Pub Date : 2023-04-11DOI: 10.1177/14707853231170107
Carlos Ochoa, M. Revilla
The Internet’s widespread adoption and recent technological developments have provided researchers with the opportunity to capture new data types (e.g., images, passively collected data), which offer several advantages over conventional survey data. Nevertheless, the limited participation rate in projects requiring to share such data may limit their benefits, and even their feasibility. To estimate the willingness to participate in such projects in advance, researchers frequently rely on surveys. However, the way researchers describe what data should be shared and how, and the phrasing of questions asked to participants to obtain their agreement may result in different estimates. This study presents the results of a conjoint experiment that estimates the hypothetical willingness of participants to engage in two research activities that require sharing geolocation data. Three different descriptions of the activities were presented to participants: a neutral one, one emphasizing the necessity to commit to participate, and one emphasizing safe handling of shared data. The three descriptions elicited different levels of willingness, with a maximum effect of 7.0 percentage points (statistically significant). Additionally, the importance given by participants to the attributes of the activities (e.g., project duration or incentives) differed depending on the description. Notably, the description that emphasized data safety produced lower levels of willingness compared to the neutral one. This suggests that researchers should avoid overly emphasizing safety assurances when requesting the sharing of sensitive data, beyond the necessary information required for obtaining informed consent from participants.
{"title":"Framing Effects on Willingness to Participate in Geolocation-Based Research","authors":"Carlos Ochoa, M. Revilla","doi":"10.1177/14707853231170107","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853231170107","url":null,"abstract":"The Internet’s widespread adoption and recent technological developments have provided researchers with the opportunity to capture new data types (e.g., images, passively collected data), which offer several advantages over conventional survey data. Nevertheless, the limited participation rate in projects requiring to share such data may limit their benefits, and even their feasibility. To estimate the willingness to participate in such projects in advance, researchers frequently rely on surveys. However, the way researchers describe what data should be shared and how, and the phrasing of questions asked to participants to obtain their agreement may result in different estimates. This study presents the results of a conjoint experiment that estimates the hypothetical willingness of participants to engage in two research activities that require sharing geolocation data. Three different descriptions of the activities were presented to participants: a neutral one, one emphasizing the necessity to commit to participate, and one emphasizing safe handling of shared data. The three descriptions elicited different levels of willingness, with a maximum effect of 7.0 percentage points (statistically significant). Additionally, the importance given by participants to the attributes of the activities (e.g., project duration or incentives) differed depending on the description. Notably, the description that emphasized data safety produced lower levels of willingness compared to the neutral one. This suggests that researchers should avoid overly emphasizing safety assurances when requesting the sharing of sensitive data, beyond the necessary information required for obtaining informed consent from participants.","PeriodicalId":47641,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Market Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-04-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49447868","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-31DOI: 10.1177/14707853231166882
Henning Silber, S. Stadtmüller, A. Cernat
In times of declining response rates and over-surveying, improving our understanding of why people participate in surveys is more important than ever. Previous research showed that online panel participants have intrinsic (e.g., topic interest, altruism) and extrinsic (e.g., incentives) participation reasons. Our study expands this research by implementing an experiment using two common forms of survey measurement: ranking and rating. The experiment was fielded in a professional respondents’ sample from a German online panel (n = 407) and in an address-based sample (mail and online) of German non-professional respondents (n = 1,137). Besides extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, the experiment included various study design features (i.e., mode, length, data security) and the mood during the time of contact as possible reasons for participation. The results confirm previous findings regarding the motivations of online panelists but also show important differences between professional and non-professional respondents. Specifically, the main participation reasons of professionals are topic interest (intrinsic) and incentives (extrinsic), while non-professionals are primarily motivated by intrinsic reasons (topic interest and purpose of study). This notion is also supported by the Latent Class Analyses, which showed that three of the four classes for professional respondents had a high probability of naming incentives as one of their main reasons for survey participation, whereas none of the four non-professional clusters rated incentives highly. The differences between the two samples highlight that professional panel members have different motivation structures than participants in general population surveys. This may undermine generalizability, but it also provides opportunities for targeted recruitment.
{"title":"Comparing participation motives of professional and non-professional respondents","authors":"Henning Silber, S. Stadtmüller, A. Cernat","doi":"10.1177/14707853231166882","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853231166882","url":null,"abstract":"In times of declining response rates and over-surveying, improving our understanding of why people participate in surveys is more important than ever. Previous research showed that online panel participants have intrinsic (e.g., topic interest, altruism) and extrinsic (e.g., incentives) participation reasons. Our study expands this research by implementing an experiment using two common forms of survey measurement: ranking and rating. The experiment was fielded in a professional respondents’ sample from a German online panel (n = 407) and in an address-based sample (mail and online) of German non-professional respondents (n = 1,137). Besides extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, the experiment included various study design features (i.e., mode, length, data security) and the mood during the time of contact as possible reasons for participation. The results confirm previous findings regarding the motivations of online panelists but also show important differences between professional and non-professional respondents. Specifically, the main participation reasons of professionals are topic interest (intrinsic) and incentives (extrinsic), while non-professionals are primarily motivated by intrinsic reasons (topic interest and purpose of study). This notion is also supported by the Latent Class Analyses, which showed that three of the four classes for professional respondents had a high probability of naming incentives as one of their main reasons for survey participation, whereas none of the four non-professional clusters rated incentives highly. The differences between the two samples highlight that professional panel members have different motivation structures than participants in general population surveys. This may undermine generalizability, but it also provides opportunities for targeted recruitment.","PeriodicalId":47641,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Market Research","volume":"65 1","pages":"361 - 372"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42488003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-28DOI: 10.1177/14707853231166878
Kimberly Nehls
The purpose of this research note is to suggest photovoice as a methodology to enhance and vivify marginalized voices in marketing research. Specifically, the focus is on LGBTQ+ consumer perspectives during one of the most visible times for this marketing segment: Pride Month. Photovoice is an opportunity for researchers to ask for viewpoints and incorporate consumer perspectives into social marketing research. It puts the researcher in the role of a guide through the research process, while participants lead the data collection, definitions, and analysis through their own images so new voices and perspectives are centered. It is the intention of this article to be a catalyst for encouraging both scholars and practitioners to conduct future photovoice studies in international market research.
{"title":"Photovoice of marginalized groups and pride month marketing","authors":"Kimberly Nehls","doi":"10.1177/14707853231166878","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853231166878","url":null,"abstract":"The purpose of this research note is to suggest photovoice as a methodology to enhance and vivify marginalized voices in marketing research. Specifically, the focus is on LGBTQ+ consumer perspectives during one of the most visible times for this marketing segment: Pride Month. Photovoice is an opportunity for researchers to ask for viewpoints and incorporate consumer perspectives into social marketing research. It puts the researcher in the role of a guide through the research process, while participants lead the data collection, definitions, and analysis through their own images so new voices and perspectives are centered. It is the intention of this article to be a catalyst for encouraging both scholars and practitioners to conduct future photovoice studies in international market research.","PeriodicalId":47641,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Market Research","volume":"65 1","pages":"373 - 379"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43897130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-20DOI: 10.1177/14707853231165635
Jamel Khenfer
Researchers must increasingly account for growing expectations from scientific journals to infuse their work with real-world significance through field experiments. However, field experiments often require researchers to have access to substantial resources or a network that includes nonacademic partners willing to provide those resources. This article aims at overcoming those barriers by providing researchers with the tools they need to conduct randomized field experiments delivered to participants through mobile applications, given limited resources. The method presented herein takes advantage of the facilitated access to user data made possible by computing and development platforms such as Google’s Firebase. While the programming tools required to collect and analyze the data may feel intimidating, this article provides step-by-step instructions and illustrates the procedure with a case study experiment.
{"title":"A hands-on guide to conducting field experiments using mobile applications","authors":"Jamel Khenfer","doi":"10.1177/14707853231165635","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853231165635","url":null,"abstract":"Researchers must increasingly account for growing expectations from scientific journals to infuse their work with real-world significance through field experiments. However, field experiments often require researchers to have access to substantial resources or a network that includes nonacademic partners willing to provide those resources. This article aims at overcoming those barriers by providing researchers with the tools they need to conduct randomized field experiments delivered to participants through mobile applications, given limited resources. The method presented herein takes advantage of the facilitated access to user data made possible by computing and development platforms such as Google’s Firebase. While the programming tools required to collect and analyze the data may feel intimidating, this article provides step-by-step instructions and illustrates the procedure with a case study experiment.","PeriodicalId":47641,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Market Research","volume":"65 1","pages":"380 - 401"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48048990","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-20DOI: 10.1177/14707853231165471
Kay-Wah Chan, Susie Khamis, Maureen Taylor, David S. Waller
Many countries have ethnically diverse populations and marketing practitioners need to consider these diversities when undertaking research, particularly when exploring sensitive topics. In Australia, Indigenous Australians make up 3.3% of the population and are a commonly researched audience to gauge attitudes and ensure cultural offense does not occur due to unintended consequences of marketing activity. However, obtaining information from such a vulnerable group using quantitively based surveys is often inappropriate or insensitive. This paper introduces to Euro-western market researchers the concepts of flipping and yarning as a market research approach that has been used by Indigenous Australians for thousands of years. This circular market research approach demonstrates that ensuring a cultural understanding of the community can provide a foundation for a research approach that is ‘considered’ and respectful. It is hoped that this type of methodology can be used with other vulnerable communities as well as other diverse groups.
{"title":"Indigenous Research Methods to Build an Uncontested Space for Marketing Insight","authors":"Kay-Wah Chan, Susie Khamis, Maureen Taylor, David S. Waller","doi":"10.1177/14707853231165471","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853231165471","url":null,"abstract":"Many countries have ethnically diverse populations and marketing practitioners need to consider these diversities when undertaking research, particularly when exploring sensitive topics. In Australia, Indigenous Australians make up 3.3% of the population and are a commonly researched audience to gauge attitudes and ensure cultural offense does not occur due to unintended consequences of marketing activity. However, obtaining information from such a vulnerable group using quantitively based surveys is often inappropriate or insensitive. This paper introduces to Euro-western market researchers the concepts of flipping and yarning as a market research approach that has been used by Indigenous Australians for thousands of years. This circular market research approach demonstrates that ensuring a cultural understanding of the community can provide a foundation for a research approach that is ‘considered’ and respectful. It is hoped that this type of methodology can be used with other vulnerable communities as well as other diverse groups.","PeriodicalId":47641,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Market Research","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42100136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-03-01DOI: 10.1177/14707853221139204
S. Dodds, Jörg Finsterwalder, G. Prayag, Ilayaraja Subramanian
Understanding vulnerable consumers when conducting Transformative Service Research (TSR) is essential but these consumers and their contexts are often complex and difficult to research. Despite a movement towards TSR methodologies suitable for studying vulnerable participants and their contexts, a comprehensive framework that can guide service researchers is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to investigate appropriate methods, procedures, and protocols that permit researching a wide range of vulnerable groups and exposures to vulnerable situations in TSR. This is undertaken via a review of the literature and the authors’ reflections of their experiences with researching vulnerability in various configurations (e.g., disasters, refugees, healthcare, disability, and older people). Through an iterative process of personal case reflections and group discussions blended with extant literature, patterns and insights regarding appropriate research protocols, techniques, processes, and sampling are identified. These insights contribute to the development of a comprehensive TSR framework in five research method areas including 1) consideration of the context, researcher, support persons and participants, 2) recruitment considerations relating to sampling, 3) recruitment considerations in terms of ethics and set-up, 4) data collection considerations relating to research protocol and set-up, and 5) data collection considerations. The framework can guide both academics and practitioners to enhance research outcomes for both participants and researchers.
{"title":"Transformative service research methodologies for vulnerable participants","authors":"S. Dodds, Jörg Finsterwalder, G. Prayag, Ilayaraja Subramanian","doi":"10.1177/14707853221139204","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853221139204","url":null,"abstract":"Understanding vulnerable consumers when conducting Transformative Service Research (TSR) is essential but these consumers and their contexts are often complex and difficult to research. Despite a movement towards TSR methodologies suitable for studying vulnerable participants and their contexts, a comprehensive framework that can guide service researchers is lacking. The purpose of this paper is to investigate appropriate methods, procedures, and protocols that permit researching a wide range of vulnerable groups and exposures to vulnerable situations in TSR. This is undertaken via a review of the literature and the authors’ reflections of their experiences with researching vulnerability in various configurations (e.g., disasters, refugees, healthcare, disability, and older people). Through an iterative process of personal case reflections and group discussions blended with extant literature, patterns and insights regarding appropriate research protocols, techniques, processes, and sampling are identified. These insights contribute to the development of a comprehensive TSR framework in five research method areas including 1) consideration of the context, researcher, support persons and participants, 2) recruitment considerations relating to sampling, 3) recruitment considerations in terms of ethics and set-up, 4) data collection considerations relating to research protocol and set-up, and 5) data collection considerations. The framework can guide both academics and practitioners to enhance research outcomes for both participants and researchers.","PeriodicalId":47641,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Market Research","volume":"65 1","pages":"279 - 296"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41655380","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-21DOI: 10.1177/14707853231158605
Kuan-Chou Ko, Shian-Ko Liu, Chih-Ping Wei, Jia-Shiuan Hsieh, Ren-Han Yang
With the growing awareness of autism, more and more organizations tried to adapt their service offerings to the special needs of autistic groups. However, the extant relevant research in marketing is still limited, and lacks empirical evidence from the field as well as affective measures. Thus, we explore a secondary research method that is able to capture affective states of autistic people. This research aims to solve two critical assumption questions relevant to the feasibility to utilize online secondary data here: (1) How to efficiently discriminate autistic groups from neurotypical people among a huge amount of unstructured online data, given that the autistic identity is usually unlabeled and invisible? (2) Do the online contents by autistic groups provide good diagnosticity for sentiment analysis, given that many studies in this area doubted the emotional processing ability of autistic people? In our case study, we focused on people who were diagnosed with autism and successfully identified 664 autistic individuals, and then collected their user-generated content on Reddit. In the end, we collected 9305 sentences in 842 posts for sentiment analysis. Based on the results of three content analysis methods in our case study, we recommend a hybrid method that involves a collaboration between human coders and AI-enabled analysis. We provide a detailed procedure about how to implement this method, and also metrics that help to evaluate the analysis results. This method can significantly improve the efficiency of the coding process with an acceptable loss of data points, which solves the first assumption question. This paper further shows that autistic groups would provide emotional information in an online environment but in a different behavioral pattern at the aggregate level, which solves the second assumption question and is initial evidence to encourage future empirical research on autistic consumers to include emotional factors.
{"title":"To See the Invisible: An Empirical Comparison of Methods for Text-Based Sentiment Analysis of Online Contents From People With Autism Spectrum Condition","authors":"Kuan-Chou Ko, Shian-Ko Liu, Chih-Ping Wei, Jia-Shiuan Hsieh, Ren-Han Yang","doi":"10.1177/14707853231158605","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853231158605","url":null,"abstract":"With the growing awareness of autism, more and more organizations tried to adapt their service offerings to the special needs of autistic groups. However, the extant relevant research in marketing is still limited, and lacks empirical evidence from the field as well as affective measures. Thus, we explore a secondary research method that is able to capture affective states of autistic people. This research aims to solve two critical assumption questions relevant to the feasibility to utilize online secondary data here: (1) How to efficiently discriminate autistic groups from neurotypical people among a huge amount of unstructured online data, given that the autistic identity is usually unlabeled and invisible? (2) Do the online contents by autistic groups provide good diagnosticity for sentiment analysis, given that many studies in this area doubted the emotional processing ability of autistic people? In our case study, we focused on people who were diagnosed with autism and successfully identified 664 autistic individuals, and then collected their user-generated content on Reddit. In the end, we collected 9305 sentences in 842 posts for sentiment analysis. Based on the results of three content analysis methods in our case study, we recommend a hybrid method that involves a collaboration between human coders and AI-enabled analysis. We provide a detailed procedure about how to implement this method, and also metrics that help to evaluate the analysis results. This method can significantly improve the efficiency of the coding process with an acceptable loss of data points, which solves the first assumption question. This paper further shows that autistic groups would provide emotional information in an online environment but in a different behavioral pattern at the aggregate level, which solves the second assumption question and is initial evidence to encourage future empirical research on autistic consumers to include emotional factors.","PeriodicalId":47641,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Market Research","volume":"65 1","pages":"402 - 422"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45871559","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-10DOI: 10.1177/14707853231155238
Clifford Lewis, Michael Mehmet, S. Quinton, N. Reynolds
{"title":"Methodologies for researching marginalised and/or potentially vulnerable groups","authors":"Clifford Lewis, Michael Mehmet, S. Quinton, N. Reynolds","doi":"10.1177/14707853231155238","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853231155238","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47641,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Market Research","volume":"65 1","pages":"147 - 154"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42483376","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-02-09DOI: 10.1177/14707853231155393
Ute Dubois, Anca Sinea
Energy poverty is an endemic phenomenon affecting millions of households around the world. An abundant literature, employing various single or combined methods, is dedicated to understanding its causes, symptoms, and the lived experiences of these households. This article explores the challenges raised when implementing qualitative research on energy poor households. We analyse a set of 33 research outputs - academic papers and reports - to identify methodological challenges raised by researchers and their possible resolves. By discussing the difficulties related to the operationalization of the concept of energy poverty, those linked to identifying and engaging energy poor households in research, or to the complex nature of their vulnerabilities, the study aims to develop a grounded theory articulated on the narrative of the findings and provide guidance for future qualitative work on energy poverty performed by researchers and stakeholders involved in alleviating it.
{"title":"Methodological Challenges in Energy Poverty Research","authors":"Ute Dubois, Anca Sinea","doi":"10.1177/14707853231155393","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853231155393","url":null,"abstract":"Energy poverty is an endemic phenomenon affecting millions of households around the world. An abundant literature, employing various single or combined methods, is dedicated to understanding its causes, symptoms, and the lived experiences of these households. This article explores the challenges raised when implementing qualitative research on energy poor households. We analyse a set of 33 research outputs - academic papers and reports - to identify methodological challenges raised by researchers and their possible resolves. By discussing the difficulties related to the operationalization of the concept of energy poverty, those linked to identifying and engaging energy poor households in research, or to the complex nature of their vulnerabilities, the study aims to develop a grounded theory articulated on the narrative of the findings and provide guidance for future qualitative work on energy poverty performed by researchers and stakeholders involved in alleviating it.","PeriodicalId":47641,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Market Research","volume":"65 1","pages":"340 - 358"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-02-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44532329","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-20DOI: 10.1177/14707853231151880
Vasileios Magklaras, Alexandros Kapoulas, Natyra Xharavina, G. Miaoulis
This article explores the emergence of metrosexuals among millennial men in five South-East Europe (SEE) countries and their subculture of consumption. It qualitatively studies their beliefs about masculinity and metrosexuality, and it identifies their purchasing behaviours’ of grooming products online and offline by employing digital extended self-theory to provide strategic guidance for marketers and new insights for academics. This qualitative study includes ten semi-structured in-depth interviews and one hundred qualitative open-ended questionnaires. Additionally, it employs netnography to analyze the subculture of consumption of male metrosexuality in two representative blogs. The findings reveal that SEE millennial men embrace a dual identity, a traditional masculine identity, which co-exists with their metrosexuality, creating an emotional conflict as they differ along an accepted to extreme continuum. Metrosexual men are heavy users of personal grooming products favouring online purchasing (1) due to the frequent lack of retail availability in SEE countries and (2) their sense of embarrassment––the underlying emotional conflict. This study directly challenges the existing academic literature, which supports the dominance of traditional masculine identity among developing countries. For both marketers and academics, it presents a different market reality. Metrosexual males show a distinctly different self-identity online from offline. Social media provides them with a safe space, which is often subject to public embarrassment in offline settings. These findings have note-worthy implications for marketing practitioners including communication messaging, social media strategy, brand identity and presence, and product development. They provide insights for both practitioners and academics regarding the subculture of consumption of metrosexuals in the historically macho male-dominated SEE regions.
{"title":"Insights on Metrosexuality and Consumption for Marketers in South-East Europe","authors":"Vasileios Magklaras, Alexandros Kapoulas, Natyra Xharavina, G. Miaoulis","doi":"10.1177/14707853231151880","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14707853231151880","url":null,"abstract":"This article explores the emergence of metrosexuals among millennial men in five South-East Europe (SEE) countries and their subculture of consumption. It qualitatively studies their beliefs about masculinity and metrosexuality, and it identifies their purchasing behaviours’ of grooming products online and offline by employing digital extended self-theory to provide strategic guidance for marketers and new insights for academics. This qualitative study includes ten semi-structured in-depth interviews and one hundred qualitative open-ended questionnaires. Additionally, it employs netnography to analyze the subculture of consumption of male metrosexuality in two representative blogs. The findings reveal that SEE millennial men embrace a dual identity, a traditional masculine identity, which co-exists with their metrosexuality, creating an emotional conflict as they differ along an accepted to extreme continuum. Metrosexual men are heavy users of personal grooming products favouring online purchasing (1) due to the frequent lack of retail availability in SEE countries and (2) their sense of embarrassment––the underlying emotional conflict. This study directly challenges the existing academic literature, which supports the dominance of traditional masculine identity among developing countries. For both marketers and academics, it presents a different market reality. Metrosexual males show a distinctly different self-identity online from offline. Social media provides them with a safe space, which is often subject to public embarrassment in offline settings. These findings have note-worthy implications for marketing practitioners including communication messaging, social media strategy, brand identity and presence, and product development. They provide insights for both practitioners and academics regarding the subculture of consumption of metrosexuals in the historically macho male-dominated SEE regions.","PeriodicalId":47641,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Market Research","volume":"65 1","pages":"622 - 641"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2023-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44399407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}