An Enlargement of the Notion of Consumer Vulnerability

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Consumer vulnerability has long been an important issue in public policy and macromarketing. The focus of a special issue of the Journal of Macromarketing (vol. 26, issue 1) underscores this importance. The articles in that special issue lend both conceptual and methodological clarity to the subject of consumer vulnerability, thus bringing to the fore the hitherto overlooked importance of this construct. The purpose of this article is to extend this renewed interest by introducing an integrative view of consumer vulnerability that is a sum of two components: a transient, state-based component dominant in some of the articles in the special issue, and a systemic, class-based component. The proposition is that such an integrative view provides a proactive tool for macromarketers and policy makers in their efforts to safeguard and to empower vulnerable consumers

Consumer Attitude toward marketing and subjective quality of life in the context of a developing country

Cataloged from PDF version of article.The purpose of this research is to better understand Consumer Attitude toward Marketing (CATM) and how it relates to quality of life (QOL) in a developing country. Such sentiments toward marketing practice are core indicators of the marketing system's performance in delivering well-being to consumers during the first stage of the consumption process—acquisition. In this stage, the activities of businesses are set in high relief for consumers. As Douglas and Craig (2006) have noted how marketing is sadly neglected in developing countries, the Consumer Attitude toward Marketing (CATM) measures suggest how QOL-marketing might correlate with QOL in developing countries. Measures used in Gaski and Etzel's (1986) Index of Consumer Sentiments toward Marketing (ICSM) are enhanced and refined in this study of Turkish consumers. Using a confirmatory-factor-analysis approach, these measures are then used to derive a second-order factor representing CATM and to assess its nomological relationship with subjective quality of life (QOL)

How Ethical Behavior of Firms is Influenced by the Legal and Political Environments: A Bayesian Causal Map Analysis Based on Stages of Development

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Even though potential impacts of political and legal environments of business on ethical behavior of firms (EBOF) have been conceptually recognized, not much evidence (i.e., empirical work) has been produced to clarify their role. In this paper, using Bayesian causal maps (BCMs) methodology, relationships between legal and political environments of business and EBOF are investigated. The unique design of our study allows us to analyze these relationships based on the stages of development in 92 countries around the world. The EBOF models structured through BCMs are used to explain how EBOF in a given country group are shaped by how managers perceive political, legislative, and protective environments of business in these countries. The results suggest that irregular payments and bribes are the most influential factors affecting managers’ perceptions of business ethics in relatively more advanced economies, whereas intellectual property protection is the most influential factor affecting managers’ perceptions of business ethics in less-advanced economies. The results also suggest that regardless of where the business is conducted in the world, judicial independence is the driving force behind managers’ perceptions of business ethics. In addition, the results of this study provide further support for scholars who argue that business ethics is likely to vary among countries based on their socio-economic factors. In addition to its managerial implications, the study provides directions for policy makers to improve the ethical conduct of businesses in their respective countries

Politically Motivated Brand Rejection

Cataloged from PDF version of article.This paper introduces the concept of politically motivated brand rejection (PMBR) as an emergent form of anti-consumption behavior. PMBR is the refusal to purchase and/or use a brand on a permanent basis because of its perceived association to a particular political ideology that the consumer opposes. Specifically, the paper discusses three distinct sets of political ideologies that can lead to rejection of certain brands by some consumers. These ideologies include predatory globalization, chauvinistic nationalism, and religious fundamentalism. The target of PMBR can be both local and global brands and consumers who engage in PMBR do not expect any change in marketing practice. © 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

A vertical representation of soil carbon in the JULES land surface scheme (vn4.3_permafrost) with a focus on permafrost regions

An improved representation of the carbon cycle in permafrost regions will enable more realistic projections of the future climate–carbon system. Currently JULES (the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator) – the land surface model of the UK Earth System Model (UKESM) – uses the standard four-pool RothC soil carbon model. This paper describes a new version of JULES (vn4.3_permafrost) in which the soil vertical dimension is added to the soil carbon model, with a set of four pools in every soil layer. The respiration rate in each soil layer depends on the temperature and moisture conditions in that layer. Cryoturbation/bioturbation processes, which transfer soil carbon between layers, are represented by diffusive mixing. The litter inputs and the soil respiration are both parametrized to decrease with increasing depth. The model now includes a tracer so that selected soil carbon can be labelled and tracked through a simulation. Simulations show an improvement in the large-scale horizontal and vertical distribution of soil carbon over the standard version of JULES (vn4.3). Like the standard version of JULES, the vertically discretized model is still unable to simulate enough soil carbon in the tundra regions. This is in part because JULES underestimates the plant productivity over the tundra, but also because not all of the processes relevant for the accumulation of permafrost carbon, such as peat development, are included in the model. In comparison with the standard model, the vertically discretized model shows a delay in the onset of soil respiration in the spring, resulting in an increased net uptake of carbon during this time. In order to provide a more suitable representation of permafrost carbon for quantifying the permafrost carbon feedback within UKESM, the deep soil carbon in the permafrost region (below 1 m) was initialized using the observed soil carbon. There is now a slight drift in the soil carbon ( <  0.018 % decade−1), but the change in simulated soil carbon over the 20th century, when there is little climate change, is comparable to the original vertically discretized model and significantly larger than the drift

A Bayesian Network Analysis of Ethical Behavior

Using one of the major domains of macromarketing – ethics – this paper aims to introduce the Bayesian network (BN) method and demonstrate its added value for macro-level decision makers. Bayesian networks are particularly important for macromarketers because they allow researchers to analyze a domain from a system perspective. The BN approach is considered one of the most powerful tools for observing system changes. The method can also deal with multiple variables at once, which can lead to efficient scenario analyses, critical for understanding how a system functions. As such, BNs offer a powerful tool for macromarketers who deal with systems, interactions, and higher levels of aggregation. We believe that the adoption of this methodology by macromarketing researchers is likely to contribute to the discipline by advancing the understanding of how certain systemic/network relationships and various domains of macromarketing work. © 2015, © The Author(s) 2015

Consuming, studying, and regulating genetically modified foods: A case for transformative consumer research

ACR 2005 North American Conference calls for Transformative Consumer Research (TCR). Based on the principles of TCR, the objective of this paper is to provide a platform to involve consumers more directly with public policy issues related to food biotechnologies, so that this technology can actually make positive impacts on consumers' lives, both present and future generations. More specifically, through an iterative and rigorous multi-stage research design, we aim to provide valuable insights for consumers, for the academic community, and for public policy makers with respect to genetically modified foods

Immunization of Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) against Lactococcus garvieae Using Vaccine Mixtures

The effectiveness of vaccine mixtures against lactococcosis was tested in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). The M1 strain of Lactococcus garvieae, isolated from a recent outbreak of lactococcosis at a rainbow trout farm in Turkey, was used in a trial comparing five immuniza- tion treatments: (a) formalin inactivated bacterin (vaccine), (b) the above bacterin together with Freund’s Incomplete Adjuvant (FIA), (c) the bacterin combined with β-glucan, (d) β-glucan only, and (e) phosphate buffered saline-PBS (control). Fish were given intrapritoneal injections and challenged by exposure to the bacteria 30, 75, or 125 days after vaccination. In fish exposed to the bacteria 30 days after injection, the relative percent survival (RPS) was 88.89% in the group that received only bacterin and 100% in the group that received the bacterin combined with FIA. Immunity remained high in the bacterin+FIA group, as the RPS in this group remained 100% in fish challenged at 75 days, significantly higher than in all other groups. In fish exposed to the bacteria 125 days after vaccination, the RPS was 54.55% in fish vaccinated with the bacterin only and 84.84% in fish vaccinated with bacterin+FIA. In the group that received only β-glucan, immunity did not improve after vaccination. Micro-agglutination tests of serums showed that immunized fish produced antibodies at high titers within 30 days. In short, the formalin-inacti- vated M1 strain provided longer lasting protection against Lactococcus garvieae in rainbow trout when combined with FIA than when administered alone or with β-glucan

Xanthogranulomatous Endometritis: A Challenging Imitator of Endometrial Carcinoma

Xanthogranulomatous inflammation is a distinguished histopathological entity affecting several organs, predominantly the kidney and gallbladder. So far, only a small number of cases of xanthogranulomatous inflammation occurring in female genital tract have been described, most frequently affecting the endometrium and histologically characterized by replacement of endometrium by xanthogranulomatous inflammation composed of abundant foamy histiocytes, siderophages, giant cells, fibrosis, calcification and accompanying polymorphonuclear leucocytes, plasma cells and lymphocytes of polyclonal origin. We present a case of a 69-year-old female complained of post menopausal bleeding and weight loss. Clinical preliminary diagnoses were endometrial carcinoma or hyperplasia and ultrasound was supposed to be endometrial malignancy, hyperplasia or pyometra by radiologist. Histopathological examination of uterus revealed xanthogranulomatous endometritis. Since xanthogranulomatous endometritis may mimic endometrial malignancy clinically and pathologically as a result of the replacement of the endometrium and occasionally invasion of the myometrium by friable yellowish tissue composed of histiocytes, knowledge of this unusual inflammatory disease is needed for both clinicians and pathologists