AMS Review - Call for Papers for Special Issue on Transformative Consumer Research in the Next Era of Marketing

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• Transformative Consumer Research in the Next Era of Marketing: continuing society-focused theory development, with new connections (this opens in a new tab)
  Editors
  Aronté Bennett, Villanova University, USA
  Martina Hutton, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK
  Eva Kipnis, University of Bradford, UK 
  Ronald P. Hill, American University, USA

The range of complex, at times turbulent, challenges contemporary societies across the world contend with brought to the fore the need for a new generation of marketing theories motivated by the obligation of marketing for society and the goals of creation / enhancement of marketing’s positive impact for the greater good. Transitioning to this next era requires theory development work that transcends and connects sub-disciplinary, epistemological and conceptual perspectives.

Challenges similar to those facing society birthed the Transformative Consumer Research (TCR) movement. Transformative Consumer Research is at the forefront of marketing’s shift to society-focused theory development, engaging in collaborative theorizing for consumer well-being by multi-disciplinary teams of scholars and stakeholders at biannual dialogical conferences. Since its introduction in 2005 by David Mick, TCR emerged as a platform connecting a steadily growing academic community from diverse sub-disciplines of marketing and other social science fields and a paradigm stimulating innovative theorizations that illuminate marketing’s capacity to impact (positively and negatively) consumer well-being across several areas of social life. Examples of such theoretical innovations include a conceptualization of food well-being identifying linkages between food marketing and food socialization and literacy; a multidimensional conceptualization of financial vulnerability establishing the role of marketing practices in subjective factors at play in this phenomenon; a theorization of the impact of marketing cues on addiction process; and a conceptual framework theorizing refugees’ integration with their host society through the lens of service experience and characterizing hospitable refugee service systems as a result.

However, societal challenges evolve, adding complexities and necessitating new perspectives, as well as revisiting of previous theoretical advancements. As one example, growing global demand, poor harvests, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and supply chain disruptions during Covid-19 are named as intertwined factors posing new challenges to international food security and requiring more resilient food systems. As these systems are developed and established, conceptual dimensions of food well-being potentially will require revisiting. Beyond food systems, a myriad of societal challenges impact consumer well-being, at the macro and micro level, presenting researchers with exciting theoretical horizons to explore.

This special issue invites submissions from tracks accepted for TCR 2023 conference focused on advancing new concepts and theories that explicate how marketing systems, processes and activities can sustain or enhance individual or collective consumer well-being, addressing particularly the newly-emerged or underexplored well-being challenges. Submissions must contribute rigorous and sound theoretical innovations that advance marketing’s contribution to systemic sustainability – thus going beyond offering siloed counter-measures. Instead, theory development should be motivated by positioning marketing’s interventions in the focal well-being challenge within an interdependent network of ecologies (nature, social and mental ecologies – Khlif et al. 2022) that underpin life today (in the present) and tomorrow (in the future). In so doing, submissions should consider and articulate their contributions from the perspective of how proposed marketing theory innovations impact well-being in dynamics between consumers and other entities in socio-cultural and bio-physical environments as the interdependent ecologies undergo continued evolution. 

Submissions are encouraged from tracks falling into ‘Track 1’ type that pursue goals of identifying underexplored social problems, establishing conceptual foundations and engaging connections between (sub)disciplinary and stakeholder perspectives. Submissions from ‘Track 2’ and ‘Track 3’ types where a previously advanced concept, theory or framework is critically evaluated or extended will also be considered. It should be noted that the special issue is open only for submissions that pursue conceptual/theoretical development; empirically-based works will not be considered.

Articles will undergo all of the journal's standard peer review and editorial processes outlined in its submission guidelines. (this opens in a new tab)

Submission timeline

Submission window:
30 November 2023 - 15 December 2023

Final Acceptance: 
15 December 2024