Speaker:

Professor David Marshall, University of Edinburgh School of Business, UK

Venue:

Room 397, H04 - Merewether Building

Be(com)ing Consumers: young children's everyday accounts of snacking

Description:

Abstract: Amidst the debate on childhood obesity is a concern about the increase in snacking among children. This seminar reports on first hand accounts from 8-11 year old Scottish school children about their snacking experiences. It reveals the extent to which their ideas about snacking are tied to broader food experiences and finds that much of children's snacking is mediated by the family. While certain aspects are negotiated there is relatively limited discretionary snacking.

Longer Abstract: Scotland ranks second to the USA in terms of obesity and recent reports have shown one in five boys (18%) and one in ten girls (14%) aged 2-15 are now obese (Scottish Public Health Observatory 2007). While much of the attention has centred on the influence of marketing and promotion on children's food preferences (Hastings et al 2003) we know much less about how children snack. Given the shift towards child centred parenting, more negotiation and democratisation of the family (Dixon and Brandwell 2004, Johansson 2006) there is a question surrounding the role children play in decisions surrounding what they eat? According to Ofcom (2005) the majority of parents will often defer to their children's food preferences buying HFSS foods. Romani (2005) suggests that children now have more agency in shaping their own food consumption resisting parental expectations about food and ideas about eating properly (Bisogni et al 2007, Poulain 2002). However, there is a question over the degree of agency in the sense that children's food consumption may be discretionary (children chose), negotiated (children contribute), or mandated (parents decide) (Marshall et al 2007).

This paper reports looks at Scottish middle class children's accounts of their snack consumption and reports on qualitative research with 8-11 year old Scottish primary school children about their snacking experiences both at home and in school. It draws on eight discussion groups (Bloor et al 1991) conducted between May and December 2006, at two Primary schools, one state, one private (fee paying) in Edinburgh, Scotland. A total of 106 children, boys and girls, participated in the discussion groups with a mode of thirteen children and a maximum of fifteen children in any one group. The brief included asking children about their favourite foods and snacking activities. All groups were transcribed and analysed with using the constant comparative method (Glaser and Strauss 1967).

This presentation reports on the children's own accounts of snacks and snacking and shows that much of their eating activity is mandated by adults concerned with regulating the type of snacks they eat and how much is consumed of both 'healthy' and 'unhealthy' snacks. This ranged from free access to certain snacks through to highly restricted access for other items reflecting different degrees of agency. The discussions on pocket money revealed the limited extent of their discretionary expenditure on snack foods. It appears that children are being included in this democratisation process but are generally not responsible for buying their own snacks. Negotiation with parents was reported in the shopping aisle and at home but this depended on the type of product and snack occasion. There was little resistance to the idea of eating properly and children discussed snacks in relation to a much broader range of eating experiences into which they had been socialised. Overall, the children's level of discretionary consumption was limited, leading to the conclusion that when it comes to this aspect of food choice children are 'becoming', rather than 'being' food consumers and still primarily reliant on parents for their snacks (Johansson 2006).

About the speaker: Graduated from the University of Newcastle with a BSc in Agricultural and Food Marketing, in 1982 and returned as a Research Associate working on various consumer research projects after a period working for Norsk Hydro. Moved to Edinburgh in 1988 as a lecturer in marketing and completed his PhD in 1991. Was appointed Senior Lecturer in 1999 and Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour in August 2007.

Speaker:

Professor Darren Dahl, Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Canada

Venue:

Room 214/215, H69 - Economics and Business Building

Sex in Advertising: Gender Differences and the Role of Relationship Commitment

Description:

Abstract: This study draws on differences between men and women's attitudes about sex, either as an end in itself (men) or as inextricably linked to relationship commitment (women) to understand attitudes toward the gratuitous use of sex in advertising. In line with predictions, four experiments showed that women's spontaneous dislike of sexual ads softened when the ad could be interpreted in terms of commitment related resources being offered by men to women. In contrast, men's positive attitudes toward sexual ads were relatively unaffected by the salience of relationship commitment cues. These results not only offer insights into consumer reactions to sexual advertising but also inform theories on how men and women conceptualize sexual behaviors and relationships.

About the speaker: Darren Dahl, is the Fred H. Siller Professor in Applied Marketing Research at Sauder School of Business, UBC.

Speaker:

Dr Kyuseop Kwak, University of Technology, Sydney

Venue:

Room 397, H04 - Merewether Building

A Sku-Level Model Of Multiple Item Choice

Description:

Abstract: Choice decisions in market basket selection are interrelated because demand patterns are complex.This research develops a SKU-level multiple-item choice model, based upon the assumption that the utility of purchase of one item in a market basket depends upon the set of items already selected. The resulting model is very flexible, allowing for a large variety of market structure patterns. Because the model can be written in a closed form manner, we can easily study the pattern of brand price competition by computing a matrix of cross-price elasticities. We apply the model to household purchase histories from the yogurt product category. Substantively, we show that households treat brand names as strong substitutes, and flavors (within a brand) as weak substitutes and complements. We also show that the general pattern of cross-category price elasticities is consistent with quality tier competition.

About the speaker: Kyuseop Kwak is a lecturer in the School of Marketing and member of Centre for the Study of Choice (CenSoC). At UTS, he has been teaching Introductory Marketing Research and organising School of Marketing Seminar Series. Kyuseop holds a Ph.D in Marketing from University of Iowa (2007) and MS degree in Marketing Research from University of Wisconsin-Madison (2002). He previously worked at A.C. Nielsen as an analytical intern at Madison, Wisconsin, US and Hyundai Research Institute, Seoul Korea. His research interests are mainly consumer choice models based on consumer behaviour and economic theory. He is especially interested in households' multiple-category choice behaviour or product bundling choice. He is also working on a few other projects dealing with heterogeneity in consumer choice decisions across purchase occasions and new product positioning.

Speaker:

Dr Anish Nagpal, Department of Management and Marketing, The University of Melbourne

Venue:

Room 397, H04 - Merewether Building

The Effect Of Customization Strategy And Recommendations On Consumer Decision-Making

Description:

Abstract: To ease the effort required to make choice decisions when customizing products for purchase, marketers frequently offer an attribute level recommendation. Little is known about the impact recommendations have on choice option decision making. In this article, three experiments demonstrate how a recommendation provided by a vendor influences the reference point from which decisions are made when adding options in a building-up customization strategy, but not when removing options in a paring-down customization strategy. Our results suggest a tendency to follow recommendations when adding options, and ignore recommendations when removing options. These findings have implications for marketers offering customized product options, and shed light onto conditions of reference point shift when decision making.

About the speaker: Dr Anish Nagpal is a lecturer in marketing at the University of Melbourne. He holds a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Houston (2005). He has published in the Journal of Consumer Research.

Speaker:

Peter J LaPlaca, Editor, Industrial Marketing Management

Venue:

Room 214/215, H69 - Economics and Business Building

How to Write a World Class Paper: From Title to References, From Submission to Revision

Description:

About the speaker: Peter J LaPlaca is a Professor of Management and Marketing at the Barney School of Business, the University of Hartford and is the Editor-in-Chief of Industrial Marketing Management.