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States that marketers require a better understanding of the consumer decision‐making process for selecting services, particularly of the prepurchase information search for professional services which are often selected just after relocation to a new geographical area. Examines the findings of research on this topic, which looked at questionnaires returned by a sample of two hundred new residents about their use of information sources in choosing a professional service. Discusses the managerial implications for marketers of the results of the study, which confirmed the importance of personal sources of information in the search process and showed that most residents were happy with their choices.

An emerging new strategic approach is termed “mass customization” or “personalization” whereby elements of the marketing mix are individualized for each customer. This paper describes an empirical study in which 608 adult US consumers were interviewed with regard to their experiences with and attitudes toward mass customized products. The principal findings were that attitudes toward mass customization were generally positive, nearly half reported buying a personalized product, these buyers were very satisfied with their purchase, and the most likely buyers of this type of product tend to be younger, more well educated consumers, with higher than average incomes. Managerial, theoretical, and methodological implications of these findings are discussed.

Explores the extent to which consumers perceive various services as quality‐risk purchases. Describes a panel study which indicated that problem is felt by most types of services and therefore should be considered by service managers. Discusses possible strategies for reducing this perception.

Social values represent desired end states of being or desirable behaviors such as self‐respect, warm relations with others, or excitement. These abstract social cognitions help shape product attitudes and through them guide overt behavior. Empirical research has supported this theoretical structure of values‐attitudes‐behavior, but only for a relatively few high involvement products. A sample of 323 adult women shoppers rated the importance of the nine social values from the list of values; reported their attitudes toward snack foods, convenience foods, and cooking; and described purchase frequencies for a variety of foods. The shoppers′ food attitudes were consistently associated with self‐reported food purchases. Moreover, ratings of several values were associated with attitudes toward snack foods and use of convenience foods, suggesting that social values may influence buyer behavior for low as well as high involvement products. The findings have implications for food marketers who want to promote their products more effectively, consumer theorists who want to understand the impact of values on consumer behavior, and public makers who would like to influence food expenditures by consumers.

The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) has had a catastrophic impact on humanity. Presents the African experience to illustrate what can happen if the threat is not prevented. Presents AIDS statistics to show the current status of the threat, and discusses prospects for a cure. Explains a system for classifying consumers and presents possibilities for how businesses and organizations may respond. Delineates industries facing a direct impact, as well as those indirectly affected by the AIDS crisis and discusses the nature of these relationships. Offers possibilities for future research directions and conclusions for managers.

Recent decades have witnessed an explosion in the quantity of information being produced, which in turn has created vast opportunities for information‐based businesses. The time has come for information to be treated as a unique product along ‐ side goods and services. But is information an intangible good or an imperishable service? In this paper we discuss the unique properties of information as a product and propose that information be distinguished conceptually and thus marketed differently from both goods and services. We offer recommendations for marketing practice that apply uniquely to information. Finally, implications for marketing theory, marketing research, and directions for future research into the marketing of information are presented.

The purpose of the paper is to investigate the consequences of using national celebrities, local celebrities and disaster victims as spokespersons in a public service radio announcement (PSA) soliciting contributions for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Subjects were exposed to one of three public service announcements and were then asked to report their reactions to the messages. Differences in the self‐reported reactions of subjects were used to test a series of hypotheses regarding the effectiveness of the three different types of spokespersons.

The paper finds that the hurricane victim was the most credible and believable spokesperson. The national celebrity, Ashlee Simpson, was the least credible and the least believable. The local celebrity was more credible and believable than the national celebrity, but no more so than the hurricane victim.

In this paper a small student sample was used in an experimental setting involving one set of stimuli and one set of spokespersons. It cannot be said that the results would generalize to other celebrities, non‐celebrities, video formats, or non‐experimental settings.

The paper shows that nonprofit agencies considering using celebrity spokespersons in PSAs should do so with caution. There is no evidence that they increase their effectiveness and, at least in the case of the national celebrity, the use of national celebrities may reduce the effectiveness of the PSA.

The paper applies the concepts developed in the study of celebrity spokespersons in advertising and applies them to PSAs. The effects of celebrity spokespersons in PSAs are not the same as in conventional advertising messages.