Putting consumer behaviour in its place: the Behavioural Perspective Model research programme

Consumer research remains overwhelmingly cognitive in orientation, partly because its apparent underlying philosophical stance usually goes unremarked and unchallenged. In so far as scientific progress relies on the interaction of competing theories, consumer research is impoverished by too great a reliance on a single approach to theory. This paper proposes an alternative to the prevailing 'intentional stance' on which consumer research predominantly rests; the 'contextual stance' eschews the intentionality of the cognitive explanations of consumer choice, substituting for it an account of behaviour determined by its environmental consequences. As a prelude to the interactive debate that these competing stances will hopefully engender, the paper demonstrates that the contextual stance is a viable strategy for consumer research. The contextual strategy leads to an alternative model of consumer choice to those based on social cognitive psychology. It is argued that this model of consumer choice in behavioural perspective provides a thoroughgoing conceptual reinterpretation of consumer behaviour and marketing management as currently envisaged.     

Using "Bud World Party" attendance to predict adolescent alcohol use and beliefs about drinking

This study explored the association between attendance at the "Bud World Party," a family entertainment venue created by Anheuser-Busch for the 2002 Winter Olympics, and alcohol-related beliefs and current drinking behaviors for a group of 7th and 8th graders who attend a middle school in close proximity to the downtown Salt Lake City plaza where the exhibit and related events were located. Data were collected via a questionnaire administered to 283 students 30 days after the closing ceremonies.. Logistic regression was used to predict recent alcohol consumption. Significant predictors were race (non-white) (OR = 3.9), religiosity (OR = .72), having a parent who drinks (OR = 4.8), the number of best friends who drink (OR = 2.5), and the interaction for "Bud World Party" attendance and gender (OR = 33.2). Post-hoc analysis of the interaction effect indicated that the relationship between "Bud World Party" attendance and recent alcohol consumption is moderated by gender. Girls who visited "Bud World Party" were more likely than the boys to have consumed alcohol in the past 30 days. In addition, the girls who visited "Bud World Party" were more likely to believe that drinking would increase their chances of popularity at school than the students who did not.     

An integrative intervention for promoting recovery from extramarital affairs

The discovery or disclosure of an extramarital affair can have a devastating impact on partners, both individually and on the relationships. Research suggests that affairs occur relatively frequently in relationships and are a common presenting problem in couple therapy. However, despite their prevalence, there is little empirical treatment research in this area, and most therapists describe this problem as one of the more difficult to treat. In this study, we used a replicated case-study design to explore the efficacy of an integrative treatment designed to help couples recover from an affair. Six couples entered and completed treatment. The majority of these couples were less emotionally or maritally distressed at the end of treatment, and the injured partners reported greater forgiveness regarding the affair. Details of the intervention, suggested adaptations of the treatment, and areas for future research are discussed.     

Integrating research,policy, and practice in juvenile justice education

This article provides an overview of the history and context leading to Florida's efforts to implement an evaluation-driven research and associated quality assurance system for its juvenile justice education policies and practices. The Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program began implementing Florida's evaluation research and quality assurance system to juvenile justice education in 1998. The article includes a brief summary of articles comprising this special issue of Evaluation Review that address the Juvenile Justice Educational Enhancement Program's various functions, methodological components, data, preliminary findings, continuing evaluation research efforts, and impediments.