This edited volume will help business and academic researchers understand the means-end approach to understanding consumers. This is a qualitative marketing research method to gain customer insight into decision making.

Understanding the Consumer brings together marketing theory and practice in a truly consumer-centric approach. It challenges the lip service usually paid to this concept and demonstrates that a fundamental understanding of the consumer is critical to the future of effective marketing. Drawing on cutting-edge developments in the literature it reconceptualizes how consumers respond and act in the marketplace with particular attention to: - relationships with suppliers, products and brands - their innovative, creative and resistant behaviour - the complexity and unpredictability of their consumption behaviour - their increasing need to get closer to production. The book challenges existing functionally driven marketing thinking and shows how a more holistic approach to the marketplace will drive better theory and practice. It combines a jargon-free approach to the subject with an illustration of the relevant theory using practical, topical examples from the marketplace as well as drawing on other business related disciplines including sociology and economics to support its arguments.

Abstract: "This book discusses the indispensable value of understanding consumer activities and the crucial role they play in developing successful marketing strategies by focusing on concepts such as consumer perceptions, consumption culture, and the influence of information technology"--Provided by publisher

This translation of a prize-winning text examines the essentials of consumer behaviour from a European perspective. It features clearly formulated learning objectives and keywords at the beginning of each chapter.

Consumer behaviour.

'Understanding the Hospitality Consumer' presents a unique perspective on consumer behaviour in the hospitality sector. It seeks to focus on the role of consumption in hospitality and to investigate our understanding of its place in the contemporary industry. Taking the view that successful marketing demands focusing on the customer, this text concentrates on understanding and determining customer needs, relevant factors in consumer buying behaviour and the effectiveness of today's marketing techniques. Using industry based case studies and examples 'Understanding the Hospitality Consumer' : * Introduces and explores the role of consumer behaviour theory in the context of hospitality management * Discusses the principles and research of consumer behaviour and illustrates how they are used in the hospitality industry today * Examines the value of consumer behaviour research as applied to the contemporary hospitality industry * Explores the challenges to traditional approaches to consumption posed by the postmodern hospitality consumer The book's targeted focus and practical application ensures that it is well suited for both students and practising managers in the hospitality field.

Technology and Household Consumption is a comprehensive text that provides insights into technology’s impact on consumer behavior and the household environment. Consumption and consumer behavior has become a very important subject of study that is now covered in many disciplines including family economics, culture studies, and feminist/women studies. In the first section, this book provides a historical perspective on how consumer behaviors have changed because of technology and how technology itself has changed. Data on ownership and expenditures is detailed in describing the penetration of technology in the household and changes over time. In the examination of demographics and social changes, an emphasis is placed on women and children. As it is important to understand the entry paths and factors that influence them, the book also introduces a research framework to understanding the adoption and utilization of household technologies. In the second section, the book examines specific household technologies and consumption experiences including shopping choices and behaviors, entertainment outlets and availability, communications technologies, and working at home. The book concludes with a section on the relationships between marketers and consumers.