Net Transaction Value: A Model of High-Involvement Decision-Making in Buyer Choice Behavior

This study proposes Net Transaction Value (NTV), a unified theory of buyer decision-making. NTV hypothesizes that a buyer makes an implicit and subjective calculation before making a purchase in a high involvement context. In making this calculation, the buyer deducts the costs anticipated from a transaction or transaction stream from its associated benefits. In contrast to prior value equal benefits minus cost models, the NTV model conceptually expands, operationally defines, and empirically tests two types of benefits and costs. Benefits in the NTV equation reflect not only those derived from the product or service offering itself, but also from the monetary aspects of the transaction or purchase deal. Costs, over and above the selling price, reflect both the buyer’s self-imposed costs as well as the costs sellers impose on the buyer. This study uses the NTV model to develop and test the relationships between these benefit and cost variables and the buyer’s perceptions of net transaction value as manifest in purchase intention. Results confirm that the buyer includes the benefits of the product or service offering itself, benefits associated with the price deal, the buyer’s own costs over and above price, and seller-imposed costs over and above price in the calculation of NTV. As a result, NTV extends extent research on decision-making and provides a valuable tool for describing, explaining and predicting buyer decisions

The same but different: Understanding entrepreneurial behaviour in disadvantaged communities

While entrepreneurship is widely viewed as being equally accessible in all contexts, it could be questioned if potential or nascent entrepreneurs from minority and disadvantaged communities experience entrepreneurship in a similar manner to the mainstream population. This chapter examines immigrant, people with disability, youth, gay and unemployed communities to explore how their entrepreneurial behaviour might differ from the practices of mainstream entrepreneurs. What emerges is that marginalised communities can frequently find it difficult to divorce business from social living. This can have both positive and negative connotations for an entrepreneur, plus they face additional and distinctive challenges that mainstream entrepreneurs do not experience. The chapter concludes by proposing a novel ‘funnel approach’ that policymakers might adopt when seeking to introduce initiatives targeted at these disadvantaged communities

Funny, Scary, Dead: Negative Depictions of Male Homosexuality in American Advertising

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine negative depictions of male homosexuality in US print and video advertising during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. It answers three research questions: What sorts of negative depictions of homosexuality are presented? How, if at all, have pejorative depictions of gay men evolved in the past 100 years? and Why have they changed? Design/methodology/approach The authors specify eight depictions of negative imagery in advertising and, using content analysis, assess 88 print and video advertisements featuring 133 depictions culled from a large sample. Findings Analysis reveals that, once rare, there has been a rapid expansion of negative gay imagery in advertisements beginning in 2000, even as gays are gain increasing acceptance and visibility. Typical advertisement depictions have evolved from men dressed as woman early in the twentieth century to men reacting with fear, revulsion or even violence to concerns that they might be gay or be subject to homosexual advances. Research limitations/implications Given the paucity of available imagery, data collection was opportunistic and resulted in a relatively small sample. Practical implications Practitioners can benefit from explication of how various audiences can view certain advertisement depictions of gay men as insulting or threatening. They can then become more attuned to the impact of negative minority depictions in general. Social implications Society can benefit from heightened awareness of the impact imagery can have on minority or marginalized groups. Results further illustrate society’s evolving and ambivalent views on homosexuality, the visibility of gay imagery in media in general and changing notions of manhood and masculinity. Originality/value The authors are aware of no other study that specifically categorizes and assesses negative depictions of gay advertisement imagery

Marketplace activism: A history of the African American elite market segment

A distinct and significant African American elite market segment began its growth prior to the U.S. Civil War, flourished as a result of two world wars, and has continued to expand and diversify. Today, the segment comprises three subsegments including a conventional upper middle-class, the traditional elite, and the nouveau riche. This market segment is distinct both from other African American groups and from the white elite in terms of products and services consumed. This distinction results from this group\u27s isolation and lack of opportunities through the civil rights era and the importance placed on such factors as ancestry and affiliation within this group. This paper presents a four-phase periodization model of the development of the African American elite market segment, linking its development to key events and historical eras. This segment has practiced a unique form of economic consumer activism in the marketplace--referred to as marketplace activism --in the quest for respect and equal treatment in American society. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT

From servants to spokesmen: Black male advertising models and changing US culture post World War II

Purpose: This paper aims to track how African-American or black male advertising models are viewed by male consumers within the context of dramatic ongoing cultural and legal change. It provides broader implications for other ethnic minorities. Design/methodology/approach: A content analysis of black male advertising images culled from over 60 years of issues of two male-targeted magazines assesses these changes. The analysis contextualizes the imagery in African-American history and general media portrayals periodized into seven historical phases. Findings: Results indicate that the number of black male advertising representations has exploded in the past 30 years from virtual invisibility to over 20 per cent of all male ad images. Roles have migrated from representations of black ad models as servants and porters to a wide range of images of black men in professional contexts. However, black males, relative to white males, are disproportionately presented in ads as athletic figures and celebrities and rarely depicted in romantic situations. Research limitations/implications: This research focuses on two popular male-targeted publications, thereby limiting its scope. Relatively few black male images (relative to white male images) are to be found in print advertisements in these publications. Practical implications: This research assists business practitioners as they create business and marketing strategies to meet the needs of an ever more diverse marketplace. Social implications: The disproportionately large number of black male depictions as athletes and sports celebrities is indicative of remnant racism and minority stereotyping in American society. Originality/value: This research builds upon work done by Kassarjian (1969, 1971) on black advertising images. Its originality stems from a specific focus on male models as viewed by male consumers, the addition of historic context and periodization to this history and the updating of past research by almost half a century