Maladaptive Consumer Behavior

This edited volume provides a marketing perspective on maladaptive consumer behavior, especially behavior with dysfunctional consequences that does not have its origins in physical addiction. It brings together contributions of leading scholars who address specific manifestations of maladaptive consumption, such as those related to food, alcoholic beverages, online gaming, and media consumption, among others, with an emphasis on behaviors that are not traditionally regarded as arising from physical addiction.

Further, the book includes chapters that focus more broadly of definitional and conceptual issues, methodological approaches, implications for intervention and regulation, and the value judgments inherent in the identification and classification of behaviors as “maladaptive." It examines numerous alternative theories of maladaptive consumption and places such behavior in a larger market context.

Taken together, the contributions in this volume (1) describe the phenomenon of maladaptive consumption, (2) describe manifestations of maladaptive consumption, (3) identify issues of methodology and definition related to the study of maladaptive consumption, and (4) address interventions, regulations, and public policy issues. It will appeal to scholars interested in maladaptive consumption and its treatments as well as consumer behavior more generally in multiple fields, including marketing, clinical psychology, social work, and public health.

Ingrid Martin is Professor of Marketing in the College of Business (COB) at Cal State University Long Beach, USA. Her published work has covered a range of social marketing topics including risk communication, maladaptive behaviors in the areas of disaster mitigation and consumption practices.

David W. Stewart is President’s Professor of Marketing and Business Law (Emeritus) at Loyola Marymount University, USA. He has authored/co-authored over 350 publications and 20 books, including The Impact of Risk Communication on Consumption and Consumer Well-Being and Financial Dimensions of Marketing Decisions. He is a past Editor of Journal of Marketing, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing