Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

The study reported here raises some questions about the conventional wisdom that the Internet creates a “level playing field” for large and small retailers and for retailers with and without an established reputation. In our study, consumers recognized differences in size and reputation among Internet stores, and those differences influenced their assessments of store trustworthiness and their perception of risk, as well as their willingness to patronize the store. After describing our research methods and results, we draw some implications for Internet merchants.

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Consumer trust in an Internet store

Obese individuals are highly stigmatized and face multiple forms of prejudice and discrimination because of their weight (1,2). The prevalence of weight discrimination in the United States has increased by 66% over the past decade (3), and is comparable to rates of racial discrimination, especially among women (4). Weight bias translates into inequities in employment settings, health-care facilities, and educational institutions, often due to widespread negative stereotypes that overweight and obese persons are lazy, unmotivated, lacking in selfdiscipline, less competent, noncompliant, and sloppy (2,5–7). These stereotypes are prevalent and are rarely challenged in Western society, leaving overweight and obese persons vulnerable to social injustice, unfair treatment, and impaired quality of life as a result of substantial disadvantages and stigma. In 2001, Puhl and Brownell published the first comprehensive review of several decades of research documenting bias and stigma toward overweight and obese persons (2). This review summarized weight stigma in domains of employment, health care, and education, demonstrating the vulnerability of obese persons to many forms of unfair treatment. Despite evidence of weight bias in important areas of living, the authors noted many gaps in research regarding the nature and extent of weight stigma in various settings, the lack of science on emotional and physical health consequences of weight bias, and the paucity of interventions to reduce negative stigma. In recent years, attention to weight bias has increased, with a growing recognition of the pervasiveness of weight bias and stigma, and its potential harmful consequences for obese persons. The aim of this article is to provide an update of scientific evidence on weight bias toward overweight and obese adults through a systematic review of published literature since the 2001 article by Puhl and Brownell. This review expands upon previous findings of weight bias in major domains of living, documents new areas where weight bias has been studied, and highlights ongoing research questions that need to be addressed to advance this field of study. A systematic literature search of studies published between January 2000 and May 2008 was undertaken on computerized psychological, medical, social science, sport, and education databases including PsycINFO, PubMed, SCOPUS, ERIC, and SPORTDiscus. The following keyword combinations were used: weight, obese, obesity, overweight, BMI, fat, fatness, size, heavy, large, appearance, big, heavyweight, bias, biased, discrimination, discriminatory, discriminate, stigma, stigmatized, stigmatization, prejudice, prejudicial, stereotype(s), stereotypical, stereotyping, victimization, victimize(d), blame(d), blaming, shame(d), shaming, teasing, tease(d), unfair, bully, bullying, harassment, assumptions, attributions, education, health, health care, sales, employment, wages, promotion, adoption, jury, customer service, housing, media, television. Reference lists of retrieved articles and books were also reviewed, and manual searches were conducted in the databases and journals for authors who had published in this field. Most studies retrieved for this review were published in the United States. Any articles published internationally are noted with their country of origin. Research on weight stigma in adolescents and children was excluded from this review, as this literature was recently reviewed elsewhere (8). Unpublished manuscripts and dissertations were also excluded. In addition, issues pertaining to measurement of weight stigmatization, and demographic variables affecting vulnerability to weight bias such as gender, age, race, and body weight are not addressed in this review. This article instead primarily reviews the evidence of specific areas where weight bias occurs toward adults and its consequences for those affected. This article is organized similarly to the first review published by Puhl and Brownell (2), with sections on weight bias in settings of employment, health care, and education. New sections have been added including weight bias in interpersonal relationships and the media, as well as psychological and physical health consequences of weight bias, and the status of stigma-reduction research. As with the 2001 article, this review also provides an update on legal initiatives to combat weight discrimination, and outlines specific questions for future research.

https://www.sochob.cl/pdf/obesidad_adulto/The%20Stigma%20of%20Obesity%20%20A%20Review%20and%20Update.pdf

The stigma of obesity: a review and update.

The authors examine the implications of electronic shopping for consumers, retailers, and manufacturers. They assume that near-term technological developments will offer consumers unparalleled opportunities to locate and compare product offerings. They examine these advantages as a function of typical consumer goals and the types of products and services being sought and offer conclusions regarding consumer incentives and disincentives to purchase through interactive home shopping vis-à-vis traditional retail formats. The authors discuss implications for industry structure as they pertain to competition among retailers, competition among manufacturers, and retailer-manufacturer relationships.

Interactive home shopping: Consumer, retailer, and manufacturer incentives to participate in

This article reviews information on discriminatory attitudes and behaviors against obese individuals, integrates this to show whether systematic discrimination occurs and why, and discusses needed work in the field. Clear and consistent stigmatization, and in some cases discrimination, can be documented in three important areas of living: employment, education, and health care. Among the findings are that 28% of teachers in one study said that becoming obese is the worst thing that can happen to a person; 24% of nurses said that they are "repulsed" by obese persons; and, controlling for income and grades, parents provide less college support for their overweight than for their thin children. There are also suggestions but not yet documentation of discrimination occurring in adoption proceedings, jury selection, housing, and other areas. Given the vast numbers of people potentially affected, it is important to consider the research-related, educational, and social policy implications of these findings.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1038/oby.2001.108

Bias, Discrimination, and Obesity

– The purpose of this study is to examine the roles that social cues play in affecting patronage behavior and how consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence would moderate the influence of social cues on store image., – A two (high vs low socially‐oriented in‐store graphics) by two (high vs low personalized customer service) between subject experimental design was conducted to achieve the research objective. A total of 193 surveys were used for data analysis., – Consumers had a more favorable attitude toward merchandise and service quality and felt more aroused or pleased with a store where more social cues were present. They also had a more favorable perception of store image when high‐personalized service was provided. Consumers perceived that they would be more likely to shop in a store that had more in‐store displays of graphics with social meaning. Consumer susceptibility to informational influence (SII) played a moderating role in some cases., – Retail service needs to be reinvented to create excitement. Consumers may use social cues embedded in the store environment as an information source. Sales skills of staff and in‐store graphics should be especially appealing to low‐SII customer., – This study has added to the retail literature by demonstrating that the social cues in store environment can affect consumers' perception of store image and patronage intention. It provides interesting insights on how retailers can use a socially meaningful environment as a source of competitive advantage.

Social cues in the store environment and their impact on store image

Men and women: Images of their relationships in magazine advertisements.

This study was designed to profile catalog shoppers of apparel and to examine their frequency of shopping. Specifically, it focused on the relative importance of consumers' lifestyle, demographic, and motivational factors in catalog shopping patronage. Data from 680 respondents were analyzed. The data indicated a relationship between consumers who shop for apparel from catalogs and some of the variables included in the study. A multiple regression model indicated that when several variables were considered, the frequent catalog shoppers tended to be older and better educated than infrequent catalog shoppers. They were also more likely to engage in inactive pursuits rather than sports activities and were more likely to perceive convenience as an important factor in their decisions to shop from catalogs than were infrequent catalog shoppers.

Apparel catalog patronage: Demographic, lifestyle and motivational factors

The financial viability of rural retail businesses has become a major concern of economic and community development specialists (Ayres, Leistritz, and Stone 1992) due to a decline in the ability to capture the purchasing power of trade area residents. This decline in retail sales volume can be devastating to small towns, leading to business closures with resultant job losses, outmigration, and reductions in rural tax bases (Leistritz and Hamm 1994). The purpose of this article is to report findings from a study that investigated the interrelationship among community characteristics, the community's business environment, the use of competitive strategies, and the business performance of retail entrepreneurs in rural communities. The objectives of the study were: (1) to examine the strength of the relationships among community characteristics, the business environment, the use of competitive strategies, and retail performance; (2) to examine the nature and/or effect of the relationships among the variables; and (3) to determine whether any of the variables or combinations of variables contribute to retail performance. Review of the Literature Community Characteristics During the past decade, significant changes have taken place in the business environment due to economic restructuring nationwide. The effects of these changes have been particularly severe in nonmetropolitan areas of the United States. The restructuring of the manufacturing sector in the Midwest and South, the depressed markets for the agricultural products of the Great Plains and Corn Belt states, and the retrenchment of the energy industry in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains states have all led to economic stress for many rural areas and, in some cases, for entire states (Barkley 1993; Bernat 1992; Leistritz and Harem 1994). One result of the economic restructuring that has been occurring in rural areas has been a widening economic gap between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas (Barkley 1993). Since 1979, the per capita income in rural counties in the U.S. has fallen behind that of their urban counterparts. Furthermore, these patterns of widening rural disadvantage have prevailed regardless of the counties' dominant economic base. Areas with a primary economic dependence on farming, manufacturing, and mining all recorded major declines in relative income, while those primarily dependent on retirement and tourism had smaller losses (Cook 1990; Drabenstott 1991; Fagen and Longino 1992; Frederick 1993). Worsening economic conditions in rural areas have also led to substantial migration from rural to urban areas. Rural counties that are not adjacent to metropolitan areas have been hit particularly hard by outmigration (Leistritz and Hamm 1994). Significant losses of population and purchasing power through outmigration can pose major problems for local small business retailers. Business Environment Influences such as economic restructuring, intensified competition, government regulations, and technological advances have resulted in heightened environmental turbulence and uncertainty for small business firms. As noted by Covin and Slevin (1989), small businesses are particularly susceptible to environmental influences due to limited resources and the devastating consequences of poor managerial decisions. According to the authors, An environmental dimension which...serves as a threat to small firm viability and performance is hostility. Hostile environments are characterized by precarious industry settings, intense competition, harsh, overwhelming business climates and the relative lack of exploitable opportunities. Non-hostile or benign environments...provide a safe setting for business operations due to their overall level of munificence and richness in investment and marketing opportunities (p. 75). Porter (1980) contends that the business environment differs by industry. Ireland et al. …

Effects of community characteristics, business environment, and competitive strategies on rural retail business performance

Innovation diffusion theory guided research on the process of online apparel shopping adoption (i.e., changes in online shopping adoption) among rural consumers. Rural consumers in 11 states completed surveys in 2000 ( n = 2,198) and in 2003 (n = 879). Variables measured in 2000 were used to predict online apparel purchasing in 2003; structural equation modeling was used for data analysis and yielded satisfactory fit. Results revealed strong support for innovation diffusion theory: Previous practice and characteristics of the decision-making unit ( education, income, innovativeness) affected belief structures. Although beliefs about online shopping measured in 2000 did not affect online apparel shopping adoption in 2000, they did affect online apparel shopping adoption in 2003, demonstrating the dynamic nature of innovation diffusion. Characteristics of the decision-making unit (education, income) indirectly affected online apparel shopping via their influence on previous practice, which was the strongest predictor of online apparel purchasing in 2000 and 2003. General beliefs about the Internet and beliefs about the compatibility of online shopping with respondents' lifestyles predicted online apparel shopping in 2003, whereas beliefs about the benefits and advantages of online shopping did not. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cynthia R. Jasper

Papers

Social cues in the store environment and their impact on store image

Men and women: Images of their relationships in magazine advertisements.

Apparel catalog patronage: Demographic, lifestyle and motivational factors

Effects of community characteristics, business environment, and competitive strategies on rural retail business performance

A longitudinal look at rural consumer adoption of online shopping