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This paper aims to review the validation of assumptions made in agent-based modeling of diffusion and the sufficiency (completeness) of the mechanisms assumed to operate.

One well-cited paper is examined.

Evidence is presented that casts doubt on the assumptions and mechanisms used. A range of mechanisms is suggested that should be evaluated for inclusion in diffusion modeling.

The need for validation of assumptions has been stressed elsewhere but there has been a lack of examples. This paper provides examples. The stress on the sufficiency of the mechanisms used is new.

This paper aims to respond to the commentaries by Nejad, and Rand and Rust on the paper “Improving Agent-Based Models of Diffusion”.

Evidence on the nature of word of mouth was reviewed and related to the views expressed by the authors of the commentaries.

The authors of this paper remain concerned about the assumptions used in agent-based models of diffusion.

The study refers to previously published work.

The role of private labels in consumer choice is studied by considering two issues: do private labels affect the way people buy within a store, and do they affect the way people choose between stores? The revealed behaviour of consumers is studied, both descriptively and using a very general model of behaviour, the Dirichlet. Some examples are presented which show that within a store, the way consumers buy private labels is similar to the way they buy brands, and that for the buying of a product at different stores, consumers patronise stores with private labels in much the same way as stores without them.

Multisensory stimulation is integral to experiential consumption. However, a gap persists between recognition of the importance of multisensory stimulation and the research techniques used to study the effects of such stimulation on consumption experiences. This article draws on sensory anthropology to narrow the gap.

Sensory anthropology has the potential to help consumer researchers understand multisensory stimulation and its effect on consumption experiences. To highlight this potential, ethnographic fieldwork is reported for two related experiential settings: yacht racing and adventure racing.

It is shown how consumer researchers can apply concepts and data collection techniques from sensory anthropology to derive powerful insights into consumption experiences. A set of guidelines and examples is derived from the embodied concepts associated with sensory anthropology, namely, kinaesthetic schema, bodily mimesis, the mindful body and local biology. These concepts are used to comprehend how consumers experience sensations phenomenologically, understand them culturally and re-enact them socially.

By acknowledging and engaging the senses, researchers can acquire embodied information that would not be evident from the conventional interview, survey or experimental data. Sensory anthropology adds to what is known from psychological, social and cultural sources to enable organisations to differentiate their offerings by means of the senses and sensory expressions, not only in yacht and adventure racing but potentially in many other experiential settings, such as travel, shopping, entertainment and immersive gaming.

This article offers distinct and original methodological insights for consumer researchers by focusing on concepts and data collection techniques that assist the study of experiential consumption from an embodied and corporeal perspective.

Customer loyalty presents a paradox. Many see it as primarily an attitude‐based phenomenon that can be influenced significantly by customer relationship management initiatives such as the increasingly popular loyalty and affinity programs. However, empirical research shows that loyalty in competitive repeat‐purchase markets is shaped more by the passive acceptance of brands than by strongly‐held attitudes about them. From this perspective, the demand‐enhancing potential of loyalty programs is more limited than might be hoped. Reviews three different perspectives on loyalty, and relates these to a framework for understanding customer loyalty that encompasses customer brand commitment, customer brand acceptance and customer brand buying. Uses this framework to analyze the demand‐side potential of loyalty programs. Discusses where these programs might work and where they are unlikely to succeed on any large scale. Provides a checklist for marketers.

Do consumers buy own labels differently from the branded goods of manufacturers? Contrary to some of the beliefs currently held in the trade, own labels are found to be bought much like brands, and loyalty is only slightly above average. Usually, own labels are just one item in a repertoire: consumers will buy other brands, they will buy at other stores, and they will buy the own labels of other stores.

The movement of shoppers through a city can look chaotic when studied at the individual level. However, statistical analysis shows that aggregate patterns exist for major grocery shopping trips, patterns of movement largely depend on access to a car and how much is bought; for minor shopping trips, location/ convenience tends to be the main consideration. Employs a statistical method ‐ polythetic division of consumer panel data ‐ which is highly flexible and able to handle large amounts of mixed data.

The purpose of this paper is to provide information about the media habits of older people and some of their attitudes and preferences with regard to different media. Many communication tasks in the future will be addressed to older people. While there are some companies and organisations which can afford to ignore those aged over 50, they are diminishing in number. Yet communication managers, on the whole, have little experience of talking to this group.

Alongside the ubiquitous computer games apparently the marketing success of the 1992 toy season was a series of 25 year old puppets who had featured in a repeat showing of the orginal ITV series on BBC — Thunderbirds — more than 70 franchises have been sold to sell goods marked with the International Rescue logo and it is alleged that these products are even bigger than the previous smash marketing hit the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles, saving thousands of jobs and making substantial profits for the British toy industry. The characters are licensed for right‐owners ITC (originally the international marketing arm of ATV, the ITV company which put out the programme, and now an independent company, ATV having long since lost its ITV franchise) by Copyright Promotions, Europe's largest licensing company (‘Thunderbirds are go to save the toy industry’ Sunday Telegraph 15/11/92).