Business, Beedie School of

Forest towns in British Columbia  are  in  the  throes   of.  a profound  restructuring  (Hayter  2000). The  most  recent  turn  of  the screw,  the  US  imposition   of  a  27%  import  tax   on   softwood  lumber    (May  2002),  is  only  the  latest  twist  in  a  twenty-year history scarred by volatility and industrial  downsizing.  Persistent  job  losses due  to  technological  change,  corporate   rationalization,   increased international  competition,  trade  conflicts,  and   resource   depletion have  progressively  undone   the  fabric   of  BC   forest   communities, especially on the  coast. But while  a plethora  of policies, schemes,  and programs  have  been  initiated  to  help  those  worst  affected,  little attention  has been paid to high  school youth who  have  yet to enter the job market  (Hay  1993 ; Barnes  and Hayter  1992,1995a,  and  1995b; Barnes, Hayter,  and Hay  1999; Hayter  2000, 288-320; Egan and  Klausen  1998). Historically, high  school students'job  expectations  were  directly  tied to  a  buoyant  resource  economy,  which,  in  turn,  helped  to  define the  culture  of  the  resource  town  itself  But  in  this  era  of economic  downsizing   and  industrial  restructuring,   those   expectations    are increasingly  frustrated. The  purpose  of this  paper  is  to  examine how  the  new  economic  reality  of  forest   towns   has   influenced  not only the  expectations  of high  school students  but  also  the  content and  philosophy  of  high  school  programs.

The authors propose a new conceptual basis for predicting when and why consumers match others’ consumption choices. Specifically, they distinguish between ordinal (“ranked”) versus nominal (“unranked”) attributes and propose that consumers are more likely to match others on ordinal than on nominal attributes. Eleven studies, involving a range of different ways of operationalizing ordinal versus nominal attributes, collectively support this hypothesis. The authors’ conceptualization helps resolve divergent findings in prior literature and provides guidance to managers on how to leverage information about prior customers’ choices and employees’ recommendations to shape and predict future customers’ choices. Further, the authors find process evidence that this effect is driven in part by consumers’ beliefs that a failure to match on ordinal (but not nominal) attributes will lead to social discomfort for one or both parties. Although the primary focus is on food choices, the effects are also demonstrated in other domains, extending the generalizability of the findings and implications for managerial practice and theory. Finally, the conceptual framework offers additional paths for future research.

Scientists in research universities can play a formative role in commercialising their inventions for the benefit of society. University spin-off formation is increasing in importance as an alternative to licensing, and can be impacted by both micro and macro-level factors of the regional system of innovation. However, there is limited understanding of the ways in which these factors can interact to enable the formation of university spin-offs. In this study we examine how the productivity of two biomedical star scientists in co-founding university spin-offs can be supported or constrained by other elements of the regional system of innovation. Recommendations are made for research universities seeking to foster entrepreneurship through university spin-off formation.

Scientists in research universities can play a formative role in commercialising their inventions for the benefit of society. University spin-off formation is increasing in importance as an alternative to licensing, and can be impacted by both micro and macro-level factors of the regional system of innovation. However, there is limited understanding of the ways in which these factors can interact to enable the formation of university spin-offs. In this study we examine how the productivity of two biomedical star scientists in co-founding university spin-offs can be supported or constrained by other elements of the regional system of innovation. Recommendations are made for research universities seeking to foster entrepreneurship through university spin-off formation.

In their paper, Li, Gordon and Gelfand introduced the Tightness–Looseness (T–L) framework to the consumer domain, and offered several ideas on how this framework could be applied to consumer behavior. In this commentary, we examine the T–L framework through the consumer lens and discuss how the uniqueness of the consumption context can refine and broaden this psychological framework. We identify four questions that aim to enrich our discussion of this framework from the perspective of consumer research, and to motivate future research questions. Specifically, we consider 1) how the interplay between the tightness/looseness of a culture and its effect on consumer behavior can be a bi‐directional relationship, 2) how variances in T–L in different consumption subcultures and aspects of society (e.g., economic, political) can impact consumer behavior, 3) how the examination of T–L at different stages in the consumption process is a relevant and important question to consider, and 4) how T–L may contribute to further investigation and understanding of punishment toward business and consumer norm violators.

Prices are typically critical to consumption decisions, but can the presence of price impact enjoyment over the course of an experience? We examine the effect of price on consumers’ satisfaction over the course of consumption. We find that, compared to when no pricing information is available, the presence of prices accelerates satiation (i.e., enjoyment declines faster). Preliminary evidence suggests price increases satiation by making the experience seem like less of a relaxing break and something to financially monitor. We rule out several alternative explanations for this effect and discuss important implications for marketers and consumer researchers.

To many consumers, indulging in unhealthy treats is a “vice” and can cause unpleasant feelings, such as guilt. Nonetheless, consumers do not want to give up indulgences altogether and find ways to allow themselves guilt-free gratification. We propose a novel, calculated tactic that consumers use to avoid unpleasant feelings often associated with unhealthy eating. Four studies demonstrate that consumers proactively and strategically confer responsibility for indulgences to other people to prevent looming negative feelings about consuming the same item. In laboratory and field experiments, for unhealthy (compared to healthy) foods consumers exhibit a preference for being served a chosen food instead of serving themselves. Moderation and mediation show that this preference is driven by anticipated negative self-conscious affect, which gives rise to a motivation to avoid responsibility. Across our studies, people seek to alter the social context surrounding indulgent food consumption in this way, despite making their own food choices.

In this chapter we argue that studying “identity” means moving beyond the “self.” Consumers exist in a social context, meaning that the choices they make (a) reinforce their own identities and (b) provide information about who they are to other people. For example, someone (an “actor”) might choose to buy organic produce; someone else (an “observer”) may perceive this individual as an environmentally-conscious Millennial with higher disposable income. Importantly, observers may use an actor’s perceived identities to judge the “appropriateness” of a given purchase. We illustrate these points by focusing on income identity (e.g., socioeconomic status) and ethical consumption choices (i.e., choices that are prosocial but costly). Across several experiments, we find that low-income consumers receiving government assistance (“welfare recipients”) are seen as less moral when they choose ethical products, such as organic food and eco-friendly vehicles. This occurs in part because people expect those who are poor to be frugal. Conversely, wealthier consumers are seen as more moral for the same choices, in part, because of a belief they have earned spending freedom. We also find that these judgments extend to non-financial choices like volunteering time. This chapter is important because it highlights that who we are impacts perceptions of what we do, which may have consequences for our relationships with other consumers, government agencies, and non-profit organizations. For example, identity-based cues may influence hiring practices (e.g., poor actors are seen as less employable than wealthy actors), government policies (e.g., some people may be seen as more “deserving” of aid than others), and the ability to solicit donations (e.g., people donate less to a charity providing “organic food” vs. “conventional food” to aid recipients). We hope our chapter inspires additional research activity into understanding how observer-based identity judgments influence consumer well-being and marketplace experiences.

Two related trends characterize the recent past: value propositions are migrating from the physical to the informational, and value creation is shifting from firms to consumers. These two trends meet in the phenomenon of “consumer-generated intellectual property” (CGIP). This article addresses the question: “How should firms manage the intellectual property that their customers create?” It explores how CGIP presents important dilemmas for managers and argues that consumers’ “intellectual property” should not be leveraged at the expense of their “emotional property.” It integrates these perspectives into a diagnostic framework and discusses eight strategies for firms to manage CGIP.