This qualitative case study explored the Student Consumerism phenomenon as displayed by post-secondary students as perceived by their instructors. Because it was not entirely understood how post-secondary instructors react to the manifestations that occur due to Student Consumerism style of behaviors, this study examined the phenomenon from that…

This study analyzes the potential of major financial aid initiatives to serve as key elements of an institutional branding strategy. Concepts of branding and marketing serve as guiding frameworks for the analysis and interpretation of the findings. Using a case study approach, data were collected through interviews and document analysis at the…

Given the importance of material goods consumption to young people and the perception that to be "cool" is fundamental to identity construction, this study investigates consumption in relation to social, economic and cultural inequalities. Qualitative individual interviews took place in November 2005, in Rio de Janeiro, with 14 high…

Using microdata from the American Dream Demonstration, the current study examines factors associated with savings and savings goal achievement (indicated by a matched withdrawal) among participants of individual development account (IDA) programs. Multinomial logit results show that hours of participation in financial education programs, higher…

The premise of this work is simple: the history of college admission since World War II is a consumer history. The way in which this history unfolds is far more complex. College admission is a contested good. It is simultaneously a consumable good (students purchase a college education for personal and familial reasons) and a social good (various…

A "humanitarian market" for off-grid renewable energy technologies for displaced populations in remote areas has emerged. Within this market, there are multiple stakeholder agendas. End-user needs and sustainable development goals are currently not considered through the customer-enterprise relationship and the applied product and…

This article reports that the Higher Education Price Index (HEPI), a widely used measure of colleges' costs, rose by 3.6 percent for the 2008 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. But even as they reported the good news of that moderate increase, experts at the Commonfund Institute who maintain the index noted that broader economic trends could…

In this article I call for adult educators to begin taking consumption seriously as a site of adult learning and education. I provide an overview of various sociological perspectives on consumption, and also discuss several areas where education, learning, and consumption intersect. In doing so, I seek to convince adult educators to more…

Numerous studies have explored the relationship between marketing efforts and firm financial performance. Studies have looked at potential lifetime value of customers, to demonstrate the value of keeping customers. Various other studies have looked at the relationship between customer satisfaction and firm performance. However, few studies have…

This article examines why and how transformative consumer research (TCR) can become a relevant perspective in doctoral programs. The article draws selectively from studies published in consumer behavior, marketing, and marketing education that theoretically or empirically address this topic. It discusses the meaning and background of TCR together…

In Australia, academic workloads are increasing, and university funding is decreasing. Academics and university managers are engaging in risk adverse behavior and tending to focus on customer satisfaction and student retention, potentially at the expense of academic standards. Conventional approaches to pedagogy minimize adverse student feedback,…

We focus on the recently emerging "baby culture" that is fostering a curriculum of consumption and consumerism among parents-to-be and infants aged zero-to-three. To gain insight into how the cultural artifacts, practices, and trends emerging from this demographic are shaping the way we think and act in a consumer culture, we investigate…

Adolescents who occupy virtual spaces construct identities for a dual audience, those intimate friends whose favor they seek and a broader public audience whose purpose for viewing cannot be known. The digital world of MySpace, Facebook, and Instant Messaging has simultaneously complicated and enhanced the process of identity construction. The…

In July, when energy prices were sky-high and some pundits were predicting a continued rise, Charles Riordan, facilities director at Loyola College of Maryland, and his colleagues locked in a chunk of their electricity prices--about a quarter of the college's consumption--to cover the next two years. Now that energy prices have fallen, the…

Real-estate markets are almost as volatile as stock markets. Prices of agricultural land, of commercial real estate, and of homes and condominiums have gone through a series of huge bubbles, as if people never learned from the previous ones. Such events--in particular the recent housing bubble--are driven by what John Maynard Keynes called animal…