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"At the start of the last millennium, the Chinese were the preeminent international traders. Although a truly global trading system would not evolve until some 500 years later, Chinese silk had been available in Europe since Roman times. At the start of the last century, the British military, merchants, and manufacturers dominated the seas and international commerce. Literally, the sun did not set on the British Empire. At the start of this century, the United States had surged past a faltering Japan to retake the lead in global commerce. The American domination of information technology has since been followed by the political upheaval of 9/11 and the economic shocks of 2001 and 2008. China started the 21st century as the largest military threat to the United States, and within a decade it had become a leading, often difficult trading partner. What surprises do the new decade, century, and millennium hold in store for all of us? In this century, natural disasters and wars hampered commerce and human progress. Just in the last decade, we have witnessed the human tragedy and economic disaster of a 1000-year earthquake and tsunami and a nuclear meltdown in Japan; protests and revolutions-- the so-called Arab Spring--across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA); widespread economic protests across the developed countries; and the ongoing potential for a financial meltdown in the European Union. The battle to balance economic growth and stewardship of the environment continues. The globalization of markets has certainly accelerated through almost universal acceptance of the democratic free enterprise model and new communication technologies, including cell phones and the Internet"--

"Third Place" servicescapes are often created to reflect home-like characteristics, expecting customers to relax, mingle, and consume their purchases. Yet, customers coopt the space, often using it as an extension of workplaces or homes. In pursuit of undistracted privacy, customers engage in territorial behaviors that communicate to other customers that intrusion is not welcome. While place attachment by loyal customers is positive for service providers, territorial behavior can have negative implications for some service establishments. In a multi-method investigation of consumer territorial behavior within the context of cafés, the authors find that purchase or even use of an item with the café logo is believed by many to give customers territorial rights, decreasing turnover, and discouraging other customers who want to sit and consume café products. Employees are faced with mediating territorial disputes. Understanding and dealing with consumer territorial behavior will lead to better servicescape design, less inter-customer conflict, and smoother organizational processes.

Abstract
This article examines personal Web sites as a conspicuous form of consumer self-presentation. Using theories of self-presentation, possessions, and computer-mediated environments (CMEs), we investigate the ways in which consumers construct identities by digitally associating themselves with signs, symbols, material objects, and places. Specifically, the issues of interest include why consumers create personal Web sites, what consumers want to communicate, what strategies they devise to achieve their goal of self-presentation, and how those Web space strategies compare to the self-presentation strategies of real life (RL). The data reveal insights into the strategies behind constructing a digital self, projecting a digital likeness, digitally associating as a new form of possession, and reorganizing linear narrative structures.