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Journal ArticleDOI

Building understanding of the domain of consumer vulnerability

TLDR
In this paper, the authors define consumer vulnerability as a sometimes misunderstood or misused concept that is equated erroneously with demographic characteristics, stigmatization, consumer protection, unmet needs, discrimination, or disadvantage.
Abstract
Consumer vulnerability is a sometimes misunderstood or misused concept that is equated erroneously with demographic characteristics, stigmatization, consumer protection, unmet needs, discrimination, or disadvantage. This article seeks to clarify the boundaries for what is and what is not consumer vulnerability. By explicating the key themes of consumer vulnerability from previous studies in the consumer research and marketing literatures, the authors build a definition and model to explain that consumer vulnerability is multidimensional, context specific, and does not have to be enduring. The authors clarify that multiple and simultaneous internal and external factors contribute to consumer experiences of vulnerability. They conclude by proposing some ways the consumer-driven definition of consumer vulnerability can be implemented into research and policy decisions. Most important, their implementation focuses on treating consumers as they wish to be treated, not as well-meaning others think they should be treated, and on directing policy toward facilitating individual empowerment.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Unraveling the personalization paradox: The effect of information collection and trust-building strategies on online advertisement effectiveness

TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the personalization paradox in online personalized advertising and find that consumers exhibit greater click-through intentions in response to more personalized advertisements, in contrast with their reactions when firms collect information covertly, reflecting the feelings of vulnerability that consumers experience when firms undertake covert information collection.
BookDOI

Handbook of Consumer Psychology

TL;DR: The role of knowledge accessibility in consumer cognition and behavior is discussed in this article, where the authors present a survey of consumer psychology research in consumer information processing, focusing on the role of awareness in consumer decision-making.
Journal ArticleDOI

Data Privacy: Effects on Customer and Firm Performance

TL;DR: In this article, a conceptual framework grounded in gossip theory is used to link customer vulnerability to negative performance effects and show that transparency and control in firms' data management practices can suppress the negative effects of customer data vulnerability.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Possessions and the extended self.

TL;DR: In this paper, a variety of evidence is presented supporting this simple and compelling premise and implications for consumer behavior are derived for consumer behaviour because the construct of extended self involves consumer behavior rather than buyer behavior, it appears to be a much richer construct than previous formulations positing a relationship between selfconcept and consumer brand choice.
Book

Helplessness: On Depression, Development, and Death

TL;DR: In this article, the authors proposed a learned-helplessness model of depression and developed a set of guidelines for depression and learned helplessness, including depression, anxiety and unpredictability, childhood failure, sudden psychosomatic death controllability.
Book

Material Culture and Mass Consumption

Danny Miller
TL;DR: In this article, a theory of mass consumption is proposed, with a focus on consumption object domains, ideology and interests towards the theory of consumption, and material culture: material culture artefacts in their contexts.
Journal ArticleDOI

A life-span theory of control.

TL;DR: An analysis of extensive and diverse literatures spanning infancy through old age shows that trade-offs between primary and secondary control undergo systematic shifts across the life course in response to the opportunities and constraints encountered.
Journal ArticleDOI

Social Comparison and the Idealized Images of Advertising

TL;DR: In this paper, it is hypothesized that consumers compare themselves with idealized advertising images, and that exposure to such images may change consumers' comparison standards for what they desire or lower perceptions of their own performance on relevant dimensions; the result is lowered satisfaction.
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