A Meta-Analytical Assessment of the Effect of Deontological Evaluations and Teleological Evaluations on Ethical Judgments/Intentions.

Deontological and teleological evaluations are widely utilized in the context of consumer decision-making. Despite their use, the differential effect of these distinct types of evaluations, and the conditions under which they hold, remains an unresolved issue. Thus, we conduct a meta-analysis of 316 effect sizes, from 53 research articles, to evaluate the extent to which deontological and teleological evaluations influence ethical judgments and intentions, and under what circumstances the influence occurs. The effect is explored across three categories of moderators: (1) contextual elements of the ethical issue, (2) stakeholders, and (3) methodological characteristics of primary studies. We find that the overall effect of deontological evaluations on ethical judgments and intentions is stronger than for teleological evaluations; however, the magnitude of the effect is contingent on several moderators. Deontological evaluations are weaker in offline consumer contexts and stronger when there are financial implications of the ethical issue. Conversely, the effect of teleological evaluations is relatively stable across ethical consumer contexts. Teleological evaluations are stronger from a utilitarian perspective than from an egoist one. Furthermore, the effect of deontological evaluations is weaker, but the effect for teleological evaluations is stronger, when the decision-maker has a personal relationship (as compared to an organizational relationship) with the victim of the unethical act. Findings validate the effect of both deontological and teleological evaluations on ethical judgments and intentions and highlight their importance in consumers' ethical decision-making. Implications for developing programs to prevent consumer unethical behavior are discussed.

Unpalatable food for thought: Let marketing research guide effective public obesity interventions.

The prevalence of obesity is growing unabatedly despite the considerable efforts directed at the problem. Although abundant research has contributed to our understanding of the multifactorial causes of obesity, there is less attention to research that is relevant for guiding social marketers, public health professionals and policymakers in delivering public health interventions for countering and/or preventing the problem of obesity. This review offers six points for identifying and developing research relevant for guiding community-wide obesity interventions based on the idea that an applied marketing research perspective offers a better model for identifying effective interventions than more theoretical academic research. Specifically, the research guiding public health and social marketing interventions needs to (1) provide information on ultimate outcomes (weight, health and unintended consequences) more than intermediate outcomes (beliefs, attitudes and behaviour), (2) report on observations collected over the longer term, (3) use natural settings (even at a cost of internal validity), (4) endeavour to overcome observer-effects, (5) report effect sizes (rather than statistical significance) and (6) use moderator analyses to capture variation in how a population responds to interventions.

Portion size effects vary: The size of food units is a bigger problem than the number.

While it is well-known that larger food portions lead to increased consumption (i.e., the portion size effect), previous studies confound the effect of the size and the number of food units making up the larger portion. Moreover, empirical tests of the mechanism underlying the portions size effect are scarce. In response to these shortcomings, we present three experiments that test the impact of food unit-size and unit-number on consumption of increasingly large portion sizes, and assess whether perceptions of quantity (driven by unit size or number) mediate the portion size effect. Study 1 (n = 185), tracking actual consumption, shows that the portion size effect is determined more by unit-size than unit-number. Relative consumption ratios are higher when participants were served portions made up of enlarged food units compared to more food units. Since perceived quantity and consumption are thought to be negatively related, Study 2 (n = 193) reveals that consumers' quantity perceptions of portions are lower for unit-size (vs. unit-number) increases. Study 3 (n = 189) considers both perceived quantity and consumption and demonstrates that perceived quantity indeed mediates the effect of food portion size on consumption. Finally, this study also shows that encouraging consumers to focus perceptually on size when portion size increases are in terms of unit-size, or focus on number when portion size increases are in terms of unit-number, supports them in increasing quantity perceptions and decreasing actual consumption. Hence, manipulating the perceptual focus of consumers helps to mitigate the portion size effect. The findings contribute to literature on the portion size effect and numerosity heuristic, and provide practical insights on food packaging so to tackle the obesity crisis.

Jerkies, tacos, and burgers: Subjective socioeconomic status and meat preference.

In mankind's evolutionary past, those who consumed meat were strong and powerful and thus man saw meat as indicative of social status. This symbolic connection between meat and status persists today. Thus, based upon psychological theories of compensation, individuals low on subjective socioeconomic status (SES) should have a greater preference for meat, as meat may be substitutable for the status that they lack. Three experiments tested this premise. Participants who felt low on subjective SES preferred meat-based foods compared to participants who felt high on it (Experiment 1). The effect is driven by a desire for status (Experiments 2-3) and not by felt hunger or power (Experiments 1-2) and not generalizable to plant foods (Experiment 3). The results suggest a symbolic link between meat and status, which has intriguingly not yet been empirically shown, and we also demonstrate a consequence of the link for food preference. The results may be of use for doctors who advise eating less meat to improve physical health and for environmental advocates who argue that meat consumption exacerbates global warming. We will also discuss the contributions of and further avenues based on our work.

Problem gambling among international and domestic university students in Australia: who is at risk?

Young people are a high risk group for gambling problems and university (college) students fall into that category. Given the high accessibility of gambling in Australia and its association with entertainment, students from overseas countries, particularly those where gambling is restricted or illegal, may be particularly vulnerable. This study examines problem gambling and its correlates among international and domestic university students using a sample of 836 domestic students (286 males; 546 females); and 764 international students (369 males; 396 females) at three Australian universities. Our findings indicate that although most students gamble infrequently, around 5 % of students are problem gamblers, a proportion higher than that in the general adult population. Popular gambling choices include games known to be associated with risk (cards, horse races, sports betting, casino games, and gaming machines) as well as lotto/scratch tickets. Males are more likely to be problem gamblers than females, and almost 10 % of male international students could be classified as problem gamblers. Hierarchical regression analysis showed that male gender, international student status, financial stress, negative affect and frequency of gambling on sports, horses/dogs, table games, casino gaming machines, internet casino games and bingo all significantly predicted problem gambling. Results from this study could inform gambling-education programs in universities as they indicate which groups are more vulnerable and specify which games pose more risk of problem gambling.

Factors affecting the extent of Monday blues: evidence from a meta-analysis.

A meta-analysis of 34 samples identified a small but reliable "Monday blues" effect (-.08 < or = d < or = -.06) in samples reporting current or real-time moods for each day of the week. However, the size of the effect in samples reporting recalled summaries of moods experienced over the course of a day varied depending on whether the sample involved university students or nonstudents. University students reporting recalled summaries of daily moods showed a large Monday blues effect (d = -.25), whereas married men who were not students reported smaller effects with greater variance (-.19 < or = d