Publications Database

Welcome to the new Schulich Peer-Reviewed Publication Database!

The database is currently in beta-testing and will be updated with more features as time goes on. In the meantime, stakeholders are free to explore our faculty’s numerous works. The left-hand panel affords the ability to search by the following:

  • Faculty Member’s Name;
  • Area of Expertise;
  • Whether the Publication is Open-Access (free for public download);
  • Journal Name; and
  • Date Range.

At present, the database covers publications from 2012 to 2020, but will extend further back in the future. In addition to listing publications, the database includes two types of impact metrics: Altmetrics and Plum. The database will be updated annually with most recent publications from our faculty.

If you have any questions or input, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

Search Results

Mead, Nicole L. and Lawrence E. Williams (2022). "The Pursuit of Meaning and the Preference for Less Expensive Options", Journal of Consumer Research.

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Abstract Finding meaning in life is a fundamental human motivation. Along with pleasure, meaning is a pillar of happiness and well-being. Yet, despite the centrality of this motive, and despite firms’ attempts to appeal to this motive, scant research has investigated how the pursuit of meaning influences consumer choice, especially in comparison to the study of pleasure. While previous perspectives would suggest that the pursuit of meaning tilts consumers toward high-quality products, we predicted and found the opposite. As compared to a pleasure or (no goal) baseline condition, 6 studies demonstrate that the pursuit of meaning causes people to consider how they can otherwise use their money (opportunity costs) which in turn leads to a preference for less expensive goods. This effect is robust across multiple product categories and usage situations, including both experiential and material purchases, and is obtained even when the more expensive product is perceived to deliver greater meaning. For participants pursuing meaning, making opportunity costs salient has no effect on their choices, and encouraging opportunity cost neglect increases their willingness to pay for a more expensive item. This research thus provides an initial answer as to how the pursuit of meaning shapes consumer choice processes and preferences.

Mead, Nicole L. and Lawrence E. Williams (2022). "Can’t Buy Me Meaning? Lay Theories Impede People from Deriving Meaning and Well-Being from Consumption", Current Opinion in Psychology.

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Abstract People seek meaning in the marketplace, but can meaning be bought? We review emerging evidence and suggest that the typical association between meaning and well-being is weakened in consumption contexts. We outline two lay beliefs that help explain this gap: the belief that purchases are extrinsic pursuits whereas meaning should come from intrinsic pursuits, and the belief that purchases are impure sources of meaning because companies profit at the expense of people. This conceptual model suggests three paths to enhance meaning and well-being through consumption: reframe purchases as intrinsically rewarding, change (erroneous) lay theories that profit necessarily comes at the expense of the social good, or highlight the future, enduring benefits of consumption.

Belk, R., Emilie, R. and Clammer, J. (2021). "Localizing Taste: Using Metaphors to Understand Loctural Consumptionscapes", Food, Culture, and Society.

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Abstract The globalization of consumption or discourses of glocalization and hybridization dominate the extant literature on “consumptionscapes”. We introduce the “loctural consumptionscape” as an alternative that is centered on products of local-origin and draw upon conceptual metaphor theory to examine an Indian socio-cultural metaphor – traditional-sweets-consumption-as-shubh (auspicious). This metaphor involves the consumption of locally produced traditional Indian sweets. We find that various conceptual associations and relationships comprise the metaphor and these can be categorized into four dimensions – occasion, form and production, relationships – personal and social, and value. We further note that the taste of and for traditional Indian sweets is a key cultural sensibility that inhabits these dimensions. We employ such understanding to offer a view that is socio-culturally driven and which as a localized system of meaning distinguishes the loctural from other consumptionscapes in mass-ties of a horizontal rather than those of a hierarchical nature. The paper engages with the literature on the globalization of consumption by showing that cases of local consumption need not be examples of either anti-globalization or of hybridization, but a case of a search for a sense of cultural identity and authenticity rooted in indigenous products, consumed on appropriate occasions.

Belk, R. (2020). "Post-Pandemic Consumption: Portal to A New World?", Cadernos EBAPE.BR, 18(3).

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Abstract Expert forecasts by consumer researchers and epidemiologists, consumer forecasts, and evidence from China are used to assess how consumer behavior will change after the pandemic subsides. Then hopes for bigger ideas are assessed including really addressing climate change, moving away from fossil fuels, addressing income inequality with a guaranteed income, and decoupling the economy from growth.