This paper aims to: better understand the country of origin (COO) construct by adopting a lens of marketplace mythology; and develop a conceptual framework delineating the process…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to: better understand the country of origin (COO) construct by adopting a lens of marketplace mythology; and develop a conceptual framework delineating the process of mythologizing a country through the use of packaging.
Design/methodology/approach
Analysis of narratives on food product packages that claim a connection to Italy lets this qualitative study join two streams of research – on COO effect and marketplace mythology.
Findings
The work proposes four mythological properties of the country of origin construct, discusses their major dimensions, establishes their relationship, and develops a conceptual framework delineating the mythological nature of the country of origin construct.
Research limitations/implications
Several directions for future research may enhance this study. For example, the interpretation of the narratives by the consumers of food products claiming an Italian connection will allow exploring how the mythic structures employed by marketers are read by the intended readers.
Practical implications
The importance of COO effects on consumer decision making is expected to become even stronger with current globalization trends that increasingly move products across countries and force marketers to engage in a battle to differentiate their brands – in many cases by capitalizing on the origin of products.
Originality/value
By exploring food package stories, the paper focuses on the carrier of mythic meaning that is under‐researched in both COO and marketplace mythology studies. The present study adds to the understanding of how geography ceases being a mere informational “Made in” statement and is transformed into a powerful cultural marker, full of symbolically framed meaning.
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The paper aims to understand how Eastern spiritual and Western secular traditions coexist in the US commercial marketplace and what lessons spiritual messages of Eastern wisdom…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to understand how Eastern spiritual and Western secular traditions coexist in the US commercial marketplace and what lessons spiritual messages of Eastern wisdom offer Western consumers.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses qualitative methods by engaging in close reading and analysis of the narratives on food and drink packages that have a direct reference to Eastern spirituality in the form of symbolic Eastern vocabulary and images.
Findings
The paper proposes that artful sacralization of the spiritual to brand the mundane is an additional mode of cultural production used by marketers, and that this proposed mode extends the two modes (sacralization of the mundane and commodification of the spiritual) reported in previous studies.
Research limitations/implications
The relationship between Eastern spirituality and Western commercialism deserves more in-depth studies. For example, how does the Western treatment of Eastern spirituality affect its perceived authenticity and purity? Finally, what do the newly wise Westerners do with mastery of an Eastern science of life?
Practical implications
This work finds Western supermarkets to be emerging channels of Eastern spirituality. The author argues that narratives on food and drink packages perform as carriers of Eastern wisdom.
Social implications
The author also finds that the borrowed spiritual wisdom of the East has yet to be reconciled with the prevailing secular norms of Western society.
Originality/value
This has been the first known academic attempt to explore the spiritual connotation of the labels on branded food and drink packages sold in Western supermarkets.
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In this editorial viewpoint for the special issue, the authors identify a need to deepen our understanding of the important role that Asian consumer culture plays in the global…
Abstract
Purpose
In this editorial viewpoint for the special issue, the authors identify a need to deepen our understanding of the important role that Asian consumer culture plays in the global marketplace of the twenty-first century.
Design/methodology/approach
This editorial article discusses the emergence of Asian consumer culture, offers an integrative summary of the special issue and develops several key directions for future research.
Findings
The authors observe that Asian consumer culture is not a coherent knowledge tradition that can be described merely as “collectivist” or “Confucianist” in nature. Rather, it is better understood as the confluence of cultural traditions that are characterized by inner differentiation and complexity, various transformations and mutual influences in the Asian region and beyond.
Research limitations/implications
Although Asia’s economic growth has received much recent attention, extant theory regarding Asian consumer culture is still in its infancy. The authors highlight important developments in this area that show the path for future work.
Originality/value
The authors make three contributions to the emerging scholarly interest in Asian consumer culture. First, the authors respond to recent calls to increase the use of qualitative methods in Asian contexts. Second, the authors draw attention to the cultural complexities and mutual influences that characterize contemporary Asian consumer cultures, and subcultures in the Asian region and beyond, through the selection of articles for this special issue. Finally, the authors draw the threads together to provide directions for future research in this area.
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Paul Haynes and Stepan Podobsky
Marketing products as guilt-free is not new, especially in the food industry, but what is new is the scope of ethical choice on offer and the variety and complexity of guilt-free…
Abstract
Purpose
Marketing products as guilt-free is not new, especially in the food industry, but what is new is the scope of ethical choice on offer and the variety and complexity of guilt-free narratives sold as part of the consumption package. The purpose of this paper is to present – and test – an innovative framework with which to analyse the key strategies in the creation of guilt-free narratives within the food industry and examine how consumer habits, motivations and attitudes are afforded by these narratives. The trend towards interpassivity, in which a consumer “outsources” moral responsibility to manufacturers, suppliers or retailers, is critically examined.
Design/methodology/approach
Data collection consisted of a non-probability quota sample of UK residents, administered online. There were three main areas of this study: consumers’ attitudes towards guilt-free products and marketing, consumers’ consumption habits and conscious-motivating factors and insights in unconscious-motivating factors. The questionnaire was designed to provide both qualitative and quantitative insights. It consisted of a variety of open-ended questions, as well as sets of given choices regarding habits and motivations, where the options were designed to encompass as many potential responses as necessary. The survey was shaped using a mini-focus group.
Findings
The paper demonstrates that consumers are in general willing to pay more for a guilt-free product but not for the reasons normally presented within the marketing literature. The paper shows that while self-accountability and anticipatory guilt are reasons for the effectiveness of guilt-free marketing, they are only minor factors. The paper shows that other motivating factors are more important as many participants buy products they do not entirely trust or have a particular preference for. One motive relates to interpassivity, that is, that guilt and guilt-alleviating actions can be transferred or delegated to the product itself.
Research limitations/implications
The concept of interpassivity and the idea of transference of actions or emotions to products has potential for new marketing frameworks. There are many different coping mechanisms for guilt or shame, and these could all be packaged into products to arouse a preference with the consumer. The entire area of guilt-free marketing is under-researched but because of the continued growth in consumer guilt-mitigation strategies, it is likely to see a lot of research activity in the near future. The main limitation is the limited statistical analysis afforded by the non-probability nature of the sample.
Practical Implications
The paper has developed a clearer definition of what constitutes a guilt-free product, that is, a guilt-free product is created when a regular product has any one or more of the three types of guilt (anticipatory, reactive and existential) packaged into it. Using this definition, the paper examined why guilt-free marketing has been effective, identifying that though consumers are willing to pay more for a guilt-free product, self-accountability and anticipatory guilt are only part of the explanation, with guilt and guilt-alleviating actions being transferred or delegated to the product itself a significant factor.
Social Implications
The paper has impacts for producers and consumers wishing to highlight the social good of a product. The study shows that consumers are sophisticated enough to examine social impact but often express a desire to delegate action to firms. Firms can more clearly frame their activity and contrast their action to the misleading marketing claims of rivals.
Originality/value
This paper is the first detailed analysis of guilt-free foods of its type. It seeks to create clearer definitions and frameworks with which to examine marketing practices and discourses of guilt in food consumption and marketing. The paper findings suggest that a relatively novel approach to consumption – interpassivity – is a useful explanation for otherwise puzzling consumer behaviour in a newly emerging area of guilt-free food marketing.
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Maria Vernuccio, Michela Patrizi and Alberto Pastore
By adopting a managerial perspective, this study aims to deepen how the strategic role of brand voice is conceived in the design of in-car name-brand voice assistants (NBVAs), how…
Abstract
Purpose
By adopting a managerial perspective, this study aims to deepen how the strategic role of brand voice is conceived in the design of in-car name-brand voice assistants (NBVAs), how the brand experience based on NBVAs is designed and how the NBVA brand experience might influence customer brand engagement (CBE). The ultimate aim is to develop an interpretative theoretical framework for developing voice-based branding through NBVAs.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative research approach with the analysis of a single in-depth case study is followed: the NBVA developed in-house by Mercedes, which was the first NBVA launched in the automotive market.
Findings
In the design of the NBVA, a key role was assigned to the brand voice in developing the brand’s anthropomorphic profile. Driving safety, consistency with the corporate identity, human-like interaction, dynamic personalisation and connectivity emerged as the strategic criteria for designing the NBVA brand experience, which was oriented towards the pursuit of multiple CBE dimensions.
Research limitations/implications
Although the qualitative empirical contribution of this study differs from statistical generalisations, the research insights are analytically generalisable. The insights emerging from the study could guide future research on voice-based branding.
Practical implications
The results may be a useful conceptual reference for managers involved in designing brand voice and brand experience based on NBVAs.
Originality/value
This study is the first empirical contribution to the marketing literature about voice-based branding in an innovative experiential field, a topic that, thus, far has been poorly analysed.
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Maria Frostling-Henningsson, Martin Hedbom and Ludvig Wilandh
This research paper focuses on why intentions to buy organic and/or eco-friendly food are not always manifested in practice. Based on Warde's antinomies of structural opposition…
Abstract
Purpose
This research paper focuses on why intentions to buy organic and/or eco-friendly food are not always manifested in practice. Based on Warde's antinomies of structural opposition, we found several consumer dilemmas including the dilemma of choosing between organic and eco-friendly food. This study addresses ethical and environmental concerns that contemporary Swedish consumers have when eating organic and taking environmental action and presents some consumer strategies used to cope with these concerns.
Design/methodology/approach
The empirical data was collected from a consumer panel followed during 18 months. A mix of qualitative methods was used; interviews, shop-along studies, ZMET, collecting shopping receipts and poems.
Findings
The research paper contributes with knowledge about the dilemma between organic and eco-friendly. It further defines the strategy of “justification of non-choices” as the most common consumer strategy to cope with the dilemma.
Research limitations/implications
Results from this study shows that conscious consumers often face a conflict between buying organic food and taking environmental considerations. In order to solve the conflict consumers used various strategies; justification of non-choices was the most common strategy.
Practical implications
For wholesalers and retailers the results show that conscious consumers demands groceries that are both organic and eco-friendly in order to act on intentions.
Originality/value
By using innovative qualitative methods this report identifies some contemporary consumer dilemmas. The dilemma that the most conscious consumers have is the dilemma between organic and eco-friendly. In order to solve this “justification of non-choices” is the most common strategy for consumers to handle the dilemma.
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The overall aim of this research is to increase understanding of consumers' barriers in relation to convenience food. While the motivation for consuming convenience food has been…
Abstract
Purpose
The overall aim of this research is to increase understanding of consumers' barriers in relation to convenience food. While the motivation for consuming convenience food has been investigated frequently, few studies have investigated the barriers.
Design/methodology/approach
Three focus group studies, exploring consumers' ready‐to‐heat (RTH) meal dilemmas, were conducted in Norway.
Findings
The frequency of barriers and four narratives are presented, and the results indicate that consumers face bottom‐up dilemmas related to barriers like sensory perception, health, economy, and managing relationships; and/or top‐down value dilemmas related to traditions, quality of life and environmental barriers when considering convenience food consumption.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to the current body of literature, which mainly focuses on drivers of convenience demand, by elaborating on barriers and dilemmas for convenience choice.
Practical implications
The findings imply how marketers should communicate with the convenience market. Marketing managers need to understand which barriers to break or what dilemmas to discuss when communicating with the RTH market.
Originality/value
By structuring focus group interviews according to the individual respondents (“who said what”) and by presenting the data as narratives, the paper shows a new way to analyze focus group interviews.
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Flor Morton, Teresa Treviño and Claudia Quintanilla
The purpose of this paper is to understand the ritual, roles and symbolic meanings of family grilling consumption experiences in northeast Mexico.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to understand the ritual, roles and symbolic meanings of family grilling consumption experiences in northeast Mexico.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a phenomenological approach and conducted 73 in-depth interviews and in situ observations during family grilling experiences.
Findings
Based on an examination of the phases, symbolic meanings, and ritual elements of grilling events in Mexico, the results of this study identify a third type of family food consumption ritual, the escape ritual, which has different characteristics than routine and festive family food consumption rituals.
Practical implications
The findings indicate the emergence of a more sophisticated family grilling experience that uses new accessories and products. Companies could align their marketing strategies for grilling products and segment their communication messages based on the roles of participants and the symbolic meanings identified in this study.
Originality/value
This research studies an experience in light of both ritual and escapism literature.