This study revisits contexts of consumer socialization by focusing on fashion consumption among female teenagers. Focus groups and interviews have been utilized to collect data from 12- to 16-year-old female adolescents. The findings indicate that the adolescents cultivate both rational and...

It is a general understanding that the advanced economies are currently undergoing a fundamental transformation into knowledge-based societies. There is a firm belief that this is based on the development of high-tech industries. Correspondingly, in this scenario low-tech sectors appear to be...

This Handbook brings together 49 international specialists to address an issue of increasing importance for the world’s post-industrial economies; innovation as it relates to services.

This paper discusses productisation in small knowledge-intensive business service companies (KIBS), whose typical problem is the inefficient production of services, starting from scratch for each client. The paper reviews literature on different approaches to developing services more...

Service sectors have been only loosely linked to foresight projects considered essential for wiring up innovation systems. This article examines possibilities and methodological challenges in the foresight of services on the basis of a study conducted in Finland in knowledge-intensive business...

Along with the ‘servicisation’ of society, innovation in services has become a topical issue. However, analytical and detailed discussion about the nature of service innovations and their emergence is only beginning. This article aims to contribute to this discussion through a theoretical...

This paper examines innovation and change activities in knowledge-intensive business service (KIBS) firms from the perspective of innovative behaviour. Earlier studies have shown that innovation activities in these firms are typically dispersed around the organisation and intertwined with...

This exploratory study examines Chinese consumers’ perceptions of authenticity. Extended interviews reveal that Chinese consumers do not evaluate products based on a perceived binary relationship between authentic and inauthentic products. The results suggest, instead, Chinese consumers view...

Advertising research has focused exclusively on the solitary subject at the expense of understanding the role that advertising plays within the social contexts of group interaction. We develop a number of explanations for this omission before describing the results of an ethnographic study of...