Lukas Parker, Torgeir Aleti Watne, Linda Brennan, Hue Trong Duong and Dang Nguyen
– This paper aims to present the findings of a survey into attitudes towards the environment and the pro-environmental behaviours of young adults in Vietnam.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the findings of a survey into attitudes towards the environment and the pro-environmental behaviours of young adults in Vietnam.
Design/Methodology/Approach
An online survey was administered to university students in Vietnam’s two most populous cities, Ha Noi and Ho Chi Minh City (N = 391).
Findings
The results suggest that environmental considerations are not taken into account in young Vietnamese adults’ purchase intentions. This is more evident in expressive purchases, but also, to some degree, in utilitarian purchases.
Practical implications
For the marketers of environmentally friendly products, this represents at least two key challenges: first, to try to shift the attitudes of young adult consumers towards thinking of environmental friendliness as an attractive characteristic and status-filled activity for potential expressive purchases. Second, making environmentally friendly alternatives of expressive goods more visible and more widely available in Vietnam.
Social implications
Non-government organisations and governments seeking to protect the environment need to consider this unique dynamic in social marketing campaigns to increase the desirability of pro-environmental product choices and other pro-environmental behaviours.
Originality/value
This paper examines pro-environmental behaviours and intentions of young adults in Vietnam for the first time. The paper establishes that self-expression is more important than the environment, and it is also evident that these young consumers are still vulnerable to perceived social pressure when it comes to expressing themselves.
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Isabel Carrero and Torgeir Aleti
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the roles of mothers, fathers and children in family decision-making (FDM) processes in families with different characteristics in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the roles of mothers, fathers and children in family decision-making (FDM) processes in families with different characteristics in terms of household structure, parents’ resources and family communication styles. As several structural changes regarding families have taken place within the last decades, there is a need to update the theories around FDM – in particular, regarding to the role of women and children.
Design/methodology/approach
A survey was distributed to 520 individuals in 183 families, where mothers, fathers and children above nine years living at home completed the survey.
Findings
The study demonstrates that the product category largely influences FDM dynamics, as well as housework division, parental characteristics and communication style. The study also reveals that structural changes may put more pressure on mothers. This pressure can partly be relieved if the family encourages children to become independent consumers rather than trying to control their consumption. Moreover, when fathers take a larger part in the housework, traditional gender roles become more fluid.
Social implications
For policymakers concerned with equality within the family, it may be a better approach to enable fathers to more actively participate in household chores than to try to change behaviour through information about equality.
Originality/value
This study extends the understanding of FDM in contemporary households by taking into account the views of all family members and produces a more complete picture of the decision-making dynamics within families.
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Torgeir Aleti, Linda Brennan and Lukas Parker
The purpose of this paper is to establish how consumer knowledge is transferred among family members in multi-generational families, based on the consumer socialisation theory…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to establish how consumer knowledge is transferred among family members in multi-generational families, based on the consumer socialisation theory. Understanding how consumers learn about consumption and are socialised as consumers is critical to developing marketing strategies throughout the family lifecycle. Central to current conceptions of consumer socialisation is the idea that individuals make decisions as outcomes of previous socialisation processes. However, socialisation takes place in the meso-level social setting and there is need to understand how these meso-systems interact when it comes to consumption.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a social system design and dyadic analysis, the authors tested knowledge transfer and consumer socialisation agency in multi-generation families in Vietnam, yielding a sample size of 654 individuals and 218 families.
Findings
The authors demonstrate the role of consumer socialisation agency on consumer knowledge transfer between people within families. The study illustrates that where knowledge is limited, family-related services and household products will be jointly considered within the family.
Research limitations/implications
This study was undertaken within a single country setting, but the technique and findings have wider implications for collectivist family decision-making in other settings. The limitations of cross-sectional research are acknowledged; the method specifically overcomes issues with self-reported measures by collecting data from multiple people within the social system.
Practical implications
Our findings suggest that consumer knowledge and learning is bi-directionally transferred through consumer socialisation agency. In complex new market situations, marketers can target the social system and ensure that knowledge will be transferred between members.
Originality/value
Social system design and dyadic analysis have not previously been used to examine meso-level consumption settings. The results provide unique understanding of consumer learning in social settings.
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Torgeir Aleti, Linda Brennan and Lukas Parker
This paper aims to offer an interrogation for the purposes of theoretical clarity, precision and validity. Family communication patterns (FCPs) about consumption is a commonly…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to offer an interrogation for the purposes of theoretical clarity, precision and validity. Family communication patterns (FCPs) about consumption is a commonly used measure in consumer socialisation. However, it has not been properly assessed for validity in marketing since it was developed in the 1970s. Previously developed and commonly used scales were used to examine communication styles and communication quality to test whether these older measures were still valid and applicable to the modern consumer context.
Design/methodology/approach
Critique of extant measures suggested the need for a more precise and contemporary conceptualisation of family communication about consumption. A new conceptualisation was then empirically tested using a psychometric theory approach to scale development. By using a dyadic design, family communication between parents and young adult children in 180 families was examined.
Findings
The early concepts are now outdated and do not readily translate into current language and family interaction styles. The terms “socio-” and “concept-orientation” no longer convey the essence of family communication. Contemporary families perceive “socio-oriented” communication as controlling and negative, while “concept-orientation” is seen as encouraging and positive. Thus, the dimensions are more purposefully labelled as encouraging and controlling family communication. A new typology of family communication styles (FCSs) was developed.
Originality/value
A new, empirically tested, four-quadrant matrix of FCSs based on consumer socialisation theories is put forward. This includes four distinct communication styles within families, namely permissive (low encouraging and low controlling), prohibitive (low encouraging and high controlling), pluralistic (high encouraging and low controlling) and protective (high encouraging and high controlling) FCSs.
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Yasemin Soydas and Torgeir Aleti
The purpose of this paper is to examine the key differences between first- and second-generation immigrant entrepreneurs in their path to entrepreneurship. The aim of the study is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the key differences between first- and second-generation immigrant entrepreneurs in their path to entrepreneurship. The aim of the study is to better understand entrepreneurial motivations amongst immigrants by comparing first- and second-generation entrepreneurs in their motivation for business entry, reliance on co-ethnic market, use of social and financial capital, business planning and marketing practices.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an interpretivist approach and a qualitative design, this study comprises 20 in-depth interviews with first- and second-generation Turkish entrepreneurs (TEs) in Melbourne, Australia. Turks in Australia were chosen because of their high level of entrepreneurial activity. In order to uncover deep-seeded motivations, participants were interviewed in a face-to-face format guided by a semi-structured interview guide.
Findings
The second-generation TEs were distinctively different from their first-generation counterparts in motivation for business entry, business establishment and use of ethnicity. The analysis shows that although the generations differ in their approach to business establishment, they both appear to be drawn to entrepreneurship based on “pull factors”. This is in contrast with previous literature suggesting that first-generation immigrant entrepreneurs were motivated by “push factors”.
Originality/value
This paper suggests that both first- and second-generation immigrant entrepreneurs are “pulled” into entrepreneurship voluntarily. While the first-generation entrepreneurs seem to be motivated/pulled by financial reasons, the second generation are motivated by opportunity recognition, status and ambition. Nevertheless, a lack of trust in government support agency is found within both generations. Thus, outreach activities towards entrepreneurial immigrant communities may have positive effects for the economy as well as in the integration of ethnic enclaves.