Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites1

Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites1

Academic and Applied Books, Articles, and Web Sites

You may have access to netLibrary through your campus Internet connection. At , you can search, view, and borrow eBooks, including reference, scholarly, mass market, and professional publications. Another great resource for students is which is a vast database of thousands of magazines that is searchable by subject for free. Google Scholar is a search engine that finds academic articles and can be accessed at

Remember to check the listed Web sites before class as the Internet is a dynamic environment and there may be changes since the Instructor’s Resource Manual was published.

To stay current in marketing examples to use in class, there are several newsletters you can sign up for, including:

is an organization that disseminated newsletters and other information to advertising and marketing professionals. They have several e-newsletters that arrive almost daily and are pertinent to consumer behavior, including: MediaDailyNews, TV Watch, Magazine Rack, Research Brief, Media Creativity, Online Media Daily, MARKETING, Marketing Daily, Behavioral Insider, etc. The sign up for these newsletters is free. Just be warned that sometimes these fill up a mailbox if you sign up for too many. However, the information is timely and useful for class examples.
Advertising Age also has a daily e-newsletter that you can sign up for. You can have limited access to the stories if you sign up for the free service at

Several journals also have consumer behavior content including (but not limited to): Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Consumer Culture and Journal of Marketing. In addition, the proceedings for the Association of Consumer Research’s annual conference entitled Advances in Consumer Research is a good source of current academic research that has not yet made it to journals.

Part I: An Introduction to Consumer Behavior

Understanding Consumer Behavior: Background Reading

John F. Sherry, Jr., Contemporary Marketing and Consumer Behavior, Sage, 1995. This book examines consumer behavior from an anthropological perspective.

Mihaly Csikszenthmihalyi and Eugene Rochberg-Halson, The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols and Self, CambridgeUniversity Press, 1989. The book is a revised edition of a classic on symbolic consumer behavior.

Richard E. Petty and John T. Cacioppo, Communication and Persuasion: Central and Peripheral Routes to Attitude Change, Springer-Verlag, 1986. This is a classic book on attitude formation and change processes.

Thomas S. Robertson and Harold H. Kassarjian, Handbook of Consumer Behavior, Prentice-Hall, 1991. A compilation of academic articles that review research on a large number of domains associated with consumer behavior (e.g., decision-making, adoption of innovations, attitude, and affect in consumer behavior).

The University of Texas’ Department of Advertising provides excellent examples of student work on relevant consumer behavior topics. Go to the Theories of Persuasive Communication and Consumer Decision Making class page to see these examples at

Brand Forward’s Web site includes an excellent flow chart of the brand management process, which shows the interrelationship among consumers’ insights, consumer benefits, competitive knowledge, and brand strategies. This information is available at following the Brand Management and Marketing Resources link and clicking on Overview of the Brand Management Process.

Developing and Using Information about Consumer Behavior

The Handbook of Marketing Scales: Multi-item Measures for Marketing and Consumer Behavior Research, 1999, by William O. Bearden and Richard G. Netemeyer helps marketing researchers avoid reinventing the wheel by describing and analyzing marketing scales that have been created on a variety of consumer behavior topics. Another source of marketing scales is the Marketing Scales Series that came out with its latest volume in 2005,Marketing Scales Handbook, Volume IV: Consumer Behaviorby Gordon C. Bruner, Paul J. Hensel, and Karen E. James.

The website provides a series of links to advertising resources, which include links to advertising awards and recognition. This will provide both national and international examples of award-winning ads to see how companies use creative advertising strategies. For U.S. advertising awards, see

TasteTest is a sensory research company that completes taste tests for retail and institutional food and beverage markets. Its Web site provides a sample survey of how the firm gathers consumer information at

Susan Mitchell in Generation X: The Young Adult Market, Library Binding, 1997, presents the U.S. Census data in small doses and shows how the data provide information on spending patterns and trends. The instructor can use this information for demographic background.

Ann Sutherland and Beth Thompson, 2003,Kidfluence: The Marketer’s Guide to Understanding and Researching Generation Y—Kids, Tweens and Teens, includes demographic data and socio-cultural trends of young adults born after 1980.

“Listen. No, Listen Carefully” in Fast Company, May 2000, pp. 307–316 emphasizes the importance of understanding customers. It quotes retailers such as Nike and Burton Snowboards that believe there is a better way than using focus groups. The article can be used to elicit discussion or to serve as lecture material, or as an out-of-class reading.

“Storytelling: A New Way to Get Close to Your Customer” by Ronald B. Leiber, Fortune, February 3, 1997. The article describes some new and interesting ways of gathering insights into consumer behavior through the use of metaphors and stories.

Have students visit or to learn about the types of information that are available about consumers.

Lifestyles

Students can access PRIZM lifestyle information about consumers in their home or school zip code by clicking on “You are Where You Live” on the Claritas Web site at

The Cultural Dynamics Web site focuses on ethnographic research. Go to The Cultural Dynamics Web site focuses on ethnographic research. Go to

Part II: The Psychological Core

General Psychology

A variety of psychological topics and theories are discussed on the website: including an in-depth discussion of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

The Handbook of Consumer Psychology (Marketing and Consumer Psychology Series), 2008, edited by Haugtvedt, Herr, and Kardes is a good source of current consumer psychology research.

Motivation

For a look at how consumer motivations can be used in marketing research, go to Motivational%20Research.doc for ICR’s discussion about the topic.

Tourism New Zealand commissioned a study of consumers’ motivations and needs to visit New Zealand for their three major markets: Japan, USA and UK. Go to to access these studies.

Self Concept

Find-Health-Articles.com provides current articles about various health-related topics. For articles on self concept, go to:

Exposure

A method that marketers use to expose even reluctant consumers to products is product placement in movies, TV shows and video games. Advertising Age has a website devoted to product placement. This can be found at

Attention and Perception

Selective perception in advertising is discussed at Selective perception in advertising is discussed at

The Five Senses
Two books that describe the five senses in historical and cultural perspectives are: Constance Classen, 1993,World of Sense and Diana Ackerman, 1990,A Natural History of the Senses.
The Sense of Vision: Color

For a set of outstanding articles and exercises exploring the psychology of color and its effect on consumer behavior, see

The ColorMatters Web site is the brainchild of former Architecture Professor J. L. Morton. The site, located at examines the ways that color affects our minds and our actions. It provides links to a number of columns and additional color resources.

The Sense of Vision: Perceptual Illusions

For an exercise on how perception influences what we believe, go to The “Changing Illusions” link has four interactive illusions.

The Sense of Taste

The Sense of Smell

The following Web site presents the technology of using the science of smell on-line, which will allow consumers to use their sense of smell online to smell a perfume, for example, before they buy or to receive scented e-mails.

Website of the Sense of Smell Institute (SOSI) has list of publications about olfaction and it affects on consumers.

The SocialIssueResearchCenter’s smell report can be found at

Dr. Alan Hirsh of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation has conducted over 200 studies on human olfaction. Information can be found at

Contance Classen, David Howes and Anthony Synnott’s, 1994, book entitled Aroma: The Cultural History of Smell provides an interesting cross-cultural perspective on olfaction.

The Sense of Hearing

“The Effects of Music in a Retail Setting on Real & Perceived Shopping Times,” describes the importance of sound in the consumer experience. The article can be found at

Dr. Alan Hirsh of the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation has also conducted studies on human’s sense of taste.

The Sense of Touch

The following Web site explains the purpose of the touch senses and some exercises that can be used to help students discern the importance of touch.

Contance Classen’s The Bo of Touch looks at the cultural formations of tactility across time and culture.

Brand Personality

Jennifer Aaker has developed a framework of the dimensions of brand personality. A summary of her framework can be found at For a practitioner look at brand personality, look at the white paper by the Amicus Group at

Brawny paper towels conducted extensive focus group research with women consumers to establish the personality of its Brawny Man. BrawnyAcademy is a tongue-in-cheek, web-based “reality” series that demonstrates this sensitive male teaching the art of being a gentleman to a group of “typical” manly men. While more than a bit sexist, this is an amusing example of a brand, of paper towels no less, trying to develop a personality. Episodes of BrawnyAcademy are available at:

Changing consumers’ schemas

High fructose corn syrup has the reputation of being particularly unhealthy and a cause of obesity. However, a recent (2008) American Medical Association study determined it was not any worse than other caloric sweeteners. The Corn Refiners Association is paying for a series of TV ads dispelling consumers’ negative opinions. The ads lead consumers to a website: that give additional facts about the ingredient of many fruit drinks and other sweet products.

Attitudes

Polls of American’s attitudes on a variety of contemporary issues can be found at:

Theory of Reasoned Action

This University of Texas Web site introduces browsers to the Theory of Reasoned Action and how it applies to the field of advertising. To learn more about potential applications, see

Low Level Processing

The “Got Milk” campaign is catchy and memorable and does not require a lot of processing. For more information on this series of ads, see Jeff Manning, Got Milk: The Book, Prima Publications, 1999. The book is the story of the Got Milk campaign by its creator. It includes ads and scripts. You also can log on to the Got Milk Web site at and play the “Get the Glass” game that is designed to engage children.

The Milk Mustache Book: A Behind the Scenes Look at America’s Favorite Advertising Campaign by Jay Schulberg, Bernie Hogya, and Sal Taiba, Ballantine Books, 1999 tells the story of the milk mustache campaign and includes most of the ads through its publication date.

The Mere Exposure Effect

The textbook uses Absolut as an example of the mere exposure effect. The instructor can read Absolute Book: the Absolut Vodka Advertising Story by Richard W. Lewis, Journey Editions, 1996. The book presents the history of Absolut’s creative magazine advertising campaign. It contains almost 500 ads, including many that were rejected and never shown. Also, go to Absolut’s Web site at

Pleasant Stimuli

See the Absolut Vodka book and site mentioned previously. The textbook cites Absolut as an example of pleasant stimuli.

Mystery Ads

Some companies are adopting the practice of “mystery marketing,” the practice of making it difficult to determine what product is being advertised in an ad, or even whether the communication is an ad at all. To learn why this tactic is being adopted, read “Great Ad. What’s It For?” by Ellen Neuborne in Business Week on July 20, 1998.

Memory

The Exploratorium Web site at provides the instructor with resources for studying human memory. These resources can be used in the class lecture or out of class.

Students can play five Web games that explore memory. The games focus on recognition, mnemonics, recall, interference, and STM. To learn more, please visit

Brand Naming

NameBase provides branding services for businesses. The site includes examples of brand names the company has selected and the rationale for their selection. Instructors can ask students what consumer behavior principles the firm is using in its name selections. Go to

Part III: The Process of Making Decisions

Problem Recognition

The Web site has a plethora of examples involving problem recognition in consumer behavior.

Information Search

This Web site hosted by University of Delaware is an excellent resource for students to reinforce information search and many other facets of consumer behavior.

The five stages of decision making

The Web site has excellent visuals to help students remember the five stages of decision-making. The site then delves into an example of evaluating products using Sony products versus others from Consumer Reports. This would be an excellent resource to start class with or have the students look at.

Decision Making: General Information

Grocery Revolution: The New Focus on the Consumer by Barbara E. Kahn and Leigh McAlister, Addison Wesley Publishing Co., 1997. Written by two marketing academics, the text discusses how consumers make decisions in the grocery store and discusses trends for the packaged goods industry.

Perceptual Mapping

The DSS Research Web site includes a perceptual map. Students can change the attribute evaluation numbers and see how the map changes. To access this interactive perceptual mapping example, see

Negative word of mouth

Consumers are now able to post their complaints about products online. Several websites are devoted to the dissatisfied consumer, including and While many websites discuss what to do about negative word of mouth, the word of mouth guru write a blog that is dedicated to the topic. This can be found at:

Boycotts

For a list of current consumer boycotts, go to:

Disposition

Consumers often do not consider that household products may be hazardous if just thrown in the garbage. The website offers a detailed list of hazardous products and how to properly and safely dispose of them.

Part IV: The Consumer’s Culture

Regional

The following Web site from the American Sociological Association provides a series of relevant links on topics related to “Consumers, Commodities, and Consumption,” at

Ethnicity: Hispanics

Online portals are targeting Spanish speakers. The “Americas Online” article in the January 2000 issue of Business 2.0 discusses the complexities of reaching the Latino market and provides links to Latino-oriented sites, including

Hispanic consulting companies are helping all industries understand the nuances of this extremely fast growing ethnicity. Visit and click on research for information about such a companies.

The MulticulturalMarketingResourceCenter discusses the importance of Hispanic teens to marketers,

The Association of Hispanic Advertising Agency details the buying power of the Hispanic market, trends in Hispanic advertising, Hispanic teens, as well as Hispanic internet usage. Find this information at

“Hispanic On-line” is a Web portal for the Spanish speaking market. The site can be used to understand the interests and activities of the Latino market. Go to

Ethnicity: African Americans

BET.com, a site affiliated with TV’s Black Entertainment Television and three magazines, is targeting Black consumers. The site hosts areas for urban life, professionals, women, and families. Go to Another site catering to Black Web surfers is

provides a segmentation of African-American consumers to aid in a marketer’s understanding of the unique opportunities and challenges of marketing to this distinctive target group.

A good Web portal for the Black consumer is “Black Voices,” which can be found at

Ethnicity: Asian Americans

Students can go to for a list of Asian magazines and marketing resources to gain a better understanding of this culture. Additionally a repository of Asian American links can be found at

is site on the history, demographics and issues of Asian Americans including consumption behavior.

Religion

The following Web site by Dr. Lars Perner of the University of California, Riverside, tackles many relevant consumer behavior issues such as the potential effect of religion on a consumer’s social and individual buying behavior.

Lindridge, Andrew (2005) “Religiosity and the Construction of a Cultural-Consumption Identity.” Journal of Consumer Marketing. Vol. 22, Issue. 3, pp. 143-151, provides insight on the religious influences on consumers.

Culture and Ethnicity

The Hallmark Web site, located at can be used for a discussion about the variety of groups, rituals, and customs celebrated by American consumers. The site could serve as a starting point for a discussion on culture-created occasions and marketer-created occasions.

Marketing relevant journals such as the Journal of Consumer Culture, found at contain a wealth of information that illustrates many of the course concepts.

Ad-endum is a site that serves as a repository for multi-cultural media websites, One can learn about media planning and buying in multicultural markets as well as telecommunications marketing opportunities to ethnic groups.

Instructors may want to visit some of the2008Fortune Global 100 companies’ Web sites. The following are the names and locations of the Fortune Global Top Ten: