Daily existence is more interconnected to consumer behaviors than ever before, encompassing many issues of well-being. Problems include unhealthy eating; credit card mismanagement; alcohol, tobacco, pornography, and gambling abuse; marketplace discrimination; and ecological deterioration; as well as at-risk groups who are impoverished, impaired, or elderly. Opportunities for well-being via consumer behaviors include empowerment via the Internet, product sharing, leisure pursuits, family consumption, and pro-environmental activities, among others.
In 2005 the Association for Consumer Research launched Transformative Consumer Research (TCR). Its mission is to foster research on quality of life that is both rigorous and applied for better assisting consumers, their caregivers, policy administrators, and executives.
This edited volume includes 33 chapters on a wide range of topics by expert international authors. All royalties from sales of this book are donated to the Association to support TCR grants.
About the Author: David Mick is the Robert Hill Carter Professor of Marketing at the University of Virginia's McIntire School of Commerce. He holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University. His research has focused on communication, motives, and meaning in consumer behavior, including advertising, self-gifts, technological products, materialism, and wisdom. His research has appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and Journal of Business Ethics, among other outlets. He has also previously co-edited three books, including The Why of Consumption (2000) and Inside Consumption: Consumer Motives, Goals, and Desires (2005). His research has received the Best Article award at the Journal of Consumer Research (1989), the Maynard Award for a prominent theoretical contribution in the Journal of Marketing (1999), and the Dunn Award for Excellence in Advertising Research from the University of Illinois (2004). He is presently a member of the editorial review boards at the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing. David is also an elected Fellow of the Society for Consumer Psychology (2004), former Associate Editor and Head Editor of the Journal of Consumer Research (1997-2003), and past President of the Association for Consumer Research (2005).
Simone Pettigrew is a Senior Lecturer in Marketing in the UWA Business School at the University of Western Australia. Prior to becoming an academic researcher, Simone was employed in marketing positions in the Australian energy sector. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Western Australia and has published research in a variety of journals, including Marketing Theory, International Journal of Advertising, International Journal of Consumer Studies, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Australi
