Sitting in the ruins of the Third Reich, most Germans wanted to know which of the two post-war German states would erase the material traces of their wartime suffering most quickly and most thoroughly. Consumption and the quality of everyday life quickly became important battlefields upon which the East-West conflict would be fought. This book focuses on the competing types of consumer societies that developed over time in the two Germanies and the legacy each left. Consuming Germany in the Cold War assesses why East Germany increasingly fell behind in this competition and how the failure to create a viable socialist "consumer society" in the East helped lead to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. By the 1970s, East Germans were well aware that the regime's bombastic promises that the GDR would soon overtake the West had become increasingly hollow. For most East German citizens, West German consumer society set the standards that East Germany repeatedly failed to meet.By exploring the ways in which East and West Germany have functioned as each other's "other" since 1949, this book suggests some of the possibilities for a new narrative of post-war German history. While taking into account the very different paths pursued by East and West Germany since 1949, the contributors demonstrate the importance of competition and highlight the connections between the two German successor states, as well as the ways in which these relationships changed throughout the period. By understanding the legacy that forty-plus years of rivalry established, we can gain a better understanding of the current tensions between the eastern and western regions of a united Germany.

Branded entertainment is gaining popularity within marketing communications strategies. Blurring the lines between advertisements and editorial content, branded marketing provides advertisers and consumers with highly engaging media content that benefits them both. Engaging Consumers through Branded Entertainment and Convergent Media provides an interdisciplinary approach to connecting with the consumer through branding strategies in the entertainment and media fields. Featuring information regarding emergent research and techniques, this publication is a critical reference source for academics, university teachers, researchers and post-graduate students, as well as universities, advertising agencies, marketing directors, brand managers, and professionals interested in the usage and benefits of branded entertainment.

What we hear before and/or while we eat and drink often affects our tasting experiences. The focus of Auditory Contributions to Food Perception and Consume Behaviour is to provide a state-of-the-art summary on how such music and ambient inputs can influence our expectations, our purchasing behaviour, as well as our product experience. Much of the research collected together in this volume relates to 'sonic seasoning': This is where music/soundscapes are especially chosen, or else designed/composed, in order to correspond to, and hence hopefully to modify the associated taste/aroma/mouthfeel/flavour in food and beverages. The various chapters collected together in this volume provide a state-of-the-art summary of this intriguing and emerging field of research, as well as highlighting some of the key directions for future research. Contributors are Sue Bastian, Thadeus L. Beekman, Jo Burzynska, Andrew Childress, Ilja Croijmans, Silvana Dakduk , Alexandra Fiegel, Apratim Guha, Ryuta Kawashima, Bruno Mesz, Kosuke Motoki, Rui Nouchi, Felipe Reinoso-Carvalho, Pablo Riera, Marijn Peters Rit, Toshiki Saito, Han-Seok Seo, Mariano Sigman, Laura J. Speed, Charles Spence, Motoaki Sugiura, Marcos Trevisan, Carlos Velasco, Johan Wagemans, and Qian Janice Wang.

This book explore assumptions underpinning contemporary health policy discourses that emphasize personal responsibility for health, consider how they attach to changing information technologies, and discuss their influence on emerging forms of health 'work'.

This book explores the significance of food practices for childhood identities, from early babyhood to middle childhood and teenage years. It examines how children and families negotiate food and eating practices; what influence the media has on these; the role institutions play; and how far class and ethnicity shape the food that children eat.

Approaching family through the lens of food, this book provides a new perspective on the diversity of contemporary family life, challenging received ideas about the decline of the family meal, the individualization of food choice and the relationship between professional advice on healthy eating and the everyday practices of doing family.

In the early 1930s Soviet authorities launched a campaign to create "socialist" retailing and also endorsed Soviet consumerism. How did the Stalinist regime reconcile retailing and consumption with socialism? This book examines the discourses that the Stalinist regime's new approach to retailing and consumption engendered.

Across the world, there has been a polite uprising to the perceived meaninglessness and stress of our accelerated and consumer driven lifestyles. Described simply as the slow phenomenon, this new brand of living entails not simply slowing down, but an embracing of alternative activities that promote meaning, thoughtfulness, engagement and authenticity. Whether it is through different practices of food production and consumption, alternative modes of transportation such as cycling through to our intimate relations with others, this new ethic of living has grown immensely in popularity. In this volume of work, key authors from across the world have been brought together to illustrate these alternative approaches to modern lifestyles by analyzing them empirically and theoretically. Through rigorous debate and insightful commentary, this book presents a compelling case for seeing the slow phenomenon as a significant cultural practice in contemporary society.

Drawing together insights from media studies, sociology and science and technology studies, this book is one of the first major studies of media coverage, policy debates and public perceptions of nanotechnologies, and makes a fascinating and timely contribution to debates about the public communication of science.

Marketers interested in designing effective strategies to tap the increasingly lucrative mature market presently must look for relevant information in several disciplines and need the background to translate it into a decision-making framework. This book systematically organizes information scattered among various fields of scientific inquiry; it interprets and presents information, making it easier for the busy decision maker to find out how older consumers behave and why. By presenting and interpreting relevant information in a marketing decision-making context, the book provides the bases for developing effective marketing strategies.

Next, the author discusses both specific and general aspects of behavior that have implications for marketing strategy. Specifically, the book helps the reader understand how changes in mental processes in late life might affect the way an older person responds to marketing stimuli, and how lifestyles of mature persons can form the bases for designing effective marketing strategies. Finally, the author discusses specific aspects of older consumers' consumption and behavior in the marketplace, including mass media use, expenditure and consumption patterns, shopping habits, product/service acquisition process, as well as behaviors following purchase. At the end of each chapter, the author outlines several implications of the material presented that will be of interest to marketers, retailers, advertisers, social workers, public policy makers, and students of human behavior. The book ends by summarizing key points, drawing conclusions, and making recommendations to various groups interested in serving the mature market. The results of hundreds of studies are reviewed and presented in such a way that they can be used by practitioners. The book begins with an examination of the older consumer market and its characteristics. Age-related changes in late life and theoretical explanations for them are discussed next to help the reader understand human behavior in general and consumer behavior in particular.

In a broad sweep from Central Europe to Ireland and from the Sixteenth to the early Nineteenth-century, this work puts the Jewish community and its rabbinic and 'lay' leaders at the centre of Jewish history. Of surpassing value is Kochan's treatment of the community not only as a religious but also as a political unit. It shows the community at grips with the Reformation and the introduction of the ghetto system in the Italian states. Thence to the great maritime centre of Venice, Amsterdam, Hamburg and London, under the dominance of the Sephardi exiles from Spain and Portugal; and also to the metropolitan centres of Prague, Vienna and Berlin and the liaison of their court-Jews with the Hapsburgs, Bourbons and Hohenzollerns. This was not achieved without severe tension inside the communities and, whilst eschewing the concept of class-struggle, Kochan's analysis of the clash of interests between the few wealthy and the multitude of poor Jews raises doubts about the whole notion of 'community'.

How can we understand consumption in a region known for its cultural richness and vast inequalities? What do Latin Americans consume, and why? Examining topics from tango and samba to sex workers in Costa Rica, from eating tamales to selling ice in the Andes, and from building and moving houses to buying cell phones, this collection brings together original research on some of the many forms of consumption and consumers that contribute to Latin American cultures and histories. Contributors include sociologists, anthropologists, media and cultural studies scholars, geographers and historians, showcasing diverse approaches to understanding Latin American consumption practices and consumer culture.

"In recent years children have become an increasingly important consumer market, and there is growing concern about the commercialisation of childhood. This book sheds light on these debates, offering new empirical data and challenging critical perspectives on childrens engagement with consumer culture from a wide range of international settings"--

This volume addresses how we can find happiness and well-being in the material world. It builds on previous works that find that materialism is associated with lowered well-being (materialists are less happy) and that consumerism, in all its profusion, is harmful to environmental well-being. How can we use the money and possessions in our lives in the service of well-being? Apparently not by being materialistic. Can we benefit from the many wonders of the marketplace -- in technology, convenience and aesthetics -- without falling prey to the lures and dangers of excessive material preoccupation? Can we meet our material needs in ways that nourish growth and well-being? The authors of the chapters in this volume are on-going researchers into such questions. Herein you can learn about the hedonic benefits of thrift and of spending on experiences; how possessions can be beneficial; how different types of consumers spend money; cultural variations in conceptions of the "good life;" how we might reconcile environmental and consumer well-being; and how to measure the whole of human, economic, and environmental well-being. Taken all together, this collection finds grounds for compatibility between what's good for the consumer and what's good for the environment.

This volume appeals to academics, professionals, students and others interested in materialism and consumer well-being."

We constantly hear about 'the consumer'. The 'consumer' has become a ubiquitous person in public discourse and academic research, but who is this person? The Making of the Consumer is the first interdisciplinary study that follows the evolution of the consumer in the modern world, ranging from imperial Britain to contemporary Papua New Guinea, and from the European Union to China. It makes a novel contribution by broadening the study of consumption from a focus on goods and symbols to the changing role and identity of consumers. Offering a historically informed picture of the rise of the consumer to its current prominence, authors discuss the consumer in relation to citizenship and ethics, law and economics, media, work and retailing.Contributors include:Donald Winch (University of Sussex)Frank Trentmann (Birkbeck College, University of London)Vanessa Taylor (Birkbeck College, University of London)Marie-Emmanuelle Chessel (CNRS: Centre de Recherches Historiques, cole des Hautes tudes en Sciences Sociales, Paris)Michelle Everson (Birkbeck College, University of London)Erika Rappaport (University of California, Santa Barbara)Uwe Spiekermann (Georg-August University, Gttingen)Jos Gamble (Royal Holloway University)Stephen Kline (Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada)Frank Mort (University of Manchester)Ina Merkel (Philipps-Universitt, Marburg, Germany)James G. Carrier (Indiana University and Oxford Brookes University)Ben Fine (SOAS: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London)

This volume brings together research on retailing, shopping and urban space; themes that have attracted wide interest in recent decades. The authors argue that the 'modernity' of the nineteenth century is often over-emphasised at the expense of recognising earlier innovation.

Providing a detailed account of contemporary outdoor advertising and its relationship with urban space, this book examines what the outdoor advertising industry tells us about the commercial production of urban space, what industry practices reveal about contemporary capitalism, and how ads and billboard structures interface with spaces of the city.

Scandals in food, growth of supermarket power, new technologies and crises in obesity have shaken popular trust in food across Europe. The BSE epidemic, concern over GM foods, dioxin scares and avian flu have placed consumer trust and how to restore it at the top of government agendas. Uncovering surprising differences between countries, "Trust in Food" examines these issues to challenge the idea of the consumer as a sovereign individual and to demonstrate how consumption is institutionalized within societies.

How did consumer culture become synonymous with westernised societies? Iqani argues that it is the way it is promoted by media texts. She provides a detailed analysis of publicly displayed consumer magazine covers and engages with big questions about the public, power and identity in mediated consumer culture.

Unprecedented changes in consumer shopping habits pose major challenges for retailers who need to consider the multidimensional nature of shopping in order to design and provide engaging consumer experiences. The intersection between in-store and online shopping is also fundamental to meet the fast-changing consumer behavior. Comprehending how environmental and sensory dimensions, leisure, entertainment, and social interactions influence shopper emotions may enhance the shopping experience. Emotional, Sensory, and Social Dimensions of Consumer Buying Behavior is an essential reference source that discusses methods for enhancing the shopping experience in an era of competition among shopping offline- and online-destinations, as well as predicting emerging changes in consumer behavior and shopping destinations and new technologies in retailing. Featuring research on topics such as consumer dynamics, experimental marketing, and retail technology, this book is ideally designed for retail managers, designers, advertisers, marketers, customer service representatives, merchandisers, industry professionals, academicians, researchers, students, and practitioners.

The chapters in this volume have been selected from the best papers presented at the 9th Annual Consumer Culture Theory Conference held at the home of Aalto University in Finland in June 2014. The theme of the conference was Mapping Consumer Culture. The diverse interpretive research and theory represented in this volume provides the reader with intellectually stimulating opportunities to examine the intersections between a variety of theories and methods that represent the cutting edge in consumer research. These studies draw on an array of qualitative methodologies including ethnography, netnography, narrative and visual analysis, phenomenology, and semiotics. The substantive topics represent crucial issues for our times including understanding and navigating cultural diversity and cultural perspectives on co-creating market value.

"A fascinating investigation that explains semiotics, the science of signs, and shows how it can help us understand the way marketing and advertising shape our behavior as consumers and the way we use brands to help create our public identities. Semiotics deals with the messages we are always sending about ourselves by the clothes we wear, our facial expressions, our body language, and the objects we purchase. It also helps us learn how to interpret the messages that others are always sending to us. The book also analyzes a number of the "objects of our affection" such as toasters, teddy bears, hamburgers and computers. In the appendix, there are a number of learning games and activities that involve using semiotics to better understand consumer culture"--Provided by publisher.

With the intensity of the California gold rush, corporations are racing to stake their claim on the consumer group formerly known as children. What was once the purview of a handful of companies has escalated into a gargantuan enterprise estimated at over $15 billion annually. While parents struggle to set limits at home, marketing executives work day and night to undermine their efforts with irresistible messages.
In "Consuming Kids," psychologist Susan Linn takes a comprehensive and unsparing look at the demographic advertisers call "the kid market," taking readers on a compelling and disconcerting journey through modern childhood as envisioned by commercial interests. Children are now the focus of a marketing maelstrom, targets for everything from minivans to M&M counting books. All aspects of children's lives - their health, education, creativity, and values - are at risk of being compromised by their status in the marketplace.
Interweaving real-life stories of marketing to children, child development theory, the latest research, and what marketing experts themselves say about their work, Linn reveals the magnitude of this problem and shows what can be done about it. With a foreword written by research psychologist and author Penelope Leach, "Consuming Kids" is a call to action for parents, educators, legislators and anyone who cares about the health and well-being of children.

Children play a crucial role in today's economy. According to some estimates, children spend or influence the spending of up to $500 billion annually. Journalists, sociologists, and media reformers often present mass marketing toward children as a recent fall from grace, but the roots of children's consumerism -- and the anxieties over it -- date back more than a century. Throughout the twentieth century, a wide variety of groups -- including advertisers, retailers, parents, social reformers, child experts, public schools, and children themselves -- helped to socialize children as consumers and struggled to define the proper boundaries of the market. The essays and documents in this volume illuminate the historical circumstances and cultural conflicts that helped to produce, shape, and legitimize children's consumerism. Focusing primarily on the period from the Gilded Age through the twentieth century, this book examines how and why children and adolescents acquired new economic roles as consumers, and how these new roles both reflected and produced dynamic changes in family life and the culture of capitalism. This volume also reveals how children and adolescents have used consumer goods to define personal identities and peer relationships -- sometimes in opposition to marketers' expectations and parental intentions.