, for instance a hula hoop, a mobile phone or a video game) and opinion leaders (i.e. the person in a group who tends to be copied or consulted for advice); the two roles overlap, as child innovators are usually also opinion leaders, but not necessarily the reverse. Explains the Diffusion of Innovations theory, relating it to the adoption by children of new products and behaviours, i.e. their socialisation as consumers; this process involves the stages of awareness, interest, evaluation, test purchase, and adoption. Outlines the characters involved in the generalised theory of Diffusion of Innovations: opinion leaders, innovators, gatekeepers (for instance parents who allow their children to acquire a new product), and change agents (an outsider who gives advice, for instance a teacher). Discusses whether there are generalised innovators and opinion leaders, i.e. whether the same people tend to fulfil these roles in all or most areas. Moves onto a 2003 study of children which surveyed how well the Diffusion of Innovations theory fits them, how much overlap there was among innovators and opinion leaders, and where children got information about new products. Concludes that the Diffusion of Innovations theory does roughly fit child and teenage behaviour; in the adoption process, personal communication plays a dominant role, followed by television and advertising, but mobile phone and SMS messages played almost no role among eight to 12‐year‐olds in communicating information on new products.

This paper reports findings from a larger study of sponsors and their relationships to sponsored parties. Rather than evaluating such sponsorships in traditional cognitive and conscious effect hierarchical terms, a conceptual Sponsor Value Model is specified as a structural equation model estimated by a partial least squares method (PLS), where the drivers are emotions towards the sponsorship and attitudes towards the sponsorship. It is found that the two classes of variables drive overall value of sponsoring and this is illustrated with one case study.

A behavioural measure is used to describe loyalty in different product areas. The measures derived from a study comprising more than 600 branded consumer goods, for which information about purchasing, place of purchase, brand awareness, brand preference, relative importance of price and quality was collected. An analysis was conducted of the way in which loyalty varies across product areas and how loyalty patterns vary depending upon the degree of penetration of the product class. A summary model of variables is proposed showing how average and leading brands behave, for each of the brands measures of their perceived price and quality are available.

Affirms the great need for corporate designs, yet states that the tests most frequently used are certainly not comprehensive. The reasons for these “partial” tests are explored (focusing on incorrect assumptions, as well as research design and methodology). Concludes that data collection was not completed, and that the next steps are to complete the testing of the current designs.

This paper describes the personal history and intellectual development of Morris B. Holbrook (MBH), a participant in the field of marketing academics in general and consumer research in particular.

The paper pursues an approach characterized by historical autoethnographic subjective personal introspection or HASPI.

The paper reports the personal history of MBH and – via HASPI – interprets various aspects of key participants and major themes that emerged over the course of his career.

The main implication is that every scholar in the field of marketing pursues a different light, follows a unique path, plays by idiosyncratic rules, and deserves individual attention, consideration, and respect … like a cat that carries its own leash.

In the case of MBH, like (say) a jazz musician, whatever value he might have depends on his originality.

Self‐concept, despite its marketing relevance, has been overshadowed by other psychological concepts. The self‐concept is, however, significant and relevant to the study of consumer behavior because many purchases made by consumers are directly influenced by the image an individual has of himself. A fundamental question involves the process of the formation of the self‐concept. Several distinct qualities exist within the self‐concept, and once the self‐concept is established, these have a bearing upon the individual's behavior and his relationship with his objective, subjective, social, and ideal self. For marketers, an understanding of the self‐concept and self‐image can provide the means for developing more effective marketing programs. Consistency and congruence also play an important part in establishing the relationship between the self‐concept, the individual's image, and final purchase behavior. Other factors also play a part in the process and, in some situations, misunderstandings about their importance can result in less than effective marketing efforts. Careful research and analysis of the relevant factors affecting the self‐concept and their effect on purchase behavior can make for more effective market strategic planning. This article examines the various issues related to the marketing applicability of the self‐concept and discusses its implications in terms of research and market strategic planning.

The purpose of this study is to propose and empirically test a framework encompassing self-congruity with its antecedents and consequences. This study also aims to test the mediating role of perceived value and its dimensions.

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted using a purposive sampling technique. In total, 310 useable responses were collected and data were analyzed using partial least square structural equation modeling.

A majority of hypotheses were supported. Avoidance of similarity and status consumption positively influenced self-congruity, replicating an earlier study. Self-congruity positively influenced overall perceived value and its dimensions, as well as revisit intention. Overall perceived value and its dimensions positively influenced revisit intention. Finally, overall perceived value and its dimensions were found to have a mediating effect on the relationship between self-congruity and revisit intention.

This study provides empirical evidence for the antecedents and consequences of self-congruity with a service and expands understanding of the mediating role of overall perceived value and its dimensions in predicting intention.

Customization is a paradox in architecture, providing necessary modernization for buildings but potentially damaging their architectural integrity. In this paper, the authors introduce the Inhabitant-Driven Customization approach for avoiding this paradox; this approach lets inhabitants design the customization from options created by architects that safeguard architectural rules. As a first implementation of the Inhabitant-Driven Customization approach, the MyChanges tool is presented. The authors assess whether the approach avoids the customization paradox by a qualitative stakeholder evaluation of the MyChanges tool and by a comparison of the Inhabitant-Driven Customization approach with existing approaches to housing customization.

MyChanges is a shape grammar-based design tool developed to enable inhabitants of the Álvaro Siza Vieira Malagueira housing complex to customize their houses in accordance with the architectural language of the complex. In this study, the authors qualitatively evaluated MyChanges with architects and other professional stakeholders. MyChanges is used in this paper to assess if the Inhabitant-Driven Customization approach avoids the paradox of customization. The initial reception of MyChanges produced diverging outcomes, suggesting that Inhabitant-Driven Customization is also unable to avoid the customization paradox. For analyzing this possibility further, this paper describes the main existing approaches to housing customization, including the Inhabitant-Driven Customization approach, formulates nine conditions for these approaches, and provides a qualitative comparative assessment of the approaches.

The customization paradox is demonstrated in the outcomes of the interviews with professional stakeholders on the MyChanges customization tool for the Malagueira housing complex. An argument is given that makes plausible that the Inhabitant-Driven Customization approach avoids the customization paradox by creating a co-design process in which inhabitants and architects alternately shape customization.

The originality of this paper lies in the introduction and discussion of the paradox of customization in housing. The paper identifies the conditions advanced in architecture for assessing housing customization approaches. Additionally, the authors propose a new customization approach and a design tool that to a large extent fulfills those conditions and avoids the customization paradox.

The purpose of this article is to question whether business is ethical as long as it follows rules, and on this view, to reflect over the relation between responsibility and justice.

To exemplify this relation, the paper is based on in‐depth interviews with a human rights consultant. In this way, the paper presents a story from the field and thus follows a narrative method to retell the story of the consultant leading a human rights project in South Africa.

The paper concludes that following rules is not enough to ensure ethical business in a global market place. As global business rests on dynamics and flexibility, it seems limited that most business ethics rests on bureaucratic notions. The value of also viewing ethical decision‐making as personal responsibility is introduced through the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas.

The study is based on in depth interviews with one person. Although this method ensures access to deeply personal and thorough knowledge about the event, it also has its limitation and risk of bias. Although this paper points towards some interesting relations between personal responsibility and international/organisational justice, more research is needed in the field of personal responsibility to make stronger conclusions.

The paper proposes that people working at the global market place could benefit from being educated in personal ethics and not only bureaucratic notions of ethics.

The paper provides valuable insight into the scarcely researched area of personalised business ethics.