Courtney M. Droms

Consumer Transformation: A Hero’s Journey

Courtney M. Droms et al. — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:21:32 PST

Consumers seek to transform themselves, moving from one state of being into another; however, much of the literature that touch upon consumer transformations appears to be concerned with identity projects (i.e., Arnould and Price; Belk and Costa 1998; Kozinets 2001) or with simple modification of the self (i.e., Gimlin 2002; Pitts 2003; Sanders 2008). We take a different approach to understanding consumer transformations by understanding it as something much more than simply modifying the body with a tattoo or plastic surgery or developing an identity that one can carry around like a costume one wears to a party. Instead, we view consumer transformations as a full-body experience where the individual transforms him or herself from one state of being into another. In the case of our research, the consumers we investigate have undergone gastric bypass surgery which allows them to literally as well as figuratively transform themselves from an obese person into a much smaller.

An Investigation into Individual’s Repeated Attempts at Behavior Change

Courtney M. Droms — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:21:29 PST

Recent research has shown that individuals make repeated attempts at behavior change prior to actually being successful. As consumer researchers, however, we do not have a clear understanding of how people interpret behavior change failures and persist post-failure. This research extends the theory of trying by assessing the impact of feedback from behavior change outcomes to future attitudes towards trying. In order to understand how individuals interpret and persist post-failure at behavior change, the conceptual model identifies three mediating factors in the feedback loop (i.e., attributions of behavior change failures, self-esteem, and hope) that are affected by a behavioral change outcome and influence an individual’s attitude towards future behavior change. The conceptual model is tested in a two-stage field survey with respondents who are trying to change their eating behaviors. Structural equation modeling was used to test the feedback loops and the interactions between factors. Finally, implications for consumers and public policy are discussed.

How Much Risk Can You Handle?: The Development of a New Risk Tolerance Questionnaire

Courtney M. Droms et al. — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:21:26 PST

As we have all witnessed over the past few years with the economic downturn that has faced the world, individuals and corporations have been extremely risky with their investments in an effort to capitalize on high-risk and high-return investments. However, the global economy has been threatened by all of these risky investment decisions and there is now an effort underway by many financial institutions to overhaul the advice they give to both individual and corporate clients about the level of risk suggested for their portfolios (Mannes 2009). This research shows that an investor’s risk tolerance is not as stable as it has been portrayed previously in the literature. In addition, this research provides some suggestions on how to frame investment decisions for individual investors and could be used by investment advisors to predict what sorts of investment tools their advisees could be looking for in the future given today’s market conditions.

Eating with a Purpose:Consumer Response to Functional Food Health Claims in Conflicting Versus Complementary Information Environments

Courtney M. Droms et al. — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 14:21:22 PST

Marketers of food products have recently introduced a variety of “functional foods” that promise consumers improvements in targeted physiological functions. However, despite the proliferation of functional food health claims promising more than basic nutrition, little is known about consumer responses to these claims, particularly in information environments in which inconsistent information may be available about the efficacy of a particular functional ingredient.