Generation theories in the context of 21st century youth

Special Issue of Young Consumers

Call for papers

Guest Editors:

• Dr. Jacky Jun-Hwa Cheah, Azman Hashim International Business School, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Malaysia
• Prof. Christian M. Ringle, Institute of Human Resource Management and Organizations, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
• Dr. Hiram Ting, Sarawak Research Society/Institute of Borneo Studies, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, Malaysia
• Assoc. Prof. Liu Yide, School of Business, Macau University of Science and Technology, China

Focus:

Although there is an extant literature on young peopleand generation theory, there isstill much to be done to explore and investigate young consumers’behaviour in the contemporary setting. Young consumers today change rapidlydue to the dynamic environment they are living in and can thus be more complex than consumers in the past and those from older generations (Kasser and Kanner, 2004; Pyšnáková and Miles, 2010; Vandegrift, 2015). Research has shown that external and societal events create distinct values and behavioural patterns in people at different times during their formative years (Howe and Strauss, 2000; Mannheim, 1923; Rogler, 2002; Ting, et al., 2018). Such defining moments give rise to generation cohorts and make them different from one another (Schewe, et al., 2000). Moreover, the impact of such events on individuals during their formative years has been found to remain relatively stable throughout their lives regardless of life cycle stages (Inglehart, 1997; Strauss and Howe, 1991).The study of young generation then is not only about knowing how different they are from other generations, but also about gaining more insights into their behaviour and how it changes.

Schewe and Noble (2000) highlighted that Millennials were raised in an era of remarkable socio-economic, cultural and technological change, which can account for differences in values, beliefs, attitudes, and preferences. Consequently the younger generationcan display changing and unpredictable behaviour which can be disruptive (Moschis, 2007), impulsive (Chan, 2013; Grougiou, et al., 2015), and vulnerable (Baker, 2006; Sourdin, et al., 2017). A holistic understanding of young consumers in the light of generational effectstogether withthe dynamism of today’s environment is much needed. We believe that many theories and models explaining human behaviour will be extended and even challenged, and comparisons across culture and borders will be assessed to articulate how our young generation behaves today.

Topics:

This call for papers invites behavioral studies (any aspect of behaviour in any context) from marketing and social science scholars to make contribution to research topics that include:

1. Young consumers’ behaviour through the lens of generation and its theories;
2. Young generation’s disruptive behaviour;
3. Young generation’s impulsive behaviour;
4. Young generation’s vulnerability to social changes and societal development;
5. Dynamic and fickle behaviours of young generation, such astheir attitude, intention, motivation, lifestyles as well as how they behave and change in various contexts;
6. Generation values and transmission. For example, how young generation inherits certain attributes from the older generations and adopts something else from their own social groups in the contemporary environment;
7. Exploration of generation cohorts in different settings,and investigation into behaviour of young generation so as to provide insights into generational differences within and across countries;
8. Generation studies which extend or challenge the existing theoretical assumptions pertaining to the understanding of young consumers and marketing strategies;
9. Young generation studies using meta analysis, systematic literature review or narrative review;
10. Studies which demonstrate the advancement of methodology to provide better understanding, estimation or prediction to young generation’s behaviour.

Types of Papers:

Conceptual papers using meta-analysis, systematic literature review or narrative review or empirical papers using quantitative, qualitative or mixed-methods approach which make contribution to knowledge and practice are welcome. Cross-sectional studies are generally accepted although papers using experimental or longitudinal design are preferred. Methodological papers which address measurement issues and provide guidelines for methods and procedures are also encouraged.

All papers will be subject to the journal’s standard double-blind review procedure after a preliminary screening by the guest editors. Seven (7) papers will be published in this special issue. Papers not accepted for the special issue may be considered for publication in a regular issue.

Supporting Conference:

The special issue supports 2018 MAG Scholar Conference on Business, Marketing and Tourism in Kuching, Sarawak of Malaysia which will be held on 22-25 June 2018. A presentation session chaired by the guest editor(s) will be arranged for these papers. For more information about the conference, please visit www.magscholar.com or www.sarawakresearchsociety.org.

Moreover, it can also support any relevant conferences from March 2018 to January 2019. For more information, please contact Dr. Jacky Jun-Hwa Cheah at jackycheahjh@gmail.com.

Submission Procedure:

Submissions to this journal are through the ScholarOne submission system here:

https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/yc

Please visit the author guidelines for the journal at:

http://emeraldgrouppublishing.com/products/journals/author_guidelines.htm?id=yc

Please ensure you select this special issue from the relevant drop down menu on page four of the submission process.

There is no Abstract submission deadline. Authors are encouraged to send theirAbstract to Dr. Jacky Cheah for initial comments before submitting their full papers through the ScholarOne submission system.

Full Paper Submission Deadline: 31st December 2018
Expected Date of Publication: End of 2019 (Volume 19 Issue 4)

 

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