Editorial

Citation

Leventhal, R.C. (2010), "Editorial", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.2010.07727aaa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume 27, Issue 1

One of the many pleasures that I have experienced as Editor of the Journal of Consumer Marketing is the increase in the number of quality submissions (as it concerns the field of consumer marketing) from all around the globe. The study of what factors affect the consumer relates to all types of products and/or services in all cultures. It is fascinating to learn what is being done to better understand those conditions, which play a role in helping consumers (of all ages) to make their choices in the marketplace.

Bruwer and Johnson explore different levels of place-based marketing in the form of region of origin strategies used by wineries in their branding efforts. The authors reveal that regional branding efforts should be targeted at high wine product involvement consumers rather than their low involvement counterparts as high involvement consumers are likely to be more influenced by brand-based cues such as combining regional and appellation information on the wine label.

Zolfagharian explores how bicultural consumers differ from monocultural consumers in terms of personality traits and identity negotiation. The author finds that relative to monoculturals, biculturals exhibit greater concerns about their acceptability within pertinent reference groups and society at large, have comparable levels of need for uniqueness and art enthusiasm, and consumer more artwork as a means and in the process of their routine negotiation of (ethnic) identity. This study provides some insights that can help marketers to leverage such opportunities.

Creusen states that a focus on product aspects that are most important to target consumers helps to communicate product advantage to consumers, both in product design and in marketing. This study identified relations between gender, age, education and income, and the importance of aesthetic aspects, symbolic aspects, functionalities, ease of use and quality in buying a product. Knowledge of said relations will help a company to better adjust their products and marketing efforts to fit consumer preferences.

Poon, Evangelista and Albaum study the attitudes of Asian and Western migrants and native born in Australia toward foreign-made products and the impact of consumer ethnocentrism on attitude formation. This is one of the few studies to look at ethnocentrism and attitudes towards country-of-origin of products of migrants and locally born people.

Gavish, Shoham, and Ruvio examine the extent to which daughters view their mothers as consumption role models, the extent to which daughters serve as consumption role models for their mothers, and the extent to which role models are shared by mothers and their adolescent daughters. The findings can be useful in the design of products as well as in the design of more effective marketing communication efforts.

Tootelian and Varshney examined how significant the grandparent market is, their spending on grandchildren, and whether the marketing is sustainable over time. Their findings suggest that spending will increase over time. and that grandparents who have other financial obligations may be somewhat prudent in their spending.

Barber, Taylor and Strick examine the concept of selective marketing as it pertains to segmentation. The results of this study offer insights when considering selective marketing. Consumers bring to the purchasing decision varying types of attitudes and beliefs. Understanding environmental knowledge and attitudes, when consumers are segmented by location, gender and age, can be used in selective marketing in the service industry to aid in designing promotional plans; whether the product of choice is a vacation resort, hotel, or tourism destination such as a winery.

In Volume 27 of The Journal of Consumer Marketing please note some changes. First I would like to personally thank Herbert Jack Rotfeld for the many years that he has spent in developing our Misplaced Marketing section. His keen sense of observation and writing ability, as it pertains to the marketplace, has made a great contribution to the success of the Journal of Consumer Marketing. In place of the Misplaced Marketing section you will now find our Marketing Developments section which will be edited by Dennis Pitta. Dennis has also been an integral part of the Journal of Consumer Marketing editorial staff, as both a contributor of several articles which have appeared in the Journal of Consumer Marketing, and the editor of the Computer Currency section. Another change for this volume is the integration of our computer and internet currency sections. When these sections were introduced both the level of technology itself and the understanding of those who used it were much more basic than is the case today. We therefore felt it appropriate to gear back a little on our coverage of these areas. You will also find a most interesting case, as well as some timely book reviews in this issue.

Richard C. Leventhal