Through an analysis of data from depth interviews with modern American consumers, we examine whether and how individuals quest for life's meaning through consumption. Our analysis identifies three worldviews that are differently related to the experience of transcendence through consumption. A...

There has been a long-standing concern and controversy in the consumer behavior and related literature about the accuracy of consumers’ self-reports of their mental processes. While some researchers have found such reports to be susceptible to a number of inaccuracies, others have found them...

The cognitive composition process of attribute information plays a critical role in heuristic aspects of consumers’ multiattribute preferential decisions. This study examines the effects of attribute information order and attribute information amount on consumers’ multiattribute preferential...

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...

This study examines subject and self-metaphors in Cantonese in order to understand the impact of self-conceptualization on self-giving in Hong Kong. The bifurcation of the individual in Hong Kong signals the importance of the subject and the relational self in Chinese culture. The word for...

The purpose of this paper is to revitalize consumer socialization as a topic of study by presenting a critical review of the concept. The aim is to advance our current understanding of conceptual issues and to outline issues and directions for future research. Consumer socialization can be...

The study is focused on exploring demographic characteristics of the target audience of retail grocery stores whose buyer behavior is most responsive to coupon promotions. The demographic variables considered in the paper are age, employment status, and household size. As a result of a...

The fact that young Hispanic consumers spend even more than others in their age category suggests the strategic importance of a deeper understanding of these consumers. To what extent do they resemble their U.S. non-Hispanic counterparts as opposed to those in Mexico? Has the acculturation...

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...