Browsing by Author "Ekici, Ahmet"

Now showing 1 - 17 of 17

Embargo
A fuzzy cognitive map approach to understand agricultural system and food prices in Türkiye: policy recommendations for national food security
(John Wiley & Sons Ltd., 2023-11-16) Ekici, Ahmet; Önsel Ekici, Ş.; Yumurtacı Hüseyinoğlu, I. Ö.; Watson, F.
Once one of the few self-sufficient food countries in the world, Turkey has become dependent on imports to feed its population. Food prices have climbed to among the highest in the world, severely threatening the food security of the country. Most researchers generally attributed the high prices to the increased input costs of agriculture. Although the role of input prices cannot be denied, this paper focuses on a neglected problem that can account for food price inflation: the attitudes and behaviours of farming communities towards agriculture. Through fuzzy cognitive map methodology, known to be very effective in understanding complex networks of problems, we identify and map the relationships among the factors affecting the agriculture system, develop interview and literature-driven scenarios, and test these scenarios to demonstrate their role in explaining the relationship between attitudes and behaviours of farming communities and food prices in Turkey. Our findings provide recommendations to policymakers.
Open Access
Consumer acculturation as a dialogical process: case studies from rural-to-urban migrants in Turkey
(Association for Consumer Research, 2006) Sandıkçı, Özlem; Ekici, Ahmet; Tarı, Berna
Consumer acculturation has received considerable research attention (e.g. Gentry et al 1995; Metha and Belk 1991; Oswald 1999; Penaloza 1989, 1994). Drawing mainly from literatures on acculturation, socialization and learning, these studies develop models that explain how consumers acquire and use consumption skills and practices while interacting with a new culture. Most of these studies concentrate on immigrants coming from less developed countries to the developed countries such as the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, and investigate their adaptation to Western consumer cultural environment. Prominent in this literature is the model of acculturation strategies proposed by Berry (1980), which perceives acculturation as a linear process with four possible outcomes of assimilation, integration, separation, and marginalization. However, a few studies challenge the assimilationist view of acculturation and demonstrate that consumers can move between different social worlds without necessarily conforming to one culture (Askegaard, Arnould, and Kjelgaard 2005; Ger and Ostegaard 1998; Oswald 1999; Penaloza 1994). This perspective, which Askegaard et al (2005) refer to as ‘postassimilationist acculturation research’, regards consumer acculturation as a dynamic and multidimensional process that includes ongoing cultural negotiation or “culture swapping.” We aim to contribute to the existing literature by studying acculturation as a “dialogical process that involves a constant moving back and forth between incompatible cultural positions” (Bhatia 2002); we focus on rural-to-urban migrants’ experiences in a less developed country, Turkey. We seek to understand how these migrants negotiate and articulate their cultural identities through consumption practices related to the body and physical appearance.
Open Access
Consuming, studying, and regulating genetically modified foods: a case for transformative consumer research
(Association for Consumer Research, 2006) Ekici, Ahmet
ACR 2005 North American Conference calls for Transformative Consumer Research (TCR). Based on the principles of TCR, the objective of this paper is to provide a platform to involve consumers more directly with public policy issues related to food biotechnologies, so that this technology can actually make positive impacts on consumers' lives, both present and future generations. More specifically, through an iterative and rigorous multi-stage research design, we aim to provide valuable insights for consumers, for the academic community, and for public policy makers with respect to genetically modified foods.
Open Access
Correction to: the message in the box: how exposure to money affects charitable giving
(Springer, 2019-02-07) Ekici, Ahmet; Shiri, Aminreza; Mandrik, C. A.
Open Access
The dual model of materialism: success versus happiness materialism on present and future life satisfaction
(Springer, 2021-02) Sirgy, M. J.; Yu, G. B.; Lee, D.-J.; Joshanloo, M.; Bosnjak, M.; Jiao, J.; Ekici, Ahmet; Gurel Atay, E.; Grzeskowiak, S.
Materialism can influence life satisfaction both positively and negatively. We build on the dual model of materialism (Sirgy et al. Social Indicators Research, 110(1), 349-366, 2013) to make the case that two dimensions of materialism—success and happiness—may influence life satisfaction differently. Success materialism (wealth and material possessions is a sign of success in life) may influence life satisfaction positively, whereas happiness materialism (wealth and material consumption is a sign of happiness in life) may influence life satisfaction negatively. Success materialism contributes to life satisfaction because it serves to boost economic motivation and causing a rise in future satisfaction with their standard of living, which in turn contributes to future life satisfaction. Happiness materialism, in contrast, influences life satisfaction adversely through two paths. One path involves dissatisfaction with standard of living, which in turn influences life satisfaction in a negative way. The other negative path involves dissatisfaction with other life domains; that is, happiness materialism detracts from life satisfaction by undermining satisfaction in other life domains such as financial life, family life, social life, etc. Data from a large-scale representative survey of 7599 German adults provided good support for the hypotheses and more.
Open Access
The effects of shopping well-being and shopping ill-being on consumer life satisfaction
(Springer Netherlands, 2018) Ekici, Ahmet; Sirgy, M. J.; Lee, D-J.; Yu, G. B.; Bosnjak, M.
Individuals hold two distinct sets of beliefs about shopping activities: Positive beliefs regarding the degree to which shopping contributes to quality of life (shopping well-being), and negative beliefs related to the degree to which shopping activities result in overspending time, effort, and money (shopping ill-being). Shopping well-being and shopping ill-being are conceptualized as independent constructs in that shopping ill-being is not treated as negative polar of a single dimension. That is, one can experience both shopping well-being as well as shopping ill-being, simultaneously. We hypothesized that (1) shopping well-being is a positive predictor of life satisfaction, (2) shopping ill-being is a negative predictor of life satisfaction, and (3) shopping well-being does contribute to life satisfaction under conditions of low than high shopping ill-being. The study surveyed 1035 respondents in the UK. The study results supported hypotheses 1 and 3, not Hypothesis 2. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for retailers, macro-marketers, and policy makers.
Open Access
Food prosumption technologies: A symbiotic lens for a degrowth transition
(SAGE Publications Ltd, 2023) Vicdan, H.; Ulusoy, E.; Tillotson, J. S.; Hong, S.; Ekici, Ahmet; Mimoun, L.
Prosumption is gaining momentum among the critical accounts of sustainable consumption that have thus far enriched the marketing discourse. Attention to prosumption is increasing whilst the degrowth movement is emerging to tackle the contradictions inherent in growth-driven, technology-fueled, and capitalist modes of sustainable production and consumption. In response to dominant critical voices that portray technology as counter to degrowth living, we propose an alternative symbiotic lens with which to reconsider the relations between technology, prosumption, and degrowth living, and assess how a degrowth transition in the context of food can be carried out at the intersection of human–nature–technology. We contribute to the critical debates on prosumption in marketing by analyzing the potentials and limits of technology-enabled food prosumption for a degrowth transition through the degrowth principles of conviviality and appropriateness. Finally, we consider the sociopolitical challenges involved in mobilizing such technologies to achieve symbiosis and propose a future research agenda.
Open Access
The future of macromarketing: recommendations based on a content analysis of the past twelve years of the journal of macromarketing
(SAGE Publications, 2020-10-16) Ekici, Ahmet; Genç, Tuğçe Özgen; Çelik, Hafize
In their essays published in the Silver Anniversary Issue (SAI) of the Journal of Macromarketing (2006), George Fisk and Mark Peterson independently outlined the current state of the discipline and made a list of visionary recommendations that would help macromarketers adapt and respond to the changing markets, marketing, and societies. These recommendations ranged from repositioning the discipline around the ideas of societal development to leading the way across disciplines toward achieving a sustainable world. Based on a thorough content analysis of the articles published in the Journal of Macromarketing since the SAI, we aim to report the extent to which macromarketing scholarship has responded to the recommendations of Fisk and Peterson. Utilizing the findings, we make a list of new recommendations that can assist macromarketers in fulfilling their mission of ‘saving the world’.
Open Access
"I crossed my own line, but here is what i do": the moral transgressions of sustainable fashion consumers and their use of alternating moral practices as a cognitive-dissonance-reducing strategy
(Springer Dordrecht, 2025-02) Çelik, Hafize; Ekici, Ahmet
Drawing on the notion of ethical subjectivity (Foucault, in Fruchaud, Lorenzini (eds) Discourse and truth and parr & emacr;sia. The University of Chicago Press, 1983; Foucault, in Rabinow (ed) Essential works of Foucault 1954-84, The New Press, 1997), cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, A theory of cognitive dissonance, Stanford University Press, 1957) and transgressive behaviours (Jenks, Transgression, Routledge, 2003), this research addresses the empirical question of how regular consumers of sustainable fashion overcome cognitive dissonance when they transgress their own code of conduct in sustainable fashion consumptionscapes. We utilize a top-down thematic analysis (Braun and Clarke, Qual Res Psychol 3:77-101, 2006) of 20 semi-structured existential-phenomenological interviews (Cherrier, Harrison, Newholm, Shaw (eds) The ethical consumer, SAGE Publications, 2005) and depict a novel, behavioural-level, practice-based cognitive-dissonance-reducing strategy that we term the strategy of alternating moral practices. We demonstrate this dissonance-reducing strategy to be more than just a withdrawal from the value systems attributed to sustainable fashion consumption, either temporary or permanent. Rather, regular consumers of sustainable fashion demonstrate hands-on efforts to find ways of doing that manifest an alternative ethical behaviour. This strategic action is, in turn, held to be enhancing the ethical subjectivities of the consumers. Theoretical discussions of the relationship between these expanded ethical subjectivities and their host consumptionscapes are provided. Using this new approach to understanding transgressive behaviours in the market for sustainable fashion, a range of directions for future research are suggested.
Open Access
A model of consumer life-satisfaction amidst the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence and policy implications
(Wiley-Blackwell Publishing,, 2021-06-26) Ekici, Ahmet; Watson, F.
The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically impacted the lives of consumers across the globe. What guidance can consumer researchers and policymakers provide consumers to elicit adaptive responses that contribute to their life-satisfaction under these adverse conditions? To this end, we develop and test an adaptive response model and demonstrate its impact on the life-satisfaction of the consumers experiencing the pandemic in Turkey. Our model suggests that amidst COVID-19, seeking emotional help triggers the positivity in people, which in turn increases life-satisfaction. Moreover, turning to religion to deal with the challenges of the pandemic leads to positivity and hope, which in turn positively affect life-satisfaction. Importantly, “escape” behaviors (such as excessive work or time spent in online shows/games) reduce positivity and hope in consumers, thus negatively impacting life-satisfaction. The paper discusses the conceptual and public policy implications of the results and offers recommendations for future research.
Open Access
A new lens to the understanding and reduction of household food waste: A fuzzy cognitive map approach
(Elsevier BV, 2022-07-15) Genç, Tuğce Özgen; Ekici, Ahmet
Food waste generated at the household level is known to be the main contributor to total food waste, particularly in developed regions. Reducing household food waste (HFW), however, is an extremely compelling task as there are many complex and interacting factors behind the HFW behavior. This study aims to address the factors behind the complexity by applying the Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) method. FCM represents a new approach that enables the use of multiple resources, consideration of outnumbered factors, handling of linguistic ambiguities, and scenario analysis. Through FCM, this study aims to develop a more complete model of the complex HFW drivers' system and identify the most influential HFW drivers addressing which is key while designing HFW-reducing interventions. The current study employs a three-stage methodology that utilizes content analysis of scholarly published academic articles and exploits expert opinion to construct an FCM. In the final stage, through scenario analysis, the study tests and reports the effects of each HFW driver and evaluates them based on their potential to reduce HFW. The findings of this research reveal that system concepts A12 (fail to consume what is in the fridge), A2 (excessive purchasing), and A9 (cooking and serving too much) are the most influential practices concerning HFW. While the study suggests innovative approaches that would enable people not to give up their normality to cope with A12, tackling A9 requires challenging the normality, and addressing A2 requires changing food store-related infrastructural elements. Moreover, the study draws attention to the concept C2 (food safety and health concerns) due to its potential to be a disincentive to FW reduction efforts as well as to the concept G1 (lack of knowledge/skill/awareness) which requires special attention to maximize its potential. Finally, the paper offers specific recommendations to practitioners and policymakers and provides future research directions.
Open Access
Organic farming for the domestic market: Exploring a unique yet challenging food system in Turkey
(Macromarketing Society, 2012-06) Ekici, Ahmet
Open Access
Participatory food provisioning via emerging technologies: revisiting prosumption and value creation beyond the anthropocene
(Sage Publications, Inc., 2024-09) Ulusoy, E.; Vicdan, H.; Ekici, Ahmet; Tillotson, J. S.; Hong, S.; Mimoun, L.
This commentary offers a timely exploration of participatory food provisioning via emerging food technologies. Through an in-depth analysis of case studies of these technologies, we elucidate the changing nature of prosumption in orchestrating food market provisioning. Our investigation highlights a shift toward a non-anthropocentric vision of market provisioning, where value creation transcends human-centered paradigms to include alliances between humans, technology, and nature. By articulating the nuanced dynamics and outcomes of these alliances in the food market, we propose a reimagined perspective on value creation, urging macromarketing scholars to consider the broader implications of technology-driven, participatory food systems. Ultimately, we emphasize the necessity of integrating human and non-human stakeholders in the discourse on value creation, and challenge conventional notions of control, democratization, and sociality within prevailing food-provisioning systems.
Open Access
Shopping well-being and ill-being: toward an integrated model
(IGI Global, 2014) Lee, D. J.; Yu, G. B.; Sirgy, M. J.; Ekici, Ahmet; Atay, E. G.; Bahn, K. D.; Musso, F.; Druica, E.
In this chapter, the authors make an attempt to review and integrate much of the research on shopping well-being and ill-being experiences. The integrated model identifies the antecedents of these two focal constructs in terms of situational, individual, and cultural factors. The consequences of shopping well-being and ill-being experiences on life satisfaction (or subjective well-being) are explained through a bottom-up spillover process. Managerial implications and avenues for future research are also discussed.
Open Access
Understanding and managing complexity through Bayesian network approach: the case of bribery in business transactions
(Elsevier, 2019) Ekici, Ahmet; Ekici, Ş. Ö.
Managing complex business problems requires decision makers to take a systemic perspective and utilize tools that can generate knowledge from the interdependencies of the system’s complex properties. As such, the current research focuses on an important yet ambiguous business problem–bribery. Using the Global Competitiveness Index data provided by the World Economic Forum, the authors constructed and analysed a Bayesian network to delineate a ‘system’ of bribery in business transactions. In this context, they first determined the factors related to bribery activities and then developed a structural model (the Bayesian network). Through scenario and sensitivity analyses performed over the constructed model, the authors identified the factors that have the greatest impact on bribery activities. They further analysed the resulting model based on the countries’ stage of economic development in order to provide the manager and policy maker with a more informative diagnostic tool to understand and deal with bribery activities locally and globally.
Open Access
Understanding the dark sides of alternative economies to maximize societal benefit
(SAGE Publications, 2020) Watson, F.; Ekici, Ahmet
Alternative economies can significantly contribute to societal flourishing, but the potential dark sides should also be considered. As shared commitments are the foundation of alternative economies, we draw on related literature to conceptualize various types of dark sides of an alternative economy. While less prominent than the well-being outcomes, we present qualitative data of when the participants of one alternative food network experienced disappointment, burnout, guilt, or division. Comparing with the dark sides gleaned from other studies on alternative economies, we present a framework for evaluating the dark sides in alternative economies. Dark sides can be on a continuum from the micro level to the macro level, as well as more likely to threaten the continuance of alternative economies or societal well-being. We offer recommendations to guard against the vulnerabilities of alternative economies for their continued growth and impact, as well as discuss the implications for research on marketing systems failure.
Open Access
What motivates people to be materialistic? Developing a measure of materialism motives
(Wiley, 2021) Gürel-Atay, E.; Sirgy, M. J.; Webb, D.; Ekici, Ahmet; Lee, D. -J.; Kahle, L. R.
This article presents, through a series of studies conducted in six countries, the development, psychometric testing, and cross‐cultural validation of an independent measure of materialism motives involving three dimensions: needs for happiness, social recognition, and distinctiveness. We demonstrate that materialism (beliefs about the importance of money and material possessions in their life) influences life satisfaction through the fulfillment of these three materialism motives. Furthermore, and non‐surprisingly, these three motives are also related to personal values. Theoretical and policy implications of this new measure are considered, and avenues for future study presented.