Lynn Sudbury-Riley and Florian Kohlbacher
The purpose of this paper is to examine a form of anti-consumption termed moral avoidance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine a form of anti-consumption termed moral avoidance.
Design/methodology/approach
The study builds and tests a model of moral avoidance, using a sample (n=457) of adults aged 50-94 years.
Findings
Two distinct forms of this type of anti-consumption emerged, one based on exploitation of eco-systems and one on exploitation of humans. Ecology concerns and perceived consumer effectiveness are significant antecedents to both forms, while ethical ideology also impacts anti-consumption for social reasons. Greater numbers practice this form of anti-consumption for social reasons than for ecology reasons.
Practical implications
The study uncovers new underlying reasons why people practice moral avoidance and in so doing guides managers in their targeting and decision making.
Originality/value
The study is the first to demonstrate that this form of anti-consumption has two different perspectives: planet and people. Moreover, older adults are important ethical consumers, but no previous study has explored them from an anti-consumption perspective.
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The number of years a person has lived is a poor indicator of their self‐perceptions, attitudes and behaviours. For these reasons, gerontologists have looked to alternative…
Abstract
The number of years a person has lived is a poor indicator of their self‐perceptions, attitudes and behaviours. For these reasons, gerontologists have looked to alternative measures of age, including self‐perceived or subjective age. While American researchers have built up a body of knowledge pertaining to self‐perceived age for more than half a century, little is known about the concept in the UK. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study into the self‐perceived age of a group of UK citizens (n = 356) aged 50‐79 (mean age 60.2 years). Using the cognitive age scale, respondents were asked how old they perceived themselves to be on the dimensions of feel, look, act and interests. Overall, respondents indicated a self‐perceived age of more than 10 years younger than their chronological age. These results suggest that the phenomenon is at least as extensive as in the US, where it is frequently argued that youth is valued over age. Policy and practice implications are discussed.
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Lynn Sudbury-Riley, Florian Kohlbacher and Agnes Hofmeister
The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-perceived age among Baby Boomers in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Hungary, and identifies two horizontal segments based on the way…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate self-perceived age among Baby Boomers in the UK, Germany, Japan, and Hungary, and identifies two horizontal segments based on the way consumers view their age.
Design/methodology/approach
Questionnaires were used to sample 880 Baby Boomers. Structural equation modeling is used to investigate multinational measurement invariance of the cognitive age scale.
Findings
Two distinct segments are identified, providing support for a young-at-heart consumer culture in all nations in the study. Results also find cognitive age to exhibit partial measurement invariance, which is expected given the disparate nations under study.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to cross-cultural global age research which is still in an early pioneering stage. The study builds on a small number of previous studies that validate cognitive age, extends current knowledge of the measurement properties of cognitive age, and identifies two distinct international segments of Baby Boomers. Further research needs to delve into the antecedents of self-perceived age, particularly in the ways in which different life experiences and cultures may impact age identities.
Practical implications
The study has implications for marketing managers wishing to target the increasingly important young-at-heart Baby Boomer.
Originality/value
The study uses four non-American countries, uses samples matched for chronological age, and does not use convenience samples, which make it unique in the cognitive age literature. The study has value for marketing managers, global age researchers, and consumer culture researchers.
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– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of older consumers with a range of product packaging.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the experiences of older consumers with a range of product packaging.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses qualitative diary research (QDR). Ten seniors recorded all their experiences with packaging over a two-week period. Using a frame narrative that views ageing as multidimensional, diary entries uncover rich data that goes beyond physical age-related issues.
Findings
In addition to physical problems with packaging, older adults experience psychological frustration and feelings of alienation. Social implications of dependence on others are also discovered, despite many being purchasers of up-market luxury products.
Research limitations/implications
The study is exploratory and due to its qualitative methodology findings cannot be generalised to the wider population. Nevertheless it provides a starting point for future research into packaging and senior consumers.
Practical implications
The study has implications for all managers who participate in planning and designing brand packaging and calls for them to work more closely with ergonomics and design professionals in order to better plan for the needs of a large and growing sector of the population.
Social implications
Findings suggest that the basic need to feed oneself is hampered by some packaging, which of course is detrimental to the quality of life of older adults.
Originality/value
Few studies consider packaging and older consumers and this is particularly true in the marketing literature. This is the first study to use QDR in this context, and as such has several advantages over recall studies. The study also makes a contribution to knowledge pertaining to vulnerable consumers.
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Lynn Sudbury and Peter Simcock
The purpose of this study is to provide a multivariate segmentation model of the older consumer market, utilising variables based on the major dimensions of ageing, and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to provide a multivariate segmentation model of the older consumer market, utilising variables based on the major dimensions of ageing, and behavioural variables previously shown to be pertinent to older adults in the gerontology and marketing literature.
Design/methodology/approach
A self‐complete questionnaire was administered to an age‐based quota sample of 650 older consumers (aged 50‐79) in the UK. Using the age and consumer behaviour variables, cluster analysis was performed. The clusters were then profiled using ANOVA, Kruskal‐Wallis and χ2 techniques, using those variables not included in the initial analysis.
Findings
The results confirmed that the older consumer market is not homogeneous. Rather, five distinct segments emerged which differ considerably from one another on a range of variables, including consumer behaviours.
Practical implications
The model has practical implications for targeting older consumers, and the paper provides guidelines on how to reach the different segments.
Originality/value
The paper, the result of the largest known empirical study into older consumers in the UK, provides a comprehensive segmentation model that overcomes many of the limitations of previous segmentation studies pertaining to older adults. It also fills a research gap noted by several previous researchers in that a variety of different types of age are utilised.
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A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that…
Abstract
A distinction must be drawn between a dismissal on the one hand, and on the other a repudiation of a contract of employment as a result of a breach of a fundamental term of that contract. When such a repudiation has been accepted by the innocent party then a termination of employment takes place. Such termination does not constitute dismissal (see London v. James Laidlaw & Sons Ltd (1974) IRLR 136 and Gannon v. J. C. Firth (1976) IRLR 415 EAT).
This chapter offers insight on how existing paradigms within Black Studies, specifically the ideas of racial capitalism and the Black Radical Tradition, can advance sociological…
Abstract
This chapter offers insight on how existing paradigms within Black Studies, specifically the ideas of racial capitalism and the Black Radical Tradition, can advance sociological scholarship toward greater understanding of the macro-level factors that shape Black mobilizations. In this chapter, I assess mainstream sociological research on the Civil Rights Movement and theoretical paradigms that emerged from its study, using racial capitalism as a lens to explain dynamics such as the political process of movement emergence, state-sponsored repression, and demobilization. The chapter then focuses on the reparatory justice movement as an example of how racial capitalism perpetuates wide disparities between Black and white people historically and contemporarily, and how reparations activists actively deploy the idea of racial capitalism to address inequities and transform society.
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Reviews and describes the results of some psychological tests whichhave been used with entrepreneurs. The tests have been mainly employedeither to explore the nature of the…
Abstract
Reviews and describes the results of some psychological tests which have been used with entrepreneurs. The tests have been mainly employed either to explore the nature of the entrepreneur or to assess so‐called significant entrepreneurial characteristics. Key problems in the psychological testing of entrepreneurs relate to varying definitions of the entrepreneur, numerous entrepreneurial characteristics, uncertainty about the significance of entrepreneurial characteristics, and lack of rigour in test development. The results of well validated tests highlight many personality characteristics which could be correlated with characteristics of small firms and business owner‐managers. However, there have been specific measures of entrepreneurial characteristics developed in a search for a sensitive discriminating measure. Unfortunately, many of these tests have been poorly validated and this fails to supply useful information about the nature of entrepreneurs. Gives examples to illustrate some problems in psychological testing and discusses the importance of new approaches.
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A new Protection of Consumers (Trade Descriptions) law to replace existing legislation was before the House of Lords—it had a second reading and passed to the Committee stage but…
Abstract
A new Protection of Consumers (Trade Descriptions) law to replace existing legislation was before the House of Lords—it had a second reading and passed to the Committee stage but has now lapsed because of the Election —as the outcome of the Molony Committee on Consumer Protection which made its final report about three years ago. Merchandise Marks law has proved extremely valuable protection for the consumer in a wide field of misdescription and in the narrower sphere of food control a useful measure for supplementing Sect. 6, Food and Drugs Act, 1955, especially where the latter seems less suitable in application. The broad purpose of the Merchandise Marks Acts is to deal with misdescription of goods—false trade description—and as far as food is concerned, this is not always a matter of quality. On rare occasions it has been seen to work in reverse. In the curious case of Essex County Council v. Tuckwell (Butchers) Ltd., 1964, where the defendant had inadvertently supplied English instead of the New Zealand lamb ordered, generally accepted as being meat of better quality, the L.C.J. held that there was no defence against the charge of having sold meat with a false trade description.