Robert E. Kleine, Susan Schultz Kleine and Douglas R. Ewing
This paper aims to provide evidence that theory-based effects of role-identity cultivation stages on self-symbolizing consumption activities do exist.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide evidence that theory-based effects of role-identity cultivation stages on self-symbolizing consumption activities do exist.
Design/methodology/approach
Specific focus is placed upon differing motives between rookie versus veteran role-identity actors and how these differences lead to symbolic self-completion and self-retention behaviors. Effects of these motives are examined in the context of college student identity transitions.
Findings
Evidence is found for a pattern, whereby role-identity rookies with fewer role-identity-related possessions are more likely to self-symbolize the role-identity outwardly than veteran consumers having more role-identity-related resources, such as possessions. Self-retention via possessions is also more evident with rookies making the transition from one role-identity to the next, replacement role-identity. Findings are replicated for both readily available and favorite possessions related to a role-identity.
Research limitations/implications
Future role-identity research in marketing may miss unique and important insights without accounting for role-identity cultivation stage.
Practical implications
Current evidence highlights the importance of identity cultivation stage, symbolic self-completion and self-retention as factors to consider in understanding market segments associated with respective role-identities.
Originality/value
Extant research does not yet account for how consumption activities serving both symbolic and functional purposes support role-identity transitions. This inquiry is directed at contributing to this need.
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Keywords
Susan Schultz Kleine, Robert E. Kleine and Debra A. Laverie
In this article, we examine how person–possession relations vary across three stages of the role-identity cultivation processes. We explore stage-related variation in the…
Abstract
In this article, we examine how person–possession relations vary across three stages of the role-identity cultivation processes. We explore stage-related variation in the accumulation of role-related consumption stimuli and their self-relevance in a cross-sectional sample of two freely chosen athletic role-identities. Results show that as individuals cultivate an identity they accumulate more role-related possessions, social ties, and media commitments, and evaluation of those elements becomes more positive, yet the impact of those stimuli on self-conception declines. Ultimately, the results suggest that a full understanding of person–possession relations must include consideration of how role-identity cultivation stage moderates relations between people and consumption stimuli.
Nilesh Arora, Sanjeev Prashar, Sai Vijay Tata and Chandan Parsad
Brand managers frequently use well-known celebrities to position their brands and capture consumers’ attention to improve the brand’s market share. The attachment of a celebrity…
Abstract
Purpose
Brand managers frequently use well-known celebrities to position their brands and capture consumers’ attention to improve the brand’s market share. The attachment of a celebrity with a brand creates a human image for a brand and helps in personifying its image. The consumer perceives the brand as an individual and relates his personality, as well as the personality of the celebrity with that of the brand. It becomes pertinent for marketers to understand how brand-celebrity personality congruence and brand-consumer personality congruence affect the brand reputation, uniqueness and purchase intentions. Thus, the purpose of this study is to understand the relationship between the two personality congruence aspects – brand & celebrity personalities and brand & consumer personalities, and their impact on the reputation of the brand and its uniqueness. Further, the paper aims to examine the impact of the brand reputation and brand uniqueness on purchase intentions.
Design/methodology/approach
The present study uses Aaker’s five-factor personality scale to study the personality congruence effects on brand reputation, brand uniqueness and purchase intentions. The literature review was carried out to categorize factors related to celebrity personality, brand personality and consumer personality. The data for this study was collected through questionnaires from 1,235 respondents. In the first step, congruencies between celebrity, brand and consumer personality were determined. This was followed by a two-stage structural equation modelling for assessing the model fit and testing the hypotheses.
Findings
From the study results, it is observed that brand-celebrity congruency influences brand reputation and brand uniqueness. However, brand-consumer congruency had an effect only on brand reputation and not on brand uniqueness. Both brand reputation and uniqueness have favourable impact on consumers purchase intentions.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing literature on celebrity endorsement by extending the discussion with personality-based congruence. The research deciphered two aspects of identification, i.e. consumer-brand personality congruence and brand-celebrity congruence. The paper hypothesized the favourable association between brand personality and consumer personality congruence and brand uniqueness. However, it was observed that brand personality-consumer personality identification had an insignificant influence on brand uniqueness. This is contrary to the findings of some studies in the literature. Further investigation of this relationship in the future may add a new dimension to the identification context.
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Stacey Menzel Baker, Susan Schultz Kleine and Heather E. Bowen
This paper explores the symbolic meanings that children of elementary school age attach to souvenirs from different types of vacation destinations. Data from interviews and…
Abstract
This paper explores the symbolic meanings that children of elementary school age attach to souvenirs from different types of vacation destinations. Data from interviews and pictorial projectives illustrate the meaning of souvenirs for children, including how children skillfully use souvenirs in their everyday lives and how they interpret souvenirs as symbols of people, places, and experiences. More specifically, the interview data reveal the meanings attached to souvenirs which are possessed, including how souvenirs are clearly distinguished from other objects which are possessed and how they are used for their contemplation and action value, for their communicative properties, and to provide continuity across time and place. In addition, the data from pictorial projectives reveal the latent motives of souvenir acquisition as well as how different types of places lead to different types of souvenir choices. Thus, the paper demonstrates the many layers of meaning associated with souvenirs in both acquisition and consumption processes and provides evidence that the meanings between children, places, and objects are inextricably linked.
John F. Sacco and Gerard R. Busheé
This paper analyzes the impact of economic downturns on the revenue and expense sides of city financing for the period 2003 to 2009 using a convenience sample of the audited end…
Abstract
This paper analyzes the impact of economic downturns on the revenue and expense sides of city financing for the period 2003 to 2009 using a convenience sample of the audited end of year financial reports for thirty midsized US cities. The analysis focuses on whether and how quickly and how extensively revenue and spending directions from past years are altered by recessions. A seven year series of Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) data serves to explore whether citiesʼ revenues and spending, especially the traditional property tax and core functions such as public safety and infrastructure withstood the brief 2001 and the persistent 2007 recessions? The findings point to consumption (spending) over stability (revenue minus expense) for the recession of 2007, particularly in 2008 and 2009.
Die Redeweise von der «touristischen Explosion» in der jüngsten Gegenwart gehört ins «Wörterbuch des Unmenschen». Sie kennzeichnet aber drastisch einen Vorgang, dem eine…
Abstract
Die Redeweise von der «touristischen Explosion» in der jüngsten Gegenwart gehört ins «Wörterbuch des Unmenschen». Sie kennzeichnet aber drastisch einen Vorgang, dem eine Sprengwirkung nicht ganz abgesprochen werden kann. Jahrtausendalte Gewohnheiten der Sesshaftigkeit wurden seit rund 20 Jahren durch den Tourismus in einem früher unvorstellbaren Ausmass aufgebrochen. Die Erschütterung erfasste auch die Jugend. Das Beben pflanzt sich fort, zeitlich und räumlich, nicht etwa sich verebbend wie bei einem einzigen Erdstoss. Einmal in Schwung gesetzt, wurde der Tourismus allgemein, somit auch jener der Jugend, zu einem perpetuum mobile.
Robert Harrison and Kevin Thomas
The purpose of this chapter is to explore the intersection of identity, culture, and consumption as it relates to multiracial identity development.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this chapter is to explore the intersection of identity, culture, and consumption as it relates to multiracial identity development.
Methodology/approach
The authors employed a phenomenological approach wherein 21 multiracial women were interviewed to understanding the lived experience and meaning of multiracial identity development.
Findings
Findings of this study indicate that multiracial consumers engage with the marketplace to assuage racial discordance and legitimize the liminal space they occupy.
Research implications
While there is much research related to the variety of ways marketing and consumption practices intersect with identity (re)formation, researchers have focused much of their attention on monoracial populations. This research identifies and fills a gap in the literature related to how multiple racial backgrounds complicate this understanding.
Practical implications
Due to their growing social visibility and recognized buying power, multiracial individuals have emerged as a viable consumer segment among marketers. However, there is a dearth of research examining how multiracial populations experience the marketplace.
Originality/value
This study provides a better understanding of the ways in which multiracial individuals utilize consumption practices as a means of developing and expressing their racial identity.
Details
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The Howard Shuttering Contractors case throws considerable light on the importance which the tribunals attach to warnings before dismissing an employee. In this case the tribunal…
Abstract
The Howard Shuttering Contractors case throws considerable light on the importance which the tribunals attach to warnings before dismissing an employee. In this case the tribunal took great pains to interpret the intention of the parties to the different site agreements, and it came to the conclusion that the agreed procedure was not followed. One other matter, which must be particularly noted by employers, is that where a final warning is required, this final warning must be “a warning”, and not the actual dismissal. So that where, for example, three warnings are to be given, the third must be a “warning”. It is after the employee has misconducted himself thereafter that the employer may dismiss.
Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely…
Abstract
Nobody concerned with political economy can neglect the history of economic doctrines. Structural changes in the economy and society influence economic thinking and, conversely, innovative thought structures and attitudes have almost always forced economic institutions and modes of behaviour to adjust. We learn from the history of economic doctrines how a particular theory emerged and whether, and in which environment, it could take root. We can see how a school evolves out of a common methodological perception and similar techniques of analysis, and how it has to establish itself. The interaction between unresolved problems on the one hand, and the search for better solutions or explanations on the other, leads to a change in paradigma and to the formation of new lines of reasoning. As long as the real world is subject to progress and change scientific search for explanation must out of necessity continue.