NCCC065: Indicators of Social Change in the Marketplace: Producers, Retailers and Consumers
Statement of Issues and Justification
Economic, technological, social, and environmental factors continue to create changes in the marketplace that impact producers, retailers and consumers. Members of NCCC-65 are committed to fostering research and dialogue that will facilitate understanding and explanation of changes that impact the consumer- marketplace interface. The committee has and will continue to focus its efforts on enhancing complex data analysis and grant-acquisition skills among scholars who study the rural marketplace and markets for products with agricultural components. Therefore, participants in the NCCC-65 multi-state effort are positioned to address two of the North Central cross-cutting research areas, specifically: (a) Economic Development and Policy and (b) Social Change and Development.The forces of change in the marketplace are many and varied, ranging from technology and its impact on the buyer-seller interface to the complexity of an increasingly diverse consumer in terms of age, ethnicity, life stage, lifestyle, and economic circumstance. During the last few years, the realities of the severe economic global recession have created a highly uncertain market environment, making it difficult for retailers and producers to plan and survive (Dooley, Yan, Mohan, & Gopalakrishnan, 2010). The recession has moved consumers to take a cautious stance as a reaction to uncertainty about their personal and economic security (Townson, 2010). Research is needed to understand how consumers, retailers, and producers are coping with the difficult economy.
For example, shifting demographic trends, such as the decline in rural populations, led to decline of rural small retailers over the past several decades (Vias, 2004). The thinning of the rural population has lead researchers to expect that rural small businesses would fare poorly in this economy. However, recent research in England indicates that small rural firms have performed marginally better than small urban firms (Anderson, Osseichuk, & Illingworth, 2010). Examination of small businesses in the U.S. for differential trends in performance among rural and urban retailers and producers would be useful for businesses in both rural and urban areas. Small businesses in all areas have faced difficulties in acquiring financial credit ( Small Business, 2009) and have adopted new strategies for dealing with limited capital resources (Anderson et al., 2010).
Critical to development of strategies for rural economic growth is awareness not only of the dramatic changes, but also of the uncertainties and resistance to change that frequently characterize rural communities. For example, Stoel, Jeong, and Ernst (2010) found that small rural retailers varied in their attitudes and intentions to use the internet for business purposes. Knowledge of the varied attitudinal structures of rural business owners to new technology will help in business consulting efforts. Effective research-based programs are needed that maximize rural assets and acknowledge liabilities along with an awareness of diversity across today's rural regions and individuals.
Rural consumers also are highly varied, and continued research will help rural planners and businesses prepare for the future. Cromartie, Nelson, & Barkey (2010) propose that baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964 and entering retirement age, are likely to increasingly migrate to high-amenity rural and exurban counties. The face of some areas of rural America could begin dramatically changing during the next 10 years. Housing, retailing, and health-care needs in areas with increasing older populations will require adjustments in planning, development, and design, as described by Thomas and Blanchard (2009) in their article dealing with the concept of aging-in-community. Demands for attention to quality of life issues will certainly increase. Fisher, Johnson, & Marchand (2007) found that older adults are maintaining their homes and non-housing consumption well into their 70s. The reasons for this are varied, but the implications are that as the large population of baby boomers age they will likely continue to need and want more goods and services in order to remain in their homes as long as possible.
Understanding the new older population is essential; previous behavioral and attitudinal patterns among rural older persons will not all likely persist, particularly in relation to use of technology. For example, among female consumers 60 years and older, Lee, Damhorst, Park, Kozar, & Martin (2010) found fairly positive interest and intention to adopt future applications of body scanning technology for apparel purchases, especially among those who were younger, more educated, and/or involved in sewing. The potential for new service development for these consumers in small town areas is substantial. Retailers and producers may find new arenas for business activity that will require great creativity and experimentation as the technology is refined and becomes more accessible to consumers over the next 20 years. Previous patterns of global sourcing of apparel production may shift if this technology is adopted. The advancement of new technologies will stimulate continuous changes in how business is transacted.
As agriculture's share of the rural economy declines, entrepreneurship, innovation, and small business vitality are likely to be the future sources of competitiveness and growth for rural areas (Manrique, Mathieson, Yeung, & Johnston, 2005). With changing population distribution, economic instability, shifts in attitudes toward technology adoption, and new business opportunities in retailing and production of consumer goods, needs for research-based understanding continue. The producer-retailer-consumer interface is exploding in its complexity, requiring increasing complexity in approaches to research.
Over the next five years, the committee will identify research directions related to social change in the marketplace, offer training programs to increase rigor of research methods and analysis techniques, foster skills in grantsmanship, provide opportunities to build partnerships and develop mutual interests at the national level, and share and critique new ideas and research results. Researchers in the field have demonstrated a need for the programs we offer, as indicated by the strong attendance at every workshop and conference session NCCC65 has conducted over the last 10 years. There is no other existing organization that will offer the array of sessions we provide and that can serve as a think-tank to generate new groups of cooperating scholars with interdisciplinary and multi-state focus on complex problems of social change in the marketplace.
To address existing and emerging issues related to social change in the marketplace, NCCC-65 has focused on increasing the overall quality, quantity, and competitiveness of research related to social change in the marketplace by initiating systematic efforts to strengthen the research focus and infrastructure and foster collaborations. A programmatic 10-year effort was implemented. The goal was to increase the number of researchers receiving external funding to generate knowledge and move the research agenda forward in this critical and dynamic area of inquiry. During the last five years of the project, five targeted workshops and special conference sessions were held in four areas of the U.S. and one in Canada to assist scholars in order to increase the quality, competitiveness, and collaborative efforts of their research. Funding for a data-sharing conference was also acquired. NCCC-65 collaborators have initiated research to address priority areas; nevertheless, continuing effort to facilitate and promote collaboration and competitiveness is needed.
As an outgrowth of these previous efforts NCCC-65 aims to focus its objectives for 2011 through 2016 on four key areas of social change in the marketplace. The first area is technology and its impact on consumer/retailer/producer actions in the marketplace. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the lack of technological and business knowledge and skills in rural businesses and how marketers are coping with rapidly changing consumer expectations for and use of technology in the marketplace. The second area is society's impact on consumer demand for goods and services to improve human well-being. Collaborative work and information exchange will focus on US consumption changes resulting from emerging trends that create new consumer needs and preferences, such as increasing obesity, the changing view of aging, increasing number of ethnic minority consumers, immigration and populations shifts (i.e., exurban and in-urban migration; relocation due to natural disasters). The third area is economic linkages among consumers, retailers, and producers to enhance community development. Member efforts in this area will focus on establishing and exploring new linkages among family businesses, entrepreneurs, communities, and local and regional markets and designing strategies to develop human capital in the face of economic downturn. The fourth area is sustainability. The marketplace is experiencing a transition toward increasing environmental responsibility, which is one of the major challenges producers, retailers and consumers will be facing in the near future. Many producers and retailers are modifying strategies to address society's demand for more responsible business practices related to the three components of sustainability: environmental, social and economic responsibility. NCCC-65 initiated ESRAB (Educators for Social Responsibility in Apparel Businesses) early this last decade and will continue to have close relationship to the topic.
Addressing research questions focused on social change in the marketplace often requires complex research techniques and procedures as well as a collaborative model for conducting research. Thus, a multi-state effort engaging scholars representing a diversity of expertise will encourage the development of science- based information for consumers, retailers, and producers and solutions beyond any one state. A multi-disciplinary approach is essential to understanding the complex problems arising from social change in the marketplace. NCCC-65 members represent diverse areas of research and inquiry such as consumer behavior, gerontology, e-commerce, rural retailing and entrepreneurship, textile recycling, anthropometric study of body shape for sizing, body scanning for product development, aesthetics, and obesity stereotypes. Current members represent a range of institutional types and geographic regions. Also, members bring expertise regarding the effect of social change on different systems (e.g., family, community, economic, social).
The area of interest, social change in the marketplace, is complex and requires a range of expertise and viewpoints in order to conceptualize research problems/questions, design appropriate research methods and analyses, and disseminate findings. Working collaboratively within the NCCC-65 multi-state committee and facilitating opportunities for interaction with the broader community of scientists working in this area will result in new research directions and greater depth in existing research topics. Specific issues and problems associated with social change in the marketplace may be unique to one state or locale, yet their resolution may apply regionally or nationally. Scientists' capability will be increased by a multi-state information exchange that facilitates the sharing of expertise and viewpoints, development of advanced skills in data analysis and collection, the creation of partnerships and collaborative relationships, and by the critique and review of new ideas and research results.
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