Many researchers have noted that special possessions can represent personally relevant events, people, places, and values. Semiotics provides a useful theoretical base for understanding the representation processes that support these meanings. We apply the semiotic concept of indexicality to...

We distinguish seduction from persuasion and other ways to draw consumers into exchange relationships. A legal case involving the prosecution of a mail fraud known as Chonda-Za is used to illustrate seduction, and the concept is defined in terms of social constructionist theory. We identify five...