JCP

Every day, consumers make a myriad of decisions that have the ability to affect the greater good, which we define as the collective well-being of the broader social group. Such decisions range from deciding whether or not to speak up in the face of unfair practices to accurately reporting one’s financial information on their taxes to understanding and empowering vulnerable consumers. Given their broad communal consequences, such decisions are of great interest to a variety of constituencies, including policy makers, non-profit organizations, communities, and marketers, as well as individuals. Accordingly, theory-driven inquiry into the antecedents and consequences of consumer behaviors that serve the greater good offers great theoretical and practical value.

Consumer psychology over the past several decades has made substantive contributions to the understanding of consumer behavior; however, research truly motivated by impacting the greater good has remained limited. To be clear, there is a difference between research motivated by the greater good versus research that is relevant to the greater good. In the former, the genesis of the research is a problem motivated by the greater good; in the latter, the greater good might be referenced as a loosely-related implication drawn from a broader inquiry. This Special Issue in JCP seeks research that fits the former category.

The research could propose novel theories of how to promote the greater good, question whether outcomes stereotypically thought of as generating greater good indeed serve the greater good, or even propose downstream problems that a quest for greater good might create. Applications of existing consumer decision making theories to promote the greater good are welcome, but only as long as a greater good problem is central to the paper and the application is consequential.

Some potential (not binding) areas of investigation include:

• Contributing to the Greater Good by Helping the Self:
  • Promoting personal saving behavior, which reduces the cost of social support
  • Promoting personal health and mental well-being, which reduces the cost of social isolation and loneliness
  • Promoting personal empowerment, which benefits the larger collective (e.g., standing up to unethical mistreatment from authority)
• Overcoming Personal Costs to Promote Contributions to the Greater Good:
  • Increasing compliance with contributions to shared resources (e.g., paying taxes)
  • Promoting pro-social actions, by individuals and/or by firms, including actions that promote charitable giving, corporate social responsibility, fair trade, organ donation, sustainability, and beyond
• Contributing to the Greater Good by Fostering Collaboration:
  • Reducing negative influences of technology, media, and socio-political trends on violence / aggression / narcissism through consumption / word-of-mouth / community choices
  • Increasing tolerance / acceptance; increasing willingness to work with diverse others
  • Promoting collaboration for collective interests, including the use of technology such as virtual reality, online communities, crowdsourcing/crowdfunding

Submitted manuscripts could either be Research Reports or Research Articles in standard JCP format. All submissions are encouraged to provide complete methodological and other details in accompanying web appendices.

Timeline:

Deadline for initial manuscript submission is August 1, 2019
Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts early and any time before the submission deadline as papers will be evaluated on a rolling basis.

 

More Information and/or Submissions

Morality has received increasing attention from economists, psychologists, anthropologists, sociologists, and consumer researchers. Consumers’ morally questionable behaviors (such as wardrobing and overclaiming on insurance) have big impacts on companies and consumers respond strongly to organizations’ morally suspect behaviors. On the other side, consumers’ and organizations’ moral behaviors can lead to positive marketplace effects. However, many questions about how consumers define morality and evaluate their own moral behaviors as well as those of other consumers and of marketers remain. This JCP special issue seeks to move beyond an explanation of self-interest to advance our understanding of morality in the marketplace.

Articles for this special issue should be submitted by November 30, 2016. Manuscripts should be submitted using the regular JCP online system, but specify that the submission is for this special issue.

Further Information and Submission Guidelines