Transformative Consumer Research for Personal and Collective Well-Being - Hardcover

"The book is an extraordinary valuable source of theories, concepts, research approaches, and substantive domains that prioritizes consumer well-being within the academic consumer behaviour research." - Carlo Mari, School of Economics, University of Molise, Italy, in the Journal of Consumer Policy

"Just like the typical shopping mall, this book offers something tempting to everyone ― whether you’re a researcher, practitioner, reformer, student, or simply a curious consumer. But unlike most stuff at the mall, the ideas on display here won’t make you fat and broke and degrade the environment, but instead, they provide new insights on how we can consume sustainably, healthily, and wisely on a changing and increasingly constrained planet." - Erik Assadourian, Senior Fellow, Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, USA 

"Having often written about the troubling impacts of over-consumption in America, I have long wished that scholars of marketing and consumer behavior would become deeply and directly involved in promoting the health and welfare of consumers and questioning the unsustainable impacts on the Earth of current consumption patterns. I have been delighted recently to see many of them take on this important challenge. With their perceptive theories and varied investigative methods, these academic consumer researchers bring exceptional skills to addressing and resolving key challenges of well-being that confront all of us worldwide. This inaugural book on Transformative Consumer Research brings together the best of their ground-breaking work and creates a foundation of knowledge and a guide for action and meaningful collaboration among researchers, consumers, activists, policy makers, and business executives. I urge you to read this timely book and join with its authors to help achieve a higher quality of life in a more sustainable society." - John de Graaf, documentary producer for public television and co-author of Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic.

"This thoughtful compendium by world-renowned psychologists, sociologists, economists, and consumer behavior scholars addresses significant and timely topics on weighty issues facing marketers (e.g., sustainability), consumers (materialism, addiction, saving, risky decision making), policy makers (consumer vulnerability), and society (obesity, aging, poverty). Succinct research summaries and provocative research agendas offer hope for understanding how marketing and consumption choices can make for a better tomorrow. The volume is a must read for those with the courage to boldly attack consequential issues regarding the role of consumption on personal, social, and societal welfare." - Deborah MacInnis, Charles L. and Ramona I. Hilliard Professor of Business Administration, University of Southern California

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.