Daily existence is more interconnected to consumer behaviors than ever before, encompassing many issues of well-being. Problems include unhealthy eating; credit card mismanagement; alcohol, tobacco, pornography, and gambling abuse; marketplace discrimination; and ecological deterioration; as well as at-risk groups who are impoverished, impaired, or elderly. Opportunities for well-being via consumer behaviors include empowerment via the Internet, product sharing, leisure pursuits, family consumption, and pro-environmental activities, among others.

In 2005 the Association for Consumer Research launched Transformative Consumer Research (TCR). Its mission is to foster research on quality of life that is both rigorous and applied for better assisting consumers, their caregivers, policy administrators, and executives.

This edited volume includes 33 chapters on a wide range of topics by expert international authors. All royalties from sales of this book are donated to the Association to support TCR grants.

Table of Contents

M. Csikszentmihalyi, Foreword: Consuming and Evolving. Part 1: Declaring and Projecting Transformative Consumer Research D.G. Mick, S. Pettigrew, C. Pechmann, J.L. Ozanne, The Origins, Qualities, and Envisionments of Transformative Consumer Research. A.R. Andreasen, M.E. Goldberg, M.J. Sirgy, Foundational Research on Consumer Welfare: Opportunities for a Transformative Consumer Research Agenda. B. Wansink, Activism Research: Designing Transformative Lab and Field Studies. J.L. Ozanne, E.M. Fischer, Sensitizing Principles and Practices Central to Social Change Methodologies. Part 2: Economic and Social Issues M. Viswanathan, Conducting Transformative Consumer Research: Lessons Learned in Moving from Basic Research to Transformative Impact in Subsistence Markets. C.J. Shultz II, S.J. Shapiro,Transformative Consumer Research in Developing Economies: Perspectives, Trends, and Reflections from the Field. J.A. Rosa, S. Geiger-Oneta, A. Barrios Fajardo, Hope and Innovativeness: Transformative Factors for Subsistence Consumer Merchants. J.D. Williams, G.R. Henderson, Discrimination and Injustice in the Marketplace: They Come in All Sizes, Shapes, and Colors. Part 3: Technological Edges D.L. Hoffman, Internet Indispensability, Online Social Capital, and Consumer Well-Being. R.V. Kozinets, F.M. Belz, P. McDonagh, Social Media for Social Change: A TCR Perspective. T.P. Novak, Quality of Virtual Life. Part 4: Materialism and the Environment J.E. Burroughs, A. Rindfleisch, What Welfare? On the Definition and Domain of Transformative Consumer Research and the Foundational Role of Materialism. P. McDonagh, S. Dobscha, A. Prothero, Sustainable Consumption and Production: Challenges for Transformative Consumer Research. W. Kilbourne, J. Mittelstaedt, From Profligacy to Sustainabil

Daily existence is more interconnected to consumer behaviors than ever before, encompassing many issues of well-being. Problems include unhealthy eating; credit card mismanagement; alcohol, tobacco, pornography, and gambling abuse; marketplace discrimination; and ecological deterioration; as well as at-risk groups who are impoverished, impaired, or elderly. Opportunities for well-being via consumer behaviors include empowerment via the Internet, product sharing, leisure pursuits, family consumption, and pro-environmental activities, among others. In 2005 the Association for Consumer Research launched Transformative Consumer Research (TCR). Its mission is to foster research on quality of life that is both rigorous and applied for better assisting consumers, their caregivers, policy administrators, and executives. This edited volume includes 33 chapters on a wide range of topics by expert international authors. All royalties from sales of this book are donated to the Association to support TCR grants.