Editorial

Citation

Brian Young, D. (2007), "Editorial", Young Consumers, Vol. 8 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/yc.2007.32108daa.001

Editorial

This issue maintains the now established tradition of a journal which is truly international in outlook. We have academic papers from India, China (Hong Kong SAR), Australia, the USA and the UK. In addition there is the regular contribution from the well-known author and child expert Martin Lindstrom, as well as our global look at regulations on advertising to children; this time it is Turkey. All of us, both practitioners and academics live in a constantly changing world where the parameters of yesterday are not the same as those of today and who knows what they will be tomorrow. This means that our theories of how advertising works and how consumption practices are established and change, must themselves be flexible to the cultural values wherein we operate. Nothing is fixed and part of the fascination for me of this complex area is just how many factors are operative in any problem and how solutions that were held as given before are now taken over by radically different frames of understanding with fresh new mindsets. Lindstrom takes us into this world of the MSP or “me selling proposition” where the young consumer is well and truly in charge.

We also have in every issue our global look at regulations on advertising to children; this time it is Turkey. Bilge Saltan looks at the current state of regulations and the regulatory framework operative in Turkey today with some interesting examples of recent decisions.

Turning now in more detail to the academic papers: Batounis-Ronner, Hunt, and Mallalieu look at consumer decision making within the family nexus. But whereas the dominant line of influence in research in this area has been seen as from mother/father to child, with some research recognition given to so-called “reverse socialisation” from child to parent, little attention has been paid to the role of siblings in the systemic set of processes that occur within families. Batounis-Ronner and her colleagues used a survey methodology to produce interesting results that take this area of research an important step forward.

Kara Chan is no stranger to these pages and results from her research with Wei Fang in Hong Kong is reported in this issue. Anyone who has been to SE Asia will have noted how ubiquitous the so-called “new media” is in places like Singapore, Seoul, Hong Kong and Tokyo and this paper surveys the patterns of usage of both traditional and new media by young consumers in Hong Kong.

Mobile (cell) phones are another form of new media communication that is used worldwide and recent issues of this journal have explored mobile phone use in detail. O’Doherty and his colleagues look at motivations behind mobile phone use in young Australians using a qualitative methodology. This original and imaginative paper suggests that young consumers in that country primarily perceive the mobile phone as a communicative tool and one that is inferior to television, magazines, and the internet when it comes to entertainment. The marketing and practitioner implications are obvious as is the need to develop this research globally.

Roy and Goswami report from India on research on frequent clothing purchase among urban college youth there in an attempt to identify the individual characteristics or psychographics of such consumers. Using sophisticated statistical analysis (structural equation modelling) they discover that a particular set of values (outer-directed) are identified with this group and discuss the theoretical as well as marketing implications of their finding.

Last but by no means least, we have a highly original piece of research by Lynne Eagle and Ross Brennan. Using a sample of leaflets through the door, they simply analyse their content and conclude that healthy eating for families, including kids is not exactly reflected in what they read. The point – that this has not been looked at before and that more importantly that all possible sources of promotional information needs to be examined and evaluated in the obesity debate – is well taken.

This issue is the final one for 2007 and I hope that the quality and range of articles submitted to Young Consumers is as good as the ones I have had the privilege to read this year. Many thanks also to our Editorial Advisory Board who really do the majority of the work – I always take and trust their advice and expert opinion.

Best wishes for a good and prosperous 2008.

Dr Brian YoungEditor