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Imaginative pleasure through daydreaming has been theorized to be important in understanding the experience of desire and as a factor in escalating consumption. However, there is a risk this underplays the range of potentially immersive and intense experiences of daydreaming, prior to and independent of the purchase or use of marketplace commodities. Drawing on in-depth interviews, participant diaries and projective techniques, this study brings empirical data to extant conceptual work on the consumer imagination to examine the variety of consequences of elaborate daydreaming for commodity acquisition. We suggest that it need not necessarily perpetuate or expand 'actual' consumption but may instead engender a longer, more reflective, pleasurable and meaningful experience from which purchase or acquisition may never materialize. Our study challenges accepted theories that associate daydreaming with consumerism or see it as an inevitable precursor to consumer disappointment, while shining a more positive light on the role of fantasizing in shaping consumers' decisions.

ABSTRACTIn this article, we explore consumers' perceptions of marketing and the extent to which they believe that marketing can play a positive transformative role in society. Findings from 36 semistructured interviews indicate that consumers typically perceive marketing as having a traditional short‐term, transactional, and 'company‐focused' orientation rather than a transformative one. This was reflected in participants' views of marketing, as well as in their choices and comments when they were given two academic definitions of marketing and one description of unethical marketing and asked to choose the one they thought best described marketing. In addition, participants viewed marketing as manipulative, and most held one‐sidedly negative opinions of its transformative potential. The majority did not feel autonomous in their purchase decisions, calling into question marketers' usual defence that consumers are sovereign. In a similar vein, they expressed concerns about the effects of marketing's manipulative and deceptive techniques on vulnerable consumers. These findings are rather worrying given that enhancing the transformative potential of marketing requires a more nuanced understanding of its role and function within society. Accordingly, we argue that successful transformative marketing interventions need to take into account and address consumers' disbelief as to the capacity of marketing to improve social welfare. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractRecent studies of alcohol consumption among students have consistently linked in‐group influence with excessive drinking. Concurrently, these studies have largely overlooked the influence of non‐alcohol‐consuming peers (the out‐group) on the in‐group's decisions to consume alcohol. However, out‐groups can have a significant impact on in‐group members' decisions regarding publicly consumed products (White, Simpson, & Argo, ), such as is the case of alcohol. In light of this, our study aims to explore how in‐group members' views of their consumption of alcohol are influenced by their out‐group. This study uses Social Identity Theory as the theoretical lens to explain consumer interaction with the out‐group (abstainers) and subsequent views of in‐group members (alcohol consumers). A social constructivist approach is adopted to enable this exploration of meaning, with concomitant use of the qualitative narrative methodology. A sample of 18 postgraduate students studying in the UK was selected. Narratives were collected and analysed using thematic analysis. Although the widely accepted view is that people tend to avoid products or behaviours that are linked with an out‐group, this paper demonstrates conditions in which alcohol consumers appreciate the out‐group. Furthermore, it reveals how drinkers' interaction with their out‐group can lead to negative attitudes towards their in‐group and their own consumption of alcohol. Based on their views of out‐groups, we propose a categorisation of alcohol consumers into 3 groups: avoiders, open admirers, and covert admirers. Finally, we discuss the theoretical and practical implications for social marketers and policy makers.

This manuscript theorises the use of heroism in marketing by analysing selected representations of the army hero in contemporary advertising. Adopting the discourse-mythological approach to analyse Jungian archetypes, we focus on three US advertising campaigns that depict the army hero. Our analysis reveals that representations of the army hero combine traits, symbols, and images of the Magician, Warrior and King archetypes. 'Archetypal blending' is theorised in order to understand the mythological complexities of modern heroism, which expands the individually centred Hero's Journey through references to a collective journey and collective responsibility. This study advances theoretical insights into how advertising blends narratives of heroism and other mythical archetypes to remain meaningful to multiple audiences - balancing the reproduction of conventional views of military heroism with representations that reflect changing societal values.