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The purpose of this paper is to examine the contribution of network competence to radical innovation.

Technological change associated with human body disposal acts as the form of radical innovation in which network competence is examined. Interviews, observations at industry conferences and secondary data are used for the case studies featured and in which network competence is investigated.

The paper establishes the importance of network competence at the regime and landscape level and the contribution of actors within commercial innovation niches to bringing cremation alternatives to market.

Some of the results are particular to the challenges of network entry and product introduction facing business start-ups and the context of body disposal is unique. Further research should examine network competence and radical innovation in other business fields.

Firstly, the context of human body disposal highlights the importance of institutional actors and social systems in bringing cremation alternatives to market. Secondly, focusing on human disposal encourages exchange amongst readers on a subject which is fundamental to man’s existence, yet the discussion of which many might normally choose to avoid.

The paper connects two areas of academic interest, namely, niche management for sustainability and radical innovation in business markets in which networking and network competence are key to the commercialisation of innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to help researchers and practitioners to understand and respond to consumer complaining behaviour (CCB) by developing a taxonomy that addresses the inadequacies of previous consumer complaining taxonomies and models, simplifies the terminology and covers both traditional and new ways of complaining.

Based on a systematic review of 210 studies, a concept-centric analysis of CCB literature was conducted. Seminal taxonomies and models of CCB are revisited and a critical evaluation of these is presented.

An integrated taxonomy of CCB is proposed which enhances the understanding of complaining in the twenty-first century by clarifying the ambiguities and overlapping constructs in the previous taxonomies.

The integrated taxonomy of CCB eliminates the ambiguity of previous approaches and introduces more coherent constructs in relation to the theory of CCB. The taxonomy comprehensively defines and describes the range of complaining actions to provide a complete framework. As a result, the authors’ understanding of CCB is developed through a focus on complaining actions, their characteristics and what these actions afford companies in their attempts to deal with complaints (i.e. audience and amount of information available).

Practitioners can use the integrated taxonomy of CCB to structure their complaint handling processes to obtain maximum customer feedback, to improve their product/service and to retain customers through satisfactorily addressing their complaints.

Although the literature on consumer complaining is mature, this is the first paper that offers a comprehensive taxonomy that explains CCB while addressing new developments in computer-mediated communications.

Considers the history and current position of interpretive consumer research within the marketing paradigm. It focuses on the conflict that has developed between the positivist tradition and the relatively new interpretive approach. In doing so it considers the merits of interpretive research in consumer behaviour and criticisms made against it. Methodological issues centring on the trustworthiness of this type of research are explored, as well as the friction that traditionally has existed between art and science. An argument is made for an inclusive rather than exclusive approach, allowing the existence of differing approaches and assuming each has a contribution to make to the furtherance of consumer behaviour research.

This paper aims to examine how prosumption manifests in an online community, Instructables.com, and its value for those who engage with it. The paper emphasizes its distinctiveness compared to similar phenomena, particularly co-creation.

This work uses a netnography-informed research approach, involving Instructables community observations, participation and 15 online interviews with members of the community.

Prosumption provides personal benefits including hedonic elements of enjoyment and fun, functional elements of monetary saving and self-sufficiency, and cognitive benefits such as problem solving and learning. Further, extra-personal benefits include community-, environment-, market-, family- and friends-oriented benefits.

Personal and extra-personal prosumption benefits generate use and social value, progressing understanding of value through a type of prosumption that the authors term peer-to-peer.

An understanding of the differences among concepts can set expectations, responsibilities and opportunities for both firms and prosumers in an increasingly collaborative marketplace.

By critically analyzing the nature of value through a particular kind of prosumption, the paper makes three theoretical contributions. First, it transforms and broadens the scope of empirical research by clarifying critical distinctions between co-creation and prosumption and establishing them as higher-order concepts. Second, the paper determines the benefits, use and social value participants derive from particular forms of participation in the marketplace. Finally, the paper establishes a new concept, namely peer-to-peer prosumption, which the authors define as a type of prosumption that prioritizes collective, peer-to-peer use and social value over exchange value. The paper contributes to marketing literature on the ongoing evolution of consumer roles and participation in the marketplace, by furthering theorization in this field.

In the context of European consumers’ experiences of austerity, this study aims to advance current resilience theory in marketing through developing persistent resilience from a context of austerity influenced consumption.

Following an interpretivist approach, 38 face to face, in-depth interviews were conducted with European consumers from Ireland, UK, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece who were affected in some way by the global financial crisis.

Building upon limited conceptual and empirical investigations in social geography, the analysis identifies the themes of persistent stressors and temporal orientation as constants, alongside day-to-day coping, relating and pragmatism, consumer adjustment, repertoires of resistance and transformation as key elements of persistent resilience within the consumption context of austerity.

The study addresses the limited theoretical and empirical focus on persistent resilience and austerity and directly contributes to consumer behaviour and marketing theory in understanding persistent resilience and its implications.

Changes to behaviours as a result of persistent resilience included reducing and stopping consumption, discount shopping, alternative consumption in the form of growing or making and mindful consumption through wastage reduction and re-use.

The study highlights the significant social impact of austerity while also identifying positive outcomes for social relations among family, friends and the wider community.

This study develops and extends Golubchikov’s (2011) theory of persistent resilience through exploring European consumer responses to austerity, identifying key consumption characteristics relevant for marketing theory and practice.

Older consumers have grown in number and affluence in the UK, but past research evidence suggests that they are less likely to be portrayed in advertisements than younger people. The wisdom of this approach has been questioned, particularly where depictions of older people feature caricature portrayals of infirmity. Older people today are more likely to be fit and active, and desire to see themselves portrayed as such in advertisements. Investigates whether UK advertisements feature older people, and the nature of that portrayal, and compares and contrasts the findings with past studies in the USA and UK. The results suggest that in UK magazines specifically targeted at older consumers, the advertisements do contain acceptable levels of older characters portrayed in a favourable manner.

This paper is a general review contextualising the current debate on ethics and international marketing. The aim of the paper is to present an overview of historical and current trends as a background for this special issue edition of International Marketing Review focusing on international marketing ethics.

The paper examines how ethics in international marketing have evolved and progressed towards the current “ethics era” and presents discussion surrounding the role and value of an ethical approach towards marketing in a global marketplace.

Essentially the paper argues that marketers should creatively embrace the complex challenges of the international marketplace by rethinking their approach to marketing ethics.

Gives an overview of the special issue.

Focuses on the use and role of older people in advertisements in the UK. Investigates the current situation in the UK with regard to the use of older models, and considers the views of advertising executives in relation to which types of products and services are considered appropriate by advertisers for representation by older people. Using a framework developed in the USA, this initial study which included responses from 19 London agencies found executives were cautious of using models that they considered might alienate the younger audiences for their advertisements. Aims to open a debate which is already well developed in the USA but less so in the UK as to the approach taken towards advertising and older people. In particular it raises the question as to whether this is purely a social issue of discrimination or a broader one of consumer and managerial concern.

This paper presents an interpretive study of older consumers and their potential for ethical consumption. Although latterly marketers are recognising the value of older consumers, research has not yet examined their attitudes and behaviour towards ethical consumption. From the collection of individual interviews conducted for this study, it would seem that older people share a sense of moral responsibility in their purchase behaviour, and as a community are willing to engage in affirmative purchasing and boycotting. Although there are perceived barriers to their participation in broader ethical purchasing activities, they would appear to be a potentially significant force in the consumer resistance movement. The findings suggest that as a group, older consumers should be considered as an important target market for ethical marketers who wish to benefit from their collective sense of social obligation.