SPECIAL ISSUES

In general, Americans are not savers, which contributes to their inability to absorb even small financial shocks and increases their potential for financial hardship. Savings automation has been promoted as a solution to overcome the behavioral constraints (or limitations) that hinder individual savings behavior. The result has been a proliferation of automated savings programs with the goal of helping people save money without their notice as a way to overcome their tendency to consume. However, scant research has examined the efficacy of this “save people from themselves” approach. This article explores the importance of having a saver mindset, regardless of income, in the success of savings automation. Results from two studies demonstrate that the benefits of automation for liquid savings accrue at a higher rate for individuals with lower incomes and that this benefit depends on the presence of a personal savings orientation. The findings suggest that savings programs should try to build a savings habit and mindset among consumers, especially for those with lower incomes.

This research focuses on youth social entrepreneurs who are leading ventures that address pressing societal problems including climate change, gun reform, and social justice. It answers Journal of Public Policy & Marketing’s call for more research in marketing on social entrepreneurship. Consistent with the mission of Transformative Consumer Research to enhance individual and societal well-being, this research explores how the dynamic ecosystem of youth social entrepreneurs empowers them to rise up to transform people, communities, and the future for the better. The authors partnered with 20 established youth social entrepreneurs who have founded social impact initiatives as well as two organizations that support youth social entrepreneurs, Ashoka and Future Coalition, to develop a framework for understanding the ecosystem that encourages youth social entrepreneurs to enhance people’s well-being and make the world a better place. This framework integrates the experiences of these youth social entrepreneur partners and extant literature in marketing and related disciplines to provide guidance that can help researchers, policy makers, educators, and parents design an environment to support the success of youth social entrepreneurs.

The global refugee crisis is a complex humanitarian problem. Service researchers can assist in solving this crisis because refugees are immersed in complex human service systems. Drawing on marketing, sociology, transformative service, and consumer research literature, this study develops a Transformative Refugee Service Experience Framework to enable researchers, service actors, and public policy makers to navigate the challenges faced throughout a refugee’s service journey. The primary dimensions of this framework encompass the spectrum from hostile to hospitable refugee service systems and the resulting suffering or well-being in refugees’ experiences. The authors conceptualize this at three refugee service journey phases (entry, transition, and exit) and at three refugee service system levels (macro, meso, and micro) of analysis. The framework is supported by brief examples from a range of service-related refugee contexts as well as a Web Appendix with additional cases. Moreover, the authors derive a comprehensive research agenda from the framework, with detailed research questions for public policy and (service) marketing researchers. Managerial directions are provided to increase awareness of refugee service problems; stimulate productive interactions; and improve collaboration among public and nonprofit organizations, private service providers, and refugees. Finally, this work provides a vision for creating hospitable refugee service systems.

The authors focus on applying mindfulness-related concepts to business education by relying on transformational learning techniques for reducing impulse buying in a six-week Smart Consumer university class. A transformational learning program was designed including activities in the classroom as well as outside activities. They incorporated cognitive, affective, and conative aspects of student behaviors, aiming to effectively transform their impulse-buying behaviors. The initial test from the six-week pilot program shows changes in awareness and with some consumption behaviors toward less impulse buying. With a longer time frame in future programs, positive behavioral changes are likely to be more prominent. Implications abound for mindfulness-based transformational learning programs in business education that effect sustainable behaviors of students as our young generation members.

Transformative Consumer Research is a relatively new academic movement whose overall mission is to encourage, support, and disseminate research that contributes to the well-being of consumers, environments, and societies around the world (Mick, 2006). Researchers seek to examine real-world phenomena experienced by people in specific contexts, to identify feasible courses of action that can either improve or detract from well-being, considering not only the individual, but also larger social groups including families, communities, regions, countries, and the world and environment at large, with a special emphasis on disadvantaged and vulnerable groups (Davis, Ozanne, & Hill, 2016; Mick, 2006). Transformative Consumer Research has a tradition of using a broad theoretical lens and a wide array of epistemological approaches that stem from psychology, economics, sociology, anthropology, strategy, marketing, and other disciplines (Davis & Cornelia, 2013; Davis et al., 2016).

Overconsumption of sugary drinks is linked with obesity. These beverages have been the target of recent public health policies, and, simultaneously, some firms have altered their pricing of such beverages, including charging the same price for all beverage sizes ("any‐size‐same‐price" pricing). We compare the effect of any‐size‐same‐price pricing versus standard pricing on soft drink beverage size choices and further explore the effect of this firm lever under different health‐related policy situations. Overall, we show that any‐size‐same‐price pricing increases consumers' focus on the value of getting a good financial deal and thereby increases beverage size selections. Further, the allure of any‐size‐same‐price pricing prevents calorie postings from successfully reducing choice of larger sizes as occurs under standard pricing. However, a more graphic health intervention can reduce the appeal of larger sizes under any‐size‐same‐price pricing. Finally, the findings are not moderated by diet versus nondiet beverage selections, indicating that consumers do not perceive the value of larger sizes under any‐size‐same‐price pricing to come from getting more calories. We conclude by discussing how this work can improve the design of public health nutrition policies.

This paper explores the impact of environmental disruptions on traditional livelihood practices in subsistence communities. Our research was conducted in a South Indian fishing community, which has faced several environmental disruptions over the last two decades. Our findings illustrate how environmental disruptions threaten livelihood security and bring into question the legitimacy of traditional livelihood practices. In the face of livelihood insecurity, the community legitimizes adaptations to traditional livelihood practices to reestablish livelihood security. We find evidence of three types of adaptations to traditional livelihood practices: (1) blending traditional livelihood practices with non-traditional livelihood practices, (2) expanding beyond the domain of traditional livelihood practices, and (3) altering the knowledge base underlying livelihood practices. Our findings also illustrate how various types of legitimacy push against each other during the change process and how the community resolves these tensions.

The transformative consumer research (TCR) movement comprises a group of academic researchers exploring new ways to do research with greater social impact. Many of these researchers include key stakeholders within the research process towards creating studies with greater awareness, use, and societal benefit. This study empirically explores whether these initial research efforts have elicited more awareness among other scholars and beyond the academy to society. We find encouraging evidence that TCR and relational engagement have high scholarly impact and are more societally influential as measured by citation and altmetric analyses.