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PurposeThis study aims to explore the dual identity role of joint gift-giving among adolescents. Studying this phenomenon through the lens of impression management theory enabled us to analyze private and group motives, drivers of these motives (givers' public self-consciousness and self-monitoring and group cohesiveness) and the influence of group motives on the joint process. The characteristics of the joint process reflect a mutual social activity that enables adolescents to strengthen social group ties and define and nurture group identity. This research showed how a mutual consumer process, specifically, joint gift-giving, enhances the outcomes of social resources by defining groups' mutual extended selves.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, quantitative tools were used. Selection of constructs for the study was based on a literature review and existing qualitative research. To test the validity and the reliability of the scales, a convenience sample of 103 adolescents (13 to 16 years old) was used in a pre-test survey. In the main study, a convenience sample of 129 adolescences was used. Self-report questionnaires were distributed to adolescents (aged 13-16 years). The survey included scales covering private and group motives for joint gift-giving, givers' personality, group cohesiveness and the characteristics of the joint process.FindingsGivers' public self-consciousness and self-monitoring were positively related to the motivation to engage in joint gift-giving to facilitate the development of desired private identities. High public self-consciousness and self-monitoring givers were motivated to enhance their private role in the group task and managed their impression among multiple audiences. We found that high-cohesiveness groups were motivated to nurture and strengthen social resources through joint gift-giving. Engaging in joint gift-giving is motivated not only by functional motives (e.g. saving money) but also by social motives that strengthen a group's extended-self and social resources that all members enjoy.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough gift-giving is a three-stage process per gestation presentation and reformulation stage, the current study explored joint gift-giving behavior only in the gestation stage. Future research should include the other two stages. Also the current research concentrated on adolescents. Exploring joint gift-giving among adults is recommended as well. Comparing the two age groups should allow a better understanding of the special characteristics of adolescents and adults. Additionally, other personality characteristics could affect givers private identity in the group task and other group characteristics such as group size gender of members and group context in the workplace could affect identity.Practical implicationsThis research can provide marketers with a deeper understanding of the joint gift-giving process. For example, marketers should recognize that joint gift-giving involves adolescent groups' time-consuming activities in the joint process, i.e. gift selection effort, making handmade gifts and putting special efforts in gift appearance that enable them to define and nurture their group identity.Social implicationsParents and educators should recognize the importance of social identity dual role in participating in joint gift-giving. Hence, we recommend them to encourage adolescents to participate in this joint consuming process to enable them to protect and define their identity.Originality/valueAdolescents are an important market segment with unique cognitive, social and personality processes. While these processes have been explored in several consumer behavior studies, adolescents' gift-giving has been largely ignored in the literature. This study contributes to an understanding of the drivers of private and group joint gift-giving motives, how sense of belonging and group identity are reflected in the social dynamics of joint gift-giving and how adolescents manage group and private impressions in the eyes of a single receiver and in the eyes of multiple peers participating in the group task.

AbstractThis study examines the antecedents and outcomes of consumer disidentification (CDI) among immigrants and the role that cultural change plays in affecting this consumer orientation. Specifically, it explores the effect of acculturation and ethnic identification on host nation sentiments (i.e., host nation identification, disidentification, and affinity) and how the latter influence CDI. Then, it assesses the effect of CDI on consumer behaviors including product quality judgments and willingness to buy products originating in the host country. Survey data from a convenience sample of 555 adults of Cuban and Puerto Rican origin, who live in the USA, confirm that disidentification with the host nation is the basis of CDI. Acculturation is the process through which disidentification with the host nation and the resulting CDI can be mitigated. However, ethnic identification shows inconsistencies in affecting consumers' sentiments toward the host nation and CDI. While CDI is negatively related to consumers' willingness to buy domestic products, it does not seem to affect consumers' willingness to buy domestic products through their product quality judgments. Practically, this study facilitates strategic marketing decisions that are related to the presentation of country‐of‐origin (COO) product attributes in marketing communication and branding campaigns. This study is one of the few empirical studies on CDI, and it focuses on COO effects of domestic rather than foreign products among subcultures within national boundaries. Understanding COO effects among subnational cultural consumers is of primary importance given the ever‐increasing ethnic diversification of consumer markets.

ABSTRACTThis paper focuses on the consumer's doppelganger effect, the inclination of consumers to intentionally mimic other individuals' consumption behaviors. Taking a role model perspective, we look at the inclination of Israeli teenage girls to resonate with role models with whom they have unidirectional (study 1; N = 152) and bidirectional (study 2; N = 343) relationships. The findings demonstrate that consumers' doppelgangers have a strong inclination to intentionally emulate other individuals' consumption behavior when they perceive them as consumer role models, an assessment that is rooted in their view of these individuals as relevant. The contributions of this research relate to the study of mimicry, role modeling, and family consumption.Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The standardization versus adaptation argument has been raging for years and international marketing research about it has spanned some four decades, attesting to its far reaching theoretical and practical relevance. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on this debate. Major theoretical and empirical contributions from companies' and consumers' points of view are presented. The importance of resolving this issue cannot be underestimated as it as an impact on segmentation in international markets, through identifying, targeting, and positioning vis-à-vis the changing nature of homogeneous versos heterogeneous groups of consumers across markets. The shift of emphasis can be translated bay the change from an international to a global strategy. The implications and repercussion of the standardization discussion in terms of segmentation are, consequently, also reviewed. Europe has provided an especially meaningful scenario for this international marketing controversy. Indeed, the reinforcement of the political and economic integration, resulting in the institution of the European Union in 1992, fostered a renewal of the discussion that had been debated mainly in the context of the internationalization of American companies. Thus a special attention is given to the question of globalization in the context of Europe. ; Fundação para a Ciência e ...

The cross-country study of public administration based on citizens' surveys in Europe is a relatively novel approach to analyzing the social and political dynamics of the continent. The goal of this study is to examine some aspects of bureaucracy and democracy as perceived by knowledgeable citizens in six countries (Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Norway, Slovakia, and Spain). A rationale is developed to support hypotheses about the relationship between democracy and bureaucracy. The study also proposes hypotheses about differences between the countries in terms of satisfaction with public services, trust in governance and public administration agencies, and a set of managerial-oriented variables of the public sector (i.e. perceived innovation, responsiveness, professionalism, organizational politics, leadership and vision, ethics and morality). The study's findings indicate that various aspects of bureaucracy and democracy differ across countries and that democratic longevity may be a good explanation for these differences.

This study presents a three‐year effort to study public sector innovation in Europe from the viewpoint of the citizen. It examines a model of public sector innovation across a multinational sample of eight countries and 626 participants. The paper develops a theory of antecedents to and consequences of innovation in public administration as perceived by knowledgeable citizens and end‐users. Participants were senior and mid‐level managers of third sector organizations that work closely with citizens both as individuals and groups, and with public sector agencies in various domains. Structural Equation Modeling technique was used to examine two theoretical and five alternative models. Major findings that transcend national borders were found to be: (1) responsiveness, together with leadership and vision are important antecedents of innovation in the public sector; (2) public sector innovation affects trust in and satisfaction with public administration; and (3) the effect of public sector innovation on trust and satisfaction is both direct and mediated by the image of public organizations. The paper ends with a discussion of the theoretical and practical implications for public administration theory, especially for public sector innovation in Europe, and with directions for future studies.

In their effort to improve performance, many voluntary and nonorofit organizations (VNPOs) have turned to market mechanisms, hoping to learn and implement innovative ideas and methods that proved useful in the private sector. This article adopts the businesslike concept of "marketing" into the arena of VNPOs by offering a meta-analysis to assess the marketing orientation (MO) in the VNPO sector. The article attempts to answer three questions: (a) What is the theoretical grounding and rationality for using MO strategies in the VNPO sector? (b) Can the VNPO sector benefit from an MO approach? (c) Is the MO perspective applicable for organizations without "profit" as a main goal? The findings were compared with findings in the for-profit sector and were found to be stronger. Finally, using a second, methodological meta-analysis, boundary conditions on the MO-performance link were assessed. The implications for VNPOs are discussed and directions for future research are outlined.