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Gender issues and consumer behaviour
Book reviews Gender Issues and Consumer Behaviour Janeen Costa
Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA (1994) 235 pp $19.95 ISBNO 8039 53230 This book is constructed from selected conference papers, providing a useful collection of up-to-date research in the area of gender and consumer behaviour. Work in this field is rapidly becoming a subject of interest in academic research, and the papers included in the book encapsulate the variety of work in this area. It is noted that several of the authors are justifiably eminent. Janeen Costa provides a crisp introduction describing and exploring the essential elements of gender, culture, and consumer behaviour, offering a masterly grasp of relevant literature. A basic grounding in the substance of gender and consumer behaviour is provided by Stern and Holbrook, and Bamossy and Jannsen establish that gender notions are acquired when we are children, and stay with us t h r o u g h o u t our lives. Venkatesh determines that the construct and interpretation of gender can vary from culture to culture. Other papers explore the wide range of areas where gender affects our lives as consumers. For example, gender is shown to affect consumer perceptions of marketing communications (Martin and Kennedy) and buyer behaviour (Grunert). The use of assigned gendered attributes in product branding is explored by Pavia and Costa, and the implications of gender in product perception are examined by Bamossy and Janssen. The lifetime effects of gender socialization are manifest in the assignment of domestic responsibilities (Bobinski and Assar), and consumption activities that enshrine and reinforce gendered social hierarchies (Lowrey and Otnes), or maintain and continue the effects of single-gender domination of sports activities (Fischer and Gainer). Modification of gender roles in present society are explored by Firat, who evaluates the advantages, disadvantages and consequences of change. In summary, this text provides a very useful collection of papers, and the overall effect eliminates any suspicion that the construct of gender is anything other than a social and cultural construct - and as such the book is a work of note. An area of weakness arises from its origins as a collection of papers from a single conference, and the inclusion of research from other sources would have
provided a wider range to meet the promise of the title. The papers in the volume have largely approached their subject from a sociological viewpoint, generally using feminist theory. However, consumer behaviour is highly relevant in marketing, and this aspect remains largely unexplored. Gender is one of several important demographic variables that affect consumer behaviour, and there are other theoretical bases that may be used to analyse the relationship between gender and consumer behaviour. Nevertheless, this is an important and welcome new arrival, which firmly establishes gender as a compelling factor in consumer behaviour. The importance of gender in marketing (including consumer behaviour) is inadequately acknowledged at present in academic research, in teaching, and in business application, and this text makes a valuable contribution to establishing its importance and influence. I recommend it as an essential inclusion on reading lists provided to all students of both marketing and consumer behaviour.
Maureen FitzGerald Canterbury Business School University of Kent at Canterbury
Argus Census Map USA for WindowsT M 1.0
Argus Technologies Corporation Framingham Massachusetts US$99.95 System requirements." IBM-compatible personal computer with a 20-MHz 80386 plus math coprocessor or a 33-M Hz 80486 DX processor, 8 MB R A M (16 MB recommended), 20 MB hard disk space, CD ROM drive, VGA display, mouse or other compatible pointing device, Microsoft Windows 3.1 in enhanced mode. The United States Census of Population and Housing is one of the most readily accessible sources of information and data in the world. The US Bureau of the Census is required to make summary tabulations of the decennial census available to the public at a nominal cost. With the 1990 Census, the Bureau revolutionized the way that surveys and censuses are conducted by unveiling the first-ever computer-readable map and geographic database of the entire country, the now famous TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) system. Census data users benefit directly from the integration of geographic databases thanks to LandView TM, a desktop
mapping application placed in the public domain. The capabilities of LandView TM include displaying of TIGER/Line TM features and landmarks, identifying 1990 Census Tracts and Block Groups, displaying selected 1990 Census demographic and housing characteristics for Block Groups, and linking of selected Block Groups to a 1990 Census Summary Tape File 3A CD ROM and its associated data retrieval software known as GO (US Bureau of the Census, 1994). Though LandViewVM's user interlace is, in many ways, primitive by current standards of desktop mapping and geographic information system (GIS) software, it is a definite step above non-geographic retrieval procedures. With Argus Census Map USA TM, Argus Technologies has perfected the concept introduced by LandView TM. It is a scaled-down version of the full-featured GIS application Argus Professional TM, bundled with key variables from the 1990 US Census of Population and Housing to appeal to the business community. Priced at US$99.95, Argus Census Map USA TM is a bargain, but do not expect to be able to combine census databases with your own data or to import additional geographic layers. Argus is fully dedicated to the census summary tables and geographic line and area layers provided by the vendor. Census data are available |br six geographic summary levels: state, county, census tract, block group, metropolitan statistical area, and primary metropolitan statistical area. For each level, there are 115 census variables about population count, ethnicity, age structure, educational attainment, marital and employment status, household size and income, and workforce structure. The data and geographic files are accessed by Argus directly from the CD ROM, which saves a tremendous amount of hard disk space. Also available on the data CD ROM are geographic files of streets and minor roads for most metropolitan areas, and primary roads and interstates |br the entire country. Though impressive at first, the variety and volume of geographic and data files fall short of the expectations of the audience targeted by the makers of Argus Census Map USA TM. Business users will readily find other packages on the market that offer more extensive geographic and census data sets. For instance, in my own cursory search, I discovered that Maptitude ®, a full-featured GIS program from Caliper Corp. (1994, US$395.00) comes 215
Sage Publications Thousand Oaks CA (1994) 235 pp $19.95 ISBNO 8039 53230 This book is constructed from selected conference papers, providing a useful collection of up-to-date research in the area of gender and consumer behaviour. Work in this field is rapidly becoming a subject of interest in academic research, and the papers included in the book encapsulate the variety of work in this area. It is noted that several of the authors are justifiably eminent. Janeen Costa provides a crisp introduction describing and exploring the essential elements of gender, culture, and consumer behaviour, offering a masterly grasp of relevant literature. A basic grounding in the substance of gender and consumer behaviour is provided by Stern and Holbrook, and Bamossy and Jannsen establish that gender notions are acquired when we are children, and stay with us t h r o u g h o u t our lives. Venkatesh determines that the construct and interpretation of gender can vary from culture to culture. Other papers explore the wide range of areas where gender affects our lives as consumers. For example, gender is shown to affect consumer perceptions of marketing communications (Martin and Kennedy) and buyer behaviour (Grunert). The use of assigned gendered attributes in product branding is explored by Pavia and Costa, and the implications of gender in product perception are examined by Bamossy and Janssen. The lifetime effects of gender socialization are manifest in the assignment of domestic responsibilities (Bobinski and Assar), and consumption activities that enshrine and reinforce gendered social hierarchies (Lowrey and Otnes), or maintain and continue the effects of single-gender domination of sports activities (Fischer and Gainer). Modification of gender roles in present society are explored by Firat, who evaluates the advantages, disadvantages and consequences of change. In summary, this text provides a very useful collection of papers, and the overall effect eliminates any suspicion that the construct of gender is anything other than a social and cultural construct - and as such the book is a work of note. An area of weakness arises from its origins as a collection of papers from a single conference, and the inclusion of research from other sources would have
provided a wider range to meet the promise of the title. The papers in the volume have largely approached their subject from a sociological viewpoint, generally using feminist theory. However, consumer behaviour is highly relevant in marketing, and this aspect remains largely unexplored. Gender is one of several important demographic variables that affect consumer behaviour, and there are other theoretical bases that may be used to analyse the relationship between gender and consumer behaviour. Nevertheless, this is an important and welcome new arrival, which firmly establishes gender as a compelling factor in consumer behaviour. The importance of gender in marketing (including consumer behaviour) is inadequately acknowledged at present in academic research, in teaching, and in business application, and this text makes a valuable contribution to establishing its importance and influence. I recommend it as an essential inclusion on reading lists provided to all students of both marketing and consumer behaviour.
Maureen FitzGerald Canterbury Business School University of Kent at Canterbury
Argus Census Map USA for WindowsT M 1.0
Argus Technologies Corporation Framingham Massachusetts US$99.95 System requirements." IBM-compatible personal computer with a 20-MHz 80386 plus math coprocessor or a 33-M Hz 80486 DX processor, 8 MB R A M (16 MB recommended), 20 MB hard disk space, CD ROM drive, VGA display, mouse or other compatible pointing device, Microsoft Windows 3.1 in enhanced mode. The United States Census of Population and Housing is one of the most readily accessible sources of information and data in the world. The US Bureau of the Census is required to make summary tabulations of the decennial census available to the public at a nominal cost. With the 1990 Census, the Bureau revolutionized the way that surveys and censuses are conducted by unveiling the first-ever computer-readable map and geographic database of the entire country, the now famous TIGER (Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing) system. Census data users benefit directly from the integration of geographic databases thanks to LandView TM, a desktop
mapping application placed in the public domain. The capabilities of LandView TM include displaying of TIGER/Line TM features and landmarks, identifying 1990 Census Tracts and Block Groups, displaying selected 1990 Census demographic and housing characteristics for Block Groups, and linking of selected Block Groups to a 1990 Census Summary Tape File 3A CD ROM and its associated data retrieval software known as GO (US Bureau of the Census, 1994). Though LandViewVM's user interlace is, in many ways, primitive by current standards of desktop mapping and geographic information system (GIS) software, it is a definite step above non-geographic retrieval procedures. With Argus Census Map USA TM, Argus Technologies has perfected the concept introduced by LandView TM. It is a scaled-down version of the full-featured GIS application Argus Professional TM, bundled with key variables from the 1990 US Census of Population and Housing to appeal to the business community. Priced at US$99.95, Argus Census Map USA TM is a bargain, but do not expect to be able to combine census databases with your own data or to import additional geographic layers. Argus is fully dedicated to the census summary tables and geographic line and area layers provided by the vendor. Census data are available |br six geographic summary levels: state, county, census tract, block group, metropolitan statistical area, and primary metropolitan statistical area. For each level, there are 115 census variables about population count, ethnicity, age structure, educational attainment, marital and employment status, household size and income, and workforce structure. The data and geographic files are accessed by Argus directly from the CD ROM, which saves a tremendous amount of hard disk space. Also available on the data CD ROM are geographic files of streets and minor roads for most metropolitan areas, and primary roads and interstates |br the entire country. Though impressive at first, the variety and volume of geographic and data files fall short of the expectations of the audience targeted by the makers of Argus Census Map USA TM. Business users will readily find other packages on the market that offer more extensive geographic and census data sets. For instance, in my own cursory search, I discovered that Maptitude ®, a full-featured GIS program from Caliper Corp. (1994, US$395.00) comes 215