Written by a group of top American and international scholars, Networks in Marketing provides an overview of what networks are and how they are used in marketing management practices. This timely volume examines a variety of topics, including customer-to-customer and business-to-business networks, relationships as investment opportunities, and strategic alliances. It also looks at market dynamics, specifically brand switching and the structure of consumer networks. In addition to these major topics, a stellar cast of marketing scholars–Lou Stern, Robert Spekman, Joseph Galaskiewicz, and others–contributes mini chapters that reflect on their own research and expertise. The final chapter explores several advanced methodological issues and discusses directions for future research. Researchers and professionals in marketing, consumer behavior, relationship marketing, and methodologists will find the information provided in this volume valuable. This book may also be of interest to organizational networkers and traditional social network scholars.

A Network Perspective on Crossing the Micro-Macro Divide in Consumer Behavior Research

A Network Perspective on Crossing the Micro-Macro Divide in Consumer Behavior Research

A network perspective on crossing the micro-macro divide in consumer behavior research
JamesC.Ward
PeterReingen

Consumption is neither individual, social, nor cultural in origin. Instead, consumption results from the reciprocal interaction of all three of these forces, each creating the other. In this chapter, we will propose the network concept as a conceptual and analytical means of bridging individual, social, and cultural levels of analysis. Historically, consumer researchers have focused their study on one of these levels, usually on the individual level, without considering its relation to the other two. Thus, the relation of micro to macro processes has been slighted, even though the interplay of the individual in his or her sociocultural context lies at the ...

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