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The policy of strategic diagnostics in the modern economy of Russia's regions is built in a contradiction. The expected growth of the share of material production in GRP was not confirmed. Analysis of economic indicators allows stating the expected tendency in dynamics of development of tertiary spheres. A dominating element of structural changes of economy is consumer market.

Several methodological approaches to defining the category “consumer market” are distinguished: marketing, institutional, reproduction, and economic.

For formation of methodological foundations of evaluation of consumer market, several methodologies are systematized. A methodology including two stages of evaluation of development of consumer market is offered: diagnostics (first stage) and forecasting (second stage) of the region's consumer market.

According to evaluations obtained by the authors, a strategic factor of structural changes in Russia's economy is regions' consumer market. Its well-balanced development ensures acceleration of progressive structural changes in economy. A dominating factor in the structure of consumer market is trading sphere, and a tool of structural changes is trading the goods of local and domestic manufacturers.

When business writings note that marketing costs are a certain percentage of total business costs, that figure is underestimated because it does not include the costs of those marketing efforts performed by consumers for business firms. Precisely those activities that we collectively term marketing are performed in part by consumers for the benefit of the firm.

Reports on a survey carried out in the USA into the opinions of leading marketing managers and consumer advocates with respect to consumerism. Investigates, also the response of US business to consumerism. Offers several points to illustrate this, concluding that concepts of consumerism appear to have been institutionalized in the economic system of the USA.

Maintains that many services marketing strategies have been based on four commonly accepted dimensions. Empirically tests these dimensions to determine if they are relevant for developing services marketing strategies in consumer markets. Shows that while they perceive significant differences between goods and services, they use evaluative dimensions that are somewhat different from those proposed by the services marketing literature. Concludes that consumer‐driven strategies are more effective than strategies based on commonly accepted conceptual dimensions of services.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the globality and intentionality aspects of consumer boycotts among the Muslim dominant markets around the world through the consumer animosity perspective, to provide better understanding of the issues. Some applied and potential solutions for marketers and policy makers in dealing with the issues are also discussed.

The analytical definition of consumer boycotts through the consumer animosity perspective is proposed and the relevance of the discussion is considered. The relationships between the globality and intentionality attributions with animosity and consumer boycotts are assessed before strategies to deal with the issues are diagnosed. Seminal works of classic and current consumer boycotts and animosity literature are reviewed in developing the conceptual background of the paper. Further conceptual reflections are stated based on the depicted current events in the market around the world.

The conceptual discussion revealed that consumer boycotts in the Muslim dominant market and animosity are two related issues worthy being explored. The issues are of the global concern and occurred unintentionally, therefore they could stimulate unexpected outcomes for the marketers and policy makers alike. Nonetheless, several strategies in dealing with the issues are found to be effective in preventing the issues from getting worse. However, the strategies would not work for all entities in all situations. Understanding the root of the issues would be the best solution.

The discussion is limited to conceptual background of the aspects discussed. Further empirical studies would enhance the applicability of the discussions presented.

In order to find strategies to deal with consumer boycotts in the Muslim dominant markets, marketers need to understand the real reason for the events to occur and demonstrate sincere understanding towards the issues. By doing so, consumer boycotts would not obstruct the progress and growth of the international business in general. Looking at the issues from the animosity perspective is a prolific attempt to understand the events.

The paper reveals the relationship between consumer boycotts and animosity in the Muslim dominant markets and offers understanding of the specific events occurrence. The discussion is extended to describe the events' globality and intentionality attribution assessment.

Examines the need to carryout international consumer research, the importance of first hand, experience of consumer behaviour in foreign markets, and the design of consumer research studies. Suggests that the nature of international consumer behaviour and the requirements for international marketing decisions requires two components understanding of behavioural science in relation to consumer behaviour; and knowledge of modern marketing research techniques, their assumptions, limitations and advantages. Proposes that correct usage of these components will advance the quality and utility of consumer research.

Introduction Growing internationalization during the past three decades has become one of the most pervasive influences in business today. This is true for both the export manager responsible for positioning a firm's products in various foreign markets and for the marketing executive responsible for managing the competitive interaction of a firm's products with foreign products in a particular domestic market. As a consequence, the impact of national boundaries on the marketplace has continued to diminish. To compete successfully in this broad arena, marketing managers must have a thorough understanding of, and empathy for, the different needs and preferences of consumers in the various markets within which a firm interacts. Consumer attitudes toward both products and the related marketing practices naturally have a major influence on purchase behavior. In addition, consumer attitudes toward products from different countries can be a major factor in determining successful marketing strategies. We will present here a longitudinal analysis of the general attitudes of consumers in a foreign country, Finland, toward the products imported from the United States, japan, and selected European countries. We will also compare these consumer attitudes toward various dimensions of the related marketing mix strategies. It should be noted that the methodology for analyzing export opportunities is applicable by any company for any foreign country.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze to what extent and in what ways signaling theory has been explored within the field of international marketing. This paper systematically reviews the use of signaling theory in the field of international marketing. Communication is a core aspect of the international marketing process. Research in this field has explored effective and unique ways of improving the communication flow to reduce the asymmetry of information between international consumers and the firm. This notion is adopted, enhanced and strengthened by signaling theory. Signaling theory has recently received the attention of international marketing scholars.

The systematic review methodology was applied for the purpose of identifying the relevant studies. We extracted academic articles over the last 23 years from the domain of international marketing that directly contribute to signaling theory based on 57 journal articles extracted through the systematic review process.

Based on systematic research the results reveal that the topic has grown and continues to expand within the broader international marketing field. We offer a theoretical conceptual framework to better understand signaling theory in the context of international marketing.

The authors map and critically evaluate the use of signaling theory in international marketing. Relevance of signaling theory in international marketing is growing and authors present an integrative framework that organizes the existing literature, and provides scholars to further expand on emerging themes of the domain. The paper offers some useful future research directions.

This study aimed to the attributes, consequences and personal values that motivate the behavior of consumers of fruits and vegetables (FV) at local markets and how these elements are associated with food safety.

This is a qualitative research that used the laddering in-depth interview technique for data collection. Fifty interviews were conducted with consumers from Minas Gerais, Brazil. From the codification of the interview content, a hierarchical value map was constructed, showing the relationships between the attributes, consequences and values involved in the consumers’ purchasing decision.

Consumers value characteristics related to the origin of the product and the way it is produced and marketed. They seek particular benefits – such as satisfaction with the purchase, care for their health/well-being and safety when consuming food – and social benefits, such as the possibility of contributing to the local economy. Issues related to hygiene, organization, exposure and handling of products were some of the concerns reported by respondents with regard to food safety.

It is worth highlighting the application of the laddering technique itself. Analyzing the predictive validity of the method, there is a propensity for biases linked to possible interference by the researcher, especially in the coding stage of the elements.

This study can be used by producers, marketing professionals and public policymakers to promote FV sold at local markets and to encourage the improvement of food safety practices.

The research points to five consumer segments according to the different motivations that guide their purchase behavior for local FV. In addition, a focus is given to food safety, revealing its importance in the investigated context.

With rapidly changing marketing landscape, nowadays, the formulation of various marketing strategies is increasingly focused on how consumers tend to make decisions. To meet the highly demanding consumer expectations, market segmentation can be used as an important marketing strategy. Due to gender marketing concept familiarity in the contemporary world, gender difference is one of the reference features in the process of market segmentation for marketers. This research is aimed to examine various determining factors that foster consumer purchase decision-making and the differences between consumers of different genders while making shopping and purchase decisions with special reference to an emerging economy, i.e. Pakistan.

Based on a cross-sectional sample of 367 consumers, the study adapted Sproles and Kendall's (1986) Consumer Style Inventory (CSI) to scrutinize the decision-making of both genders in Pakistan. For data analysis, the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis in addition to the structural equation modeling has been used.

The study emphasized that, with the exception of quality awareness, brand consciousness, fashion consciousness, option overload and price consciousness greatly affect buying decisions. In addition, when it comes to consumer purchase decision-making, significant gender variations were discovered for both fashion consciousness and price consciousness.

Drawing upon the distinctive cultural characteristics of Pakistan and its people, in-depth research was conducted on purchasing behaviors of Pakistani consumers and the decision-making characteristics of customers of different genders were summarized. The outcomes are expected to make a significant contribution to the field of gender marketing by organizations.