Locating self at the centre of learning: Theory, practice and the lived experience.

One o-going challenge for those teaching in higher education is to engage students in learning activities that are deemed meaningful and professionally relevant. Acknowledging this challenge, students in undergraduate and graduate papers at The University of Waikato have been introduced to using stories to analyse a range of satisfying and dissatisfying experiences. This process requires students to analyse and interpret the social construction of a lived experience through self and collective reflection of written memories. This paper comments on the process of having students connect between their everyday life and university study, provides a background to the memory-work methodology, and discusses how students can apply and respond to using this theoretical framework to acquire knowledge relevant to professional practice in the workplace

Memory-work : understanding consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction of clothing retail encounters

This research investigated the process and meaning of consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction in women's clothing retail encounters. It utilised a 'memory-work' methodology which operationalised storytelling and allowed a detailed examination of consumer experiences of retail encounter in 'real life' situations. The qualitative data was derived from memory-texts provided by nine women in Hamilton, New Zealand. Over a period of four months, each woman wrote five detailed stories based on her experiences evoked from specific themes chosen to trigger satisfying or dissatisfying experiences of clothing shopping for themselves. For each trigger, details of the participant's memory texts were analysed and compared in group discussions, by the participants as well as the researcher, to obtain both self and social meanings of their experiences. The memory-texts illustrated how the consumers evaluated and attached meanings to the context and events which occurred in the clothing retail encounters. The analysis of these revealed that the consumer appraised her interactions based on her self identity, experiences and social context. It illustrated that the process of consumer satisfaction and dissatisfaction was centred around the evaluation of the self rather than the service/product attributes and performances. This overall appraisal was based on whether or not the consumer was threatened, or had her values enhanced, and thus the extent to which she belonged. The nature and intensity of satisfaction and dissatisfaction depended not only on the consumer matching her goals and values, but was a complex result of the cognitive, affective, and socio-cultural contexts

Locating self at the centre of learning: Theory, practice and the lived experience

One o-going challenge for those teaching in higher education is to engage students in learning activities that are deemed meaningful and professionally relevant. Acknowledging this challenge, students in undergraduate and graduate papers at The University of Waikato have been introduced to using stories to analyse a range of satisfying and dissatisfying experiences. This process requires students to analyse and interpret the social construction of a lived experience through self and collectii.je reflection of written memories. This paper comments on the process of having students connect between their everyday life and university study, provides a background to the memory-work methodology, and discusses how students can apply and respond to using this theoretical framework to acquir

Learning to trust e-tailers: Strategies used by consumers in a distrustful environment

This article draws on a phenomenological study of understanding six early adopters’ successful online shopping experiences. Narratives of their online purchasing experiences suggest that learning to trust e-tailers is a complex process that is shaped by factors such as self-identity, risk awareness, and technical and brand knowledge. This article summarises the first part of the findings from this study – the strategies the six participants used to gain trust with e-tailers to overcome their distrust of purchasing online. These strategies included checking payment security, gaining product information, checking the ordering process, using brand knowledge, asking friends for advice, using expert referrals, and assessing website structure, functionality and image. The findings suggest that technical and/or brand knowledge best explain the methods that these participants used to trust e-tailers because it provided them with a greater sense of comfort to purchase online. As with offline marketing contexts, this research suggests that credibility and benevolence are two important underlying dimensions of online trust. However, due to the distrustful environment of e-commerce, honesty may be an important separate dimension of online trust

Spirals of distrust vs spirals of trust in retail customer service: consumers as victims or allies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine “nasty” retail shopping experiences. The paper aims to consider implications of distrust related to theft control measures in retail customer service. Design/methodology/approach – Storytelling as a “memory-work” method draws on phenomenology, hermeneutics, and the narrative. Researchers and participants worked together as co-researchers to analyze and interpret “lived” experiences contained in their written personal stories. The authors extend this understanding in the context of existing literature. Findings – Distrust pervaded the stories, which focused on shoplifting accusations (real and imagined). As a violation of implicit trust, distrust provoked intense moral emotions, damaged identities, and fuelled retaliation. Findings illustrate a pervasive downward “spiral of distrust” in the retail context. Practical implications – Results suggest that retailers use store personnel rather than technological surveillance to control theft. Interacting with customers and displaying cooperation builds respect, trust, and relationships and may deter theft. Retailers should add signs of trust and remove signs of distrust from retail environments. They cannot rely on service recovery to appease customers disgruntled by distrust. Social implications – When retailers act as if they care, customers reciprocate, creating upward trust spirals and stronger communities. Originality/value – A dark side to retail loss-prevention tactics is demonstrated in the paper. Surveillance signals distrust, which repels customers and resists service recovery. Concepts of spirals of distrust and trust to the services marketing literature are introduced. The spirals illustrate how distrust destroys and trust builds relationships and communities. Furthermore, ideas are offered about ways to start upward trust spirals

Seeing is believing: telling the ‘inside’ story of a beginning masters athlete through film

This paper is about how a previously inactive woman with little or no experience of playing sports became a masters athlete at 65 years of age. The authors explore how visual methods as a different way of knowing can be used to enhance our current theories and practical knowledge about older adults' experiences with sport and exercise. How data were gathered and analysed through film and how film was used to represent experience are described. Additionally, the authors offer their perspective on some challenges and/or ethical issues researchers may face when visual methods are used

Capturing their dream: Video diaries and minority consumers

This paper describes the characteristics and benefits of a visual ethnography method called “video diary.” The authors illustrate the special features of the method based on their experiences in using it to understand consumer acculturation of Pacific Islanders in New Zealand. In brief, research participants benefit from the control and voice that video diaries give them. Researchers benefit from “saturated description” and collaborative analysis. The benefits of video diaries are particularly suited to ethnographic research with people from collectivist or vulnerable groups. Video diaries can be used alone or along with other ethnographic methods and the authors recommend them to consumer researchers, who want to understand routine and private aspects of consumers' lives or any aspect of culture. Their range of use is limited only by one's imagination