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Considers the concept of symbolic interactionism within the context of consumer behaviour. Examines the implications for market strategy through segmentation variables, consumer and group characteristics, and general exemplary concepts. Surmises that marketers can create a product′s symbolic image, and should manage that image through a clear and consistent marketing program.

Notes how many products are purchased due to their symbolic significance to important reference groups. Discusses the concept of symbolic interactionism and considers this with regard to consumerbehaviour. Suggests that marketing practitioners can develop symbolic relevance via marketing strategy. Makes recommendations for target market definition and marketing mix options.

Attention is paid to the similarities between pragmatic philosophy and symbolic interactionism on the one hand, and radical constructive epistemologies on the other. Referring to the work of George Herbert Mead, symbolic interactionism has frequently been designated as a naive and idealistic sociological theory promoting the liberty of the individual by the use of the metaphysically echoing concepts as “the self”, “the I and the Me” and “taking the role of the other”. In reading the work of Mead closely, however, one is struck by the theoretic nature of these concepts which is not always clearly mentioned in symbolic interactionism. Furthermore, the work of Mead treats very similar topics and in a very similar way to the work of present theorists on autopoiesis and auto‐organisation and its origins in the relation between individuals and society. It is the purpose of this paper to suggest the work of Mead as a possible frame of reference for the elaboration of present discussions on the matter.

This paper aims to explore how varsity football athletes and coaches negotiate meanings when faced with the unmet expectations of a new head coach brought into lead a turnaround process. It also aims to pay particular attention to the role of history in this meaning making process.

This paper draws on semi‐structured interviews with players and coaches at two points in time. To preserve the richness of their experiences and illuminate the historical aspects of change, it focuses on the stories of three players and one supporting coach.

Numerous symbols of change emerge that have multiple and contradictory meanings. The meanings around success and failure are renegotiated over time as individuals struggle with the unmet expectations of change. Moreover, individuals are unable to shed the failures of the past and move forward.

Change is a complex and messy process of managing multiple meanings. Understanding change entails more than a snapshot picture of an organization. New leaders have no control over the past, yet they need to be aware of how individuals experienced the past in order to increase the likelihood of success in the present.

Success and failure are experienced as an ongoing process as athletes and coaches experience, reflect on and interact with others. In illuminating the role of history in how change is experienced in the present, the paper demonstrates that the past can serve as both an immobilizing force, as well as a comparative point enabling individuals to rationalize their emotions.

The history of Organizational Development (OD) reveals a much older tradition of organizational science than the conventional wisdom would suggest. By the 1960s and 1970s OD became self‐confident and dynamic. This period was not only highly experimental but established the principles of OD for much of the twentieth century. By the end of the twentieth century new images of OD had occurred and much of the earlier thinking had been transformed. This review illustrates some examples under a series of themes that have had a major impact on the discipline of OD and on the wider thinking of organizational theorists and researchers.

The field of interorganizational studies is not currently known for applying qualitative methodologies with the same enthusiasm as statistically‐based survey techniques. A review of recent developments in qualitative methodologies reveals several techniques which can be fruitfully applied to the study of interorganizational (IO) networks. This paper extends the meaning‐based social definitionist perspective to the study of IO networks, by drawing upon the relevant theoretical aspects of social phenomenology, symbolic interactionism, and ethnomethodology. The social definitionist perspective is concerned with theories and methodologies relevant to the social definition and construction of meaning in multiple actor settings. Such a meaning‐based perspective would facilitate the application of qualitative methodologies to IO networks, in parallel with similar developments in organizational behavior. The paper identifies four specific types of qualitative analyses for IO studies: phenomenological typification, domain analysis, componential analysis, and conversational analysis.

The purpose of this research is to deepen understanding of the materiality in organizational identity (OI) by describing how physical objects support, instantiate and communicate OI over time.

The research design uses an in-depth case study of Codorníu wineries taking a symbolic interactionism methodological lens. The study examines a set of physical objects preserved from the company's foundation in 1551 to the present day and their associated identity meanings.

This study uncovered how the company used multiple objects to symbolically represent its identity. Some of these objects were primal artifacts used to legitimize organizational identity since the firm's foundation; others were interpreted as identity markers that worked to instantiate identity and to provide it with greater persistence, while others were created ad hoc to communicate organizational identity to external audiences. Some physical objects were used to differentiate the organization and its products from competitors, while others were used to maintain a temporary and spatial link with the organization's founding origins.

This study describes practical implications on the use of identity materiality to build legitimacy, employee identification, differentiation from competitors and reputation.

The analysis of the meanings associated with material objects shows that identity tangibility has not hindered organizational adaptation and change. Some identity objects gained relevance, while others were reinterpreted or abandoned according to their symbolic value in order to embody organizational identity at a given time. Four trajectories were identified that describe the evolution of physical objects in representing an organization's identity over time.

This paper seeks to provide a systematic understanding of the controversy surrounding commerce in US schools.

The paper surveys the history, research and policies related to commerce in schooling (1890‐2005) within the USA. The literature is organized according to four emergent US perspectives – protectionist, celebrant, cultural critic, and educated consumer.

The review finds that dominant US assumptions of commercial media subscribe to a stimulus‐response model of learning, rather than an active model of young people as constructing their own experiences with commercial media. Much of the research and many of the policies about commercial media in schools reflect adult assumptions about how young people learn, rather than provide empirical research about how young people actually interact with commercial texts while in school. The paper questions an excessive emphasis on the texts and technologies of instruction and calls for more empirical research that is grounded in theories of social constructivism, symbolic interactionism, and media education.

The four dominant media perspectives generated through this review of literature are limited to the USA.

A useful review of literature and schema to inform the understanding of educators, policy makers, and researchers as to the dominant US perspectives about commercial media and the education of young people. The schema can be used as a springboard for research and inquiry into the perspectives and policies of commercial practices and education in other countries.

This paper contextualizes nearly a century of research on commercial media and the education of youth in the USA, and provides a historical and theoretical context for researching education, technology and commerce in the USA and other countries.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a qualitative study that examined how pre-service teachers (PSTs) used mobile technology and experiential learning to critically examine the processes that shape places over time. During Summer course work that occurred prior to beginning their field experience and student teaching, participants explored neighborhoods and public spaces, and researched the history as well as contemporary issues relevant to the places in which their future students live, play, work, shop, and go to school. The use of social media as a forum for sharing and reflecting upon their experiences provided opportunity to critique neoliberal and race-based public policies, as well as support reflection on the relationships between geography and teaching about social (in)justice in the social studies. Findings inform the work of teacher educators who seek to help teacher candidates think more deeply about how spatial contexts inform culturally sustaining and critically minded pedagogy in the social studies.

This qualitative study included pre- and post-surveys and two one-on-one interviews between research participants and the researcher. Data were also gathered through the use of posts made by participants to a shared social media account. Interested in the interactive process of subjects and their surroundings, symbolic interactionism provided the methodological framework for this study.

Involvement in the study provided PSTs with new ways of thinking about how places are shaped over time and the importance of incorporating local intersections of geography and injustice in the classroom. Through experiential learning, PSTs developed a critical understanding of how place relates to who they teach, moved away from deficit thinking about people and places, and, as evidenced in the examples shared, approached lesson planning as place-relevant and culturally sustaining social studies educators.

The majority of students enrolled in teacher education courses in the USA remains white and it is well documented that most possess few cultural and geographic ties to the schools and students they work with as PSTs. Interested in the intersection of race, place, and teacher education, this paper discusses research conducted with 12 pre-service secondary social studies teachers (PSTs) who were enrolled in an eight-week Summer seminar course that preceded their Fall field experience and Spring student teaching placements to learn how they interpret their movement through spaces and their understanding of how geography, race, and agency intersect and impact students.

To provide a theoretically grounded exploration of the family's role in the decision to expatriate independently.

This is a qualitative study drawing on data collected in interviews with 30 British faculty working in universities in Singapore, New Zealand, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. Data analysis was performed using computer assisted qualitative data analysis software (NVivo).

Family played a strong role in the decision to expatriate independently, particularly spouse and children. Yet, extended family remaining in the home country were also implicated. Moreover, participants drew on previous family experiences and history to explain their decision. The concept of the “significant” other was useful in explaining these findings.

As an exploratory study the sample size was appropriate. However, a larger study might present further themes and/or allow generalization. Alternative family forms were not well represented but they were identified as deserving further attention.

Given their centrality in the respective decision‐making process family should be taken into account when managing self‐directed expatriates. Moreover, rather than problematizing it as an encumbrance to be managed, families are allies who stand to gain as much from expatriation as the candidate to whom the position is offered.

The paper extents beyond the traditional corporate assignment model to consider self‐directed expatriate academics. It also answers call for more theoretically grounded studies of expatriation by drawing on interpretive interactionism. A further value is that it draws on contemporary career theory as a useful framework to recognise the embeddedness of the family in expatriation as a career decision.