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The article aims to explore hybrid consumption behaviour as an emergent consumption pattern that may make conventional consumer stereotypes outdated.

The study is an exploratory study in urban environments using qualitative, semi-structured and semi-structured interviews.

It is found that a continuum of hybrid consumption types exists, which includes both omnivorous and polarised behaviour. Hybrid consumers opt for both premium and budget alternatives but ignore midrange alternatives. Both trading-up and trading-down categories and situations are identified. While in previous studies trading up and trading down have been considered product category specific, the results of this study imply that hybrid consumption transcends product category boundaries. Four key themes characterizing hybrid consumption are identified.

The study is explorative. However, as the phenomenon of hybrid consumption behaviour is insufficiently studied in previous research, the article reveals underpinning drivers of such behaviour and suggests directions of further research into the phenomenon.

There are many practical implications of the study. As hybrid consumers do not fall into distinct and stable categories, traditional marketing and segmentation strategies may need to be rethought. Consumers cannot be categorised in such a straightforward manner as conventional segmentation practices suggest.

The authors are not aware of hybrid consumption having been studied and categorised in this way before in academic research. New approaches to studying consumer behaviour, segmentation and marketing are implied.

“Trading up” is the phenomenon that describes consumers’ willingness to pay premiums on goods that are emotionally meaningful to them. The meaning of a good is reliant on an individual's consumption values. The purpose of this study was to examine the phenomenon of trading up among Korean university students. A total of 223 usable surveys were analyzed. Fifty-one product categories were reported for trading up, and divided into four classifications: clothes, fashion accessories, small electronics, and other appliances. These four classifications were significantly associated with brand types, retailing formats, and information sources. Finally, respondents were classified into three groups according to consumption values and each group exhibited different relationships with the marketing mix variables.

Most wine in the UK is sold in supermarkets and most of this on promotion. This holds down average bottle price squeezing profit margins when wine is sold below‐the‐line. This paper aims to develop understanding of what currently influences consumers to buy in supermarkets and what might influence them to trade‐up.

Literature related to supermarket shopping and to wine buying in an off‐trade environment was reviewed. Several issues which may influence wine buying in supermarkets in the UK, particularly the impetus to trade‐up, were identified. An exploratory study using focus groups followed to explore these issues in further depth.

Wine bought along with groceries can be seen to be as ordinary as any other fast moving consumer good. This perception influences consumers’ wine buying behaviour in supermarkets. In particular it influences perceptions of suitability and price.

This was an exploratory study with a small sample population and so cannot be taken to be fully representative of the whole UK adult population. Nevertheless, it raises many significant issues in relation to wine buying in supermarkets, all of which would benefit from further research.

The results highlight areas where all off‐licences, particularly supermarket chains, could usefully review their current marketing strategies.

This study highlights the fact that there are two wines in many consumers’ minds. Much wine related research has been undertaken at the high involvement, luxury end of the market, but very little at the low involvement, ordinary end where most sales take place. This paper starts to address this issue.

As an end‐user of online search results, have you ever been disappointed with the presentation and format of the references delivered to you? Have you ever struggled to load the data into your personal information retrieval system? As an information provider, have you ever wished for simple, flexible and efficient ways of trading‐up the downloaded data files resulting from online searches? Do you regularly waste precious resources re‐keying downloaded bibliographic data into corporate retrieval systems or simply neglect this option because of its expense? Whether the answer to any or all of these questions is ‘yes’ or ‘no’, this article puts some of the problems in context, highlights opportunities and outlines a general solution.

This paper aims to explore a theoretical relationship among perceptions of consumer social class, the perceived legitimacy of customer requests for service and the delivery of intangible services. It focuses the discussion on service firm encounters with non-traditional consumers seeking to purchase from luxury brands.

The paper reviews the literature for current trends in strategies of luxury brands and characteristics of evolving global and Asian consumer markets for luxury and neo-luxury goods and draws a theoretic model with propositions.

Evidence suggests that service providers can improve efforts to expand services to the newly rich and trading-up neo-luxury consumer markets by focusing on the intangible elements of the service delivery system. Particular emphasis is placed on enhancing employee treatment of neo-luxury customers during service encounters by understanding the influence of employee perceptions of consumer social class and evaluations of the perceived legitimacy of customer requests for service.

The paper contributes to the theoretical discussion in luxury brand management by suggesting that employees are influenced by impressions of customer worth and other attributes when determining responses to customers during service encounters. Implications for practitioners and future research directions for academics based on the framework are presented.

A strategic platform is the blue‐print for managing an established business or new product introduction. This article indicates the kinds of problems companies experience if they do without such a blueprint. A demonstrably successful procedure for defining a strategic platform is described…

The charity retail format has experienced significant growth over the last 30 years to a situation where charity shops have now become a taken for granted feature of local high streets across the UK. Traditionally charity shops have played an important service role in their local communities by providing low cost goods and employing voluntary staff. However, alongside the growth of the sector, charities have become increasingly professional in their approach to managing their shops. Changes include the introduction of paid managers and shop assistants and an overall ’‘trading up” of the charity retail environment. This paper explores in detail this professionalisation of the charity retail sector. It then examines the impact of this professionalisation on the role of charity shops in their local communities and speculate on the likely future for charity retail in this context.